A Dictionary of Islam / Being a cyclopedia of the doctrines, rites, ceremonies, and customs, together with the technical and theological terms, of the Muhammadan religion.

by Thomas Patrick Hughes

B.

BABEL. Arabic بابل‎ Bābil. Mentioned once in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah ii. 96]: “Sorcery did they teach to men, and what had been revealed to the two angels Hārūt and Mārūt at Bābil.” Babel is regarded by the Muslims as the fountain-head of the science of magic. They suppose Hārūt and Mārūt to be two angels who, in consequence of their want of compassion for the frailties of mankind, were sent down to earth to be tempted. They both sinned, and, being permitted to choose whether they would be punished now or hereafter, chose the former, and are still suspended by the feet at Babel in a rocky pit, and are the great teachers of magic. (Lane’s Thousand and One Nights, ch. iii. note 14.) Vide Tafsīr-i-ʿAzīzī in loco.

BĀBU ʾL-ABWĀB (باب الابواب‎). Lit. “The door of doors.” A term used by the Ṣūfīs for repentance. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dictionary of Ṣūfī Terms.)

BĀBU ʾS-SALĀM (باب السلام‎). “The Gate of Peace.” The gateway in the sacred mosque at Makkah through which Muḥammad entered when he was elected by the Quraish to decide the question as to which section of the tribe should lift the Black Stone into its place. It was originally called the Bāb Banī Shaibah, “the Gate of the Banū Shaibah,” the family of Shaibah ibn ʿUs̤mān, to whom Muḥammad gave the key of the Kaʿbah. Burkhardt says that there are now two gateways called by this name. Burton says, “The Bābu ʾs-Salām resembles in its isolation a triumphal arch, and is built of cut stone.” (Burton’s Pilgrimage, vol. ii. p. 174. See Muir’s Life of Mahomet, pp. 28, 29.)

BĀBU ʾN-NISĀʾ (باب النساء‎). “The Women’s Gate.” In later years, as Muḥammad added to the number of his wives, he provided for each a room or house on the same side of the mosque at al-Madīnah. From these he had a private entrance into the mosque, used only by himself, and the eastern gate still bears in its name, Bābu ʾn-Nisāʾ, the memory of the arrangement. (Muir’s Life of Mahomet, iii. p. 20.)

BACKBITING. Anything secretly whispered of an absent person which is calculated to injure him, and which is true, is called G͟hībah, a false accusation being expressed by Buhtān. Abū Hurairah says, “The question was put to the Prophet, ‘Do you know what backbiting is?’ and he replied, ‘It is saying anything bad of a Muslim.’ It was then said, ‘But what is it if it is true?’ And he said, ‘If it is true it is G͟hībah, and if it is a false accusation, it is Buhtān (i.e. slander).’ ” (Mishkāt, xxii. c. x.)

The following are sayings of Muḥammad on the subject:—“The best of God’s servants are those who when you meet them speak of God. The worst of God’s servants are those who carry tales about, to do mischief and separate friends, and seek out the defects of good people.” “He who wears two faces in this world shall have two tongues of fire in the day of the Resurrection.” “It is unworthy of a believer to injure people’s reputations, or to curse anyone, or to abuse anyone, or to talk vainly.” “The best atonement you can make for backbiting is to say, ‘O God pardon me and him (whom I have injured).’ ” Mishkāt, xxii. c. x.

BADAWĪ (بدوى‎). A name given to the Bedouin Arabs, or the Arabs of the desert. Bedouin is only a corruption of the plural of this word, which is derived from Badw = Bādiyah, “a desert.”

AL-BADĪʿ (البديع‎) is one of the ninety-nine special names of God. It means “He who originates.” It occurs in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah ii. 111], “He is the wonderful originator of the heavens and the earth; when He decreeth a matter, He doth but say to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.”

BADR, The battle of. Arabic, G͟hazwatu ʾl-Badr. The first battle of Badr was fought in the month of Ramaẓān, A.H. 2 (March, A.D. 624), between Muḥammad and the Quraish. Many of the principal men of the Quraish were slain, including Abū Jahl, whose head was brought to the Prophet, and when it was cast at his feet, he exclaimed, “It is more acceptable to me than the choicest camel of Arabia.” After the battle was over, some of the prisoners were cruelly murdered. Ḥusain says the losses of the Quraish at Badr were seventy killed and seventy prisoners. This victory at Badr consolidated the power of Muḥammad, and it is regarded by Muslim historians as one of the most important events of history. An account of this celebrated battle will be found in the article on Muḥammad.

The second battle of Badr was a bloodless victory, and took place in the month Ẕū ʾl-Qaʿdah, A.H. 4 (April, A.D. 626).

BAḤĪRĀ (بحيرا‎). A Nestorian monk whom Muḥammad met when he was journeying back from Syria to Makkah, and who is said to have perceived by various signs that he was a prophet. His Christian name is supposed to have been Sergius (or Georgius).

Sprenger thinks that Baḥīrā remained with Muḥammad, and it has been suggested that there is an allusion to this monk in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xvi. 105]: “We know that they say, ‘It is only a man who teacheth him.’ ” Ḥusain the commentator says on this passage that the Prophet was in the habit of going every evening to a Christian to hear the Taurāt and Injīl. (Tafsīr-i-Ḥusainī; Sale, p. 228; Muir’s Life of Mahomet, p. 72.)

BAḤĪRAH (بحيرة‎). (1.) A she-camel, she-goat or ewe, which had given birth to a tenth young one. (2.) A she-camel, the mother of which had brought forth ten females consecutively before her.

In these and similar cases, the pagan Arabs observed certain religious ceremonies, such as slitting the animal’s ear, &c., all of which are forbidden in the Qurʾān: “God hath not ordained any Baḥīrah.” ([Sūrah v. 102].)

BAIʿ (بيع‎, pl. بيوع‎ buyūʿ). A sale; commercial dealing; barter. Baiʿ, or “sale,” in the language of the law, signifies an exchange of property for property with the mutual consent of parties. For the rules concerning sales and barter, see Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. 360; Baillie’s Muḥammadan Law of Sale; The Fatāwā ʿĀlamgīrī.

Sale, in its ordinary acceptation, is a transfer of property in consideration of a price in money. The word has a more comprehensive meaning in the Muḥammadan law, and is applied to every exchange of property for property with mutual consent. It, therefore, includes barter as well as sale, and also loan, when the articles lent are intended to be consumed, and replaced to the lender by a similar quantity of the same kind. This transaction, which is truly an exchange of property for property, is termed qarz̤ in the Muḥammadan law.

Between barter and sale there is no essential distinction in most systems of law, and the joint subject may in general be considerably simplified by being treated of solely as a sale. A course has been adopted in the Muḥammadan law, which obliges the reader to fix his attention on both sides of the contract. This may at first appear to him to be an unnecessary complication of the subject, but when he becomes acquainted with the definition of price, and the rules for the prohibition of excess in the exchange of a large class of commodities, which apply to every form of the contract, he will probably be of opinion that to treat of the subject in any other way would be attended with at least equal difficulties.

The first point which seems to require his attention is the meaning of the word “property” as it occurs in the definition of sale. The original term (māl), which has been thus translated, is defined by Muḥammadan lawyers to be “that which can be taken possession of and secured.” This definition seems to imply that it is tangible or corporeal, and things or substances are accordingly the proper subjects of sale. Mere rights are not māl, and cannot therefore be lawfully sold apart from the corporeal things with which they may happen to be connected. Of such rights one of the most important is the right of a creditor to exact payment of a debt, which is not a proper subject of sale. In other words, debts cannot, by the Muḥammadan law, any more than by the common laws of England and Scotland, be lawfully sold.

Things are commonly divided into moveable and immoveable, the latter comprehending land and things permanently attached to it. But the distinction is not of much importance in the Muḥammadan law, as the transfer of land is in nowise distinguished from that of other kinds of property.

A more important division of things is that into mis̤lī and kammī. The former are things which, when they happen to perish, are to be replaced by an equal quantity of something similar to them; and the latter are things which, in the same circumstances, are to be replaced by their value. These two classes have been aptly styled “similars” and “dissimilars” by Mr. Hamilton, in his translation of the Hidāyah. Similars are things which are usually sold or exchanged by weight, or by measurement of capacity, that is, by dry or liquid measure; and dissimilars are things which are not sold or exchanged in either of these ways. Articles which are nearly alike, and are commonly sold or exchanged by number or tale, are classed with the first division of things, and may be termed “similars of tale”; while articles which differ materially from each other, yet are still usually sold or exchanged by number, belong to the second division, and may be called “dissimilars of tale.” Dirhams and dīnārs, the only coined money known to the old Arabs, are included among similars of weight.

Similars of weight and capacity are distinguished in the Muḥammadan law from all other descriptions of property in a very remarkable way. When one article of weight is sold or exchanged for another article of weight, or one of measure is sold or exchanged for another of measure, the delivery of both must be immediate from hand to hand, and any delay of delivery in one of them is unlawful and prohibited. Where, again, the articles exchanged are also of the same kind, as when wheat is sold for wheat, or silver for silver, there must not only be reciprocal and immediate delivery of both before the separation of the parties, but also absolute equality of weight or measure, according as the articles are weighable or measurable, and any excess on either side is also unlawful and prohibited. These two prohibitions constitute in brief the doctrine of reba, or “usury,” which is a marked characteristic of the Muḥammadan law of sale. The word reba properly signifies “excess,” and there are no terms in the Muḥammadan law which correspond to the words “interest” and “usury,” in the sense attached to them in the English language; but it was expressly prohibited by Muḥammad to his followers to derive any advantage from loans, and that particular kind of advantage which is called by us interest, and consists in the receiving back from the borrower a larger quantity than was actually lent to him, was effectually prevented by the two rules above-mentioned. These, like some other principles of Muḥammadan law, are applied with a rigour and minuteness that may to us seem incommensurate with their importance, but are easily accounted for when we know that they are believed to be of divine origin.

Similars of weight and capacity have a common feature of resemblance, which distinguishes them in their own nature from other commodities, and marks with further peculiarity their treatment in the Muḥammadan law. They are aggregates of minute parts, which are either exactly alike, or so nearly resemble each other, that the difference between them may be safely disregarded. For this reason they are usually dealt with in bulk, regard being had only to the whole of a stipulated quantity, and not to the individual parts of which it is composed. When sold in this manner they are said to be indeterminate. They may, however, be rendered specific in several ways. Actual delivery, or production with distinct reference at the time of contract, seems to be sufficient for that purpose in all cases. But something short of this would suffice for all similars but money. Thus, flour, or any kind of grain, may be rendered specific by being enclosed in a sack; or oil, or any liquid, by being put into casks or jars; and though the vessels are not actually produced at the time of contract, their contents may be sufficiently particularised by description of the vessels and their locality. Money is not susceptible of being thus particularised, and dirhams and dīnārs are frequently referred to in the following pages as things which cannot be rendered specific by description, or specification, as it is more literally termed. Hence, money is said to be always indeterminate. Other similars, including similars of tale, are sometimes specific and sometimes indeterminate. Dissimilars, including those of tale, are always specific.

When similars are sold indeterminately, the purchaser has no right to any specific portion of them until it be separated from a general mass, and marked or identified as the subject of the contract. From the moment of offer till actual delivery, he has nothing to rely upon but the seller’s obligation, which may, therefore, be considered the direct subject of the contract. Similars taken indeterminately are accordingly termed dayn, or “obligations,” in the Muḥammadan law. When taken specifically, they are classed with dissimilars, under the general name of ʿayn. The literal meaning of this term is “substance or thing”; but when opposed to dayn it means something determinate or specific. The subject of traffic may thus be divided into two classes, specific and indeterminate; or, if we substitute for the latter the word “obligation,” and omit the word “specific” as unnecessary when not opposed to “indeterminate,” these classes may, according to the view of Muḥammadan lawyers, be described as things and obligations.

There is some degree of presumption in using a word in any other than its ordinary acceptation; and it is not without hesitation that (Mr. Baillie says) I have ventured to employ the word “obligation” to signify indeterminate things. My reasons for doing so are these: first it expresses the exact meaning of the Arabic word dayn, and yet distinguishes this use of it from another sense, in which it is also employed in the Muḥammadan law; second, it preserves consistency in the law. Thus, it will be found hereafter that the effect of sale is said to be to induce a right in the buyer to the thing sold, and in the seller to the price, and that this effect follows the contract immediately before reciprocal possession by the contracting parties. Now, it is obvious that this is impossible with regard to things that are indeterminate, if the things themselves are considered the subject of the contract, and cases are mentioned where it is expressly stated that there is no transfer of property to the purchaser, when similars of weight or capacity are sold without being distinctly specified, until actual possession takes place. The difficulty disappears if we consider not the thing itself but the obligation to render it to be the subject of contract; for a right to the obligation passes immediately to the purchaser, and the seller may be compelled to perform it. If we now revert to the division of things into similars and dissimilars, money—which, it has been remarked, is always indeterminate—is therefore an obligation; dissimilars, which are always specific, are never obligations; and other similars, except money, being sometimes specific and sometimes indeterminate, are at one time obligations, and at another time things or substances.

Before proceeding farther it is necessary to advert more particularly to the other sense in which the word dayn is frequently employed in the Muḥammadan law. It means strictly “obligation,” as already observed; but the obligation may be either that of the contracting party himself, or of another. In the former sense dayn is not only a proper subject of traffic, but forms the sole subject of one important kind of sale, hereafter to be noticed. But when dayn is used to signify the obligation of another than the contracting party, it is not a proper subject of traffic, and, as already observed, cannot be lawfully sold. In the following pages dayn has been always translated by the word “debt” when it signifies the obligation of a third party, and generally by the word “obligation,” when it signifies the engagement of the contracting party himself, though when the things represented by the obligation are more prominently brought forward, it has sometimes been found necessary to substitute the expression, “indeterminate things.”

Though barter and sale for a price, are confounded under one general name in the Muḥammadan law, it is sometimes necessary to consider one of the things exchanged as more strictly the subject of sale, or thing sold, and the other as the price. In this view the former is termed mabīʿ, and the latter S̤aman. S̤aman, or “price,” is defined to be dayn fī ẕimmah, or, literally, an “obligation in responsibility.” From which, unless the expression is a mere pleonasm, it would appear that the word dayn is sometimes used abstractly, and in a sense distinct from the idea of liability. That idea, however, is necessary to constitute price; for though cloth, when properly described, may, by reason of its divisibility and the similarity of its parts, be sometimes assumed to perform the function of price in a contract of sale, it is only when it is not immediately delivered, but is to remain for some time on the responsibility of the contracting party, that it can be adopted for that purpose.

It is a general principle of the Muḥammadan law of sale, founded on a declaration of the Prophet, that credit cannot be opposed to credit, that is, that both the things exchanged cannot be allowed to remain on the responsibility of the parties. Hence, it is only with regard to one of them that any stipulation for delay in its delivery is lawful. Price, from its definition above given, admits of being left on responsibility, and accordingly a stipulation for delay in the payment of the price is quite lawful and valid. It follows that a stipulation for delay in the delivery of the things sold cannot be lawful. And this is the case, with the exception of one particular kind of sale, hereafter to be noticed, in which the thing sold is always indeterminate, and the price is paid in advance. It may, therefore, be said of all specific things when the subject of sale, that a stipulation for delay in their delivery is illegal, and would invalidate a sale. The object of this rule may have been to prevent any change of the thing sold before delivery, and the disputes which might in consequence arise between the parties. But if they were allowed to select whichever they pleased of the articles exchanged to stand for the price, and the other for the thing sold, without any regard to their qualities, the object of the last-mentioned rule, whatever it may have been, might be defeated. This seems to have led to another arrangement of things into different classes, according to their capacities for supporting the functions of price or of the thing sold in a contract of sale. The first class comprehends dirhams and dīnārs, which are always price. The second class comprises the whole division of dissimilars (with the single exception of cloth), which are always the thing sold, or subject of sale, in a contract. The third class comprises, first, all similars of capacity; second, all similars of weight, except dirhams and dīnārs; and, third, all similars of tale. The whole of this class is capable of supporting both functions, and is sometimes the thing sold, and sometimes the price. The fourth class comprises cloth, and the copper coin called fulūs.

Sale implies a reciprocal vesting of the price in the seller and of the thing sold in the purchaser. This, as already remarked, is called its legal effect, and sale may be divided into different stages or degrees of completeness, according as this effect is immediate, suspended, invalid, or obligatory. Thus, sale must first of all be duly constituted or contracted. After that, there may still be some bar to its operation, which occasions a suspension of its effect. This generally arises from a defect of power in the seller, who may not be fully competent to act for himself, or may have insufficient authority, or no authority whatever, over the subject of sale. In this class of sales the effect is dependent on the assent or ratification of some other person than the party actually contracting. But whether the effect of a sale be immediate or suspended, there may be some taint of illegality in the mode of constituting it, or in its subject, or there may be other circumstances connected with it, which render it invalid. The causes of illegality are many and various. But even though a sale should be unimpeachable on the previous grounds, that is, though it should be duly constituted, operative or immediate in its effect, and free from any ground of illegality, still it may not be absolutely binding on the parties. This brings us to another remarkable peculiarity of the Muḥammadan law, viz. the doctrine of option, or right of cancellation. The Prophet himself recommended one of his followers to reserve a locus penitentiæ, or option, for three days in all his purchases. This has led to the option by stipulation, which may be reserved by either of the parties. But besides this, the purchaser has an option without any stipulation, with regard to things which he has purchased without seeing, and also on account of defects in the thing sold. The greatest of all defects is a want of title or right in the seller. The two last options to the purchase constitute a complete warranty of title and against all defects on the part of the seller, in which respect the Muḥammadan more nearly resembles the Scotch than the English law of sale.

There are many different kinds of sale. Twenty or more have been enumerated in the Nihāyah, of which eight are mentioned and explained. Four of these, which have reference to the thing sold, may require some notice in this place. The first, called Muqāyaẓah, is described as a sale of things for things, and corresponds nearly with barter; but the word “thing” (ʿayn) is here opposed to obligations, and muqāyaẓah is therefore properly an exchange of specific for specific things. So that if the goods exchanged were on both sides or on either side indeterminate, the transaction would not, I think, be a muqāyaẓah, though still barter. The second sale is called ṣarf, and is defined to be an exchange of obligations for obligations. The usual objects of this contract are dirhams and dīnārs, which being obligations, the definition is generally correct. But an exchange of money for bullion, or bullion for bullion, is also a ṣarf, and every sale of an obligation for an obligation is not a ṣarf, so that the definition is redundant as well as defective. It is essential to the legality of this kind of sale, that both the things exchanged should be delivered and taken possession of before the separation of the parties, and that when they are of the same kind, as silver for silver, or gold for gold, they should also be exactly equal by weight. These rules are necessary for the avoidance of reba, or “usury,” as already explained; and the whole of ṣarf, which is treated of at a length quite disproportionate to its importance, may be considered as a continued illustration of the doctrine of reba. The third kind of sale is salam. It has been already observed that there can be no lawful stipulation for a postponement of the delivery of the thing sold, except under one particular form of sale. The form alluded to is salam. This word means, literally, “an advance”; and in a salam sale the price is immediately advanced for the goods to be delivered at a future fixed time. It is only things of the class of similars that can be sold in this way, and as they must necessarily be indeterminate, the proper subject of sale is an obligation; while, on the other hand, as the price must be actually paid or delivered at the time of the contract, before the separation of the parties, and must, therefore, even in the case of its being money, be produced, and in consequence be particularised or specific, a salam sale is strictly and properly the sale of an obligation for a thing, as defined above. Until actual payment or delivery of the price, however, it retains its character of an obligation, and for this reason the price and the goods are both termed “debts,” and are adduced in the same chapter as examples of the principle that the sale of a debt, that is, of the money or goods which a person is under engagement to pay or deliver, before possession, is invalid. The last of the sales referred to is the ordinary exchange of goods for money, which being an obligation, the transaction is defined to be the sale of things for obligations.

There is another transaction which comes within the definition of sale, and has been already noticed, but may be further adverted to in this place. It is that which is called Qarẓ in the Arabic, and “loan” in the English language. The borrower acquires an absolute right of property in the things lent, and comes under an engagement to return an equal quantity of things of the same kind. The transaction is therefore necessarily limited to similars, whether of weight, capacity, or tale, and the things lent and repaid being of the same kind, the two rules already mentioned for the prevention of reba, or “usury,” must be strictly observed. Hence it follows that any stipulation on the part of the borrower for delay or forbearance by the lender, or any stipulation by the lender for interest to be paid by the borrower are alike unlawful.

Notwithstanding the stringency of the rules for preventing usury, or the taking any interest on the loan of money, methods were found for evading them and still keeping within the letter of the law. It had always been considered lawful to take a pledge to secure the repayment of a debt. Pledges were ordinarily of movable property; when given as security for a debt, and the pledge happened to perish in the hands of the pawnee, the debt was held to be released to the extent of the value of the pledge. Land, though scarcely liable to this incident, was sometimes made the subject of pledge, and devices were adopted for enabling the lender to derive some advantage from its possession while in the state of pledge. But the moderate advantage to be derived in this way does not seem to have contented the money-lenders, who in all ages and countries have been of a grasping disposition, and the expedient of a sale with a condition for redemption was adopted, which very closely resembles an English mortgage. In the latter, the condition is usually expressed in one of two ways, viz. either that the sale shall become void, or that the lender shall resell to the seller, on payment of principal and interest at an assigned term. The first of these forms would be inconsistent with the nature of sale under the Muḥammadan law, but a sale with a covenant by the lender to reconvey to the seller on repayment of the loan seems to have been in use probably long before the form was adopted in Europe. It is probable that a term was fixed within which the repayment should be made. If repayment were made at the assigned term, the lender was obliged to reconvey; but if not, the property would remain his own, and the difference between its value and the price or sum lent might have been made an ample compensation for the loss of interest. This form of sale, which was called Baiʿu ʾl-Wafāʾ, seems to have been strictly legal according to the most approved authorities, though held to be what the law calls abominable, as a device for obtaining what it prohibits.

In constituting sale there is no material difference between the Muḥammadan and other systems of law. The offer and acceptance, which are expressed or implied in all cases, must be so connected as to obviate any doubt of the one being intended to apply to the other. For this purpose the Muḥammadan law requires that both shall be interchanged at the same meeting of the parties, and that no other business shall be suffered to intervene between an offer and its acceptance. A very slight interruption is sufficient to break the continuity of a negotiation, and to terminate the meeting in a technical sense, though the parties should still remain in personal communication. An acceptance after the interruption of an offer made before it would be insufficient to constitute a sale. This has led to distinctions of the meeting which may appear unnecessarily minute to a reader unacquainted with the manners of Eastern countries, where the people are often very dilatory in their bargains, interspersing them with conversation on indifferent topics. It is only when a meeting has reference to the act of contracting that its meaning is thus liable to be restricted; for when the word occurs in other parts of the law, as, for instance, when it is said of a ṣarf contract that the things exchanged must be taken possession of at the meeting, the whole period that the parties may remain together is to be understood. As personal communication may be inconvenient in some cases, and impossible in others, the integrity of the meeting is held to be sufficiently preserved when a party who receives an offer by message or letter declares his acceptance of it on receiving the communication and apprehending its contents.

When a sale is lawfully contracted, the property in the things exchanged passes immediately from and to the parties respectively. In a legal sale, delivery and possession are not necessary for this purpose. Until possession is taken, however, the purchaser is not liable for accidental loss, and the seller has a lien for the price on the thing sold. Delivery by one party is in general tantamount to possession taken by the other. It is, therefore, sometimes of great importance to ascertain when there is a sufficient delivery; and many cases, real or imaginary, on the subject, are inserted in the Fatāwā ʿĀlamgīrī. It sometimes happens that a person purchases a thing of which he is already in possession, and it then becomes important to determine in what cases his previous possession is convertible into a possession under the purchase. Unless so converted, it would be held that there is no delivery under the sale, and the seller would of course retain his lien and remain liable for accidental loss.

Though possession is not necessary to complete the transfer of property under a legal sale, the case is different where the contract is illegal; for here property does not pass till possession is taken. The sale, however, though so far effectual, is still invalid, and liable to be set aside by a judge, at the instance of either of the parties, without any reference to the fact of the person complaining being able to come before him with what in legal phraseology is termed clean hands. A Muḥammadan judge is obliged by his law to interfere for the sake of the law itself, or, as it is more solemnly termed, for the right of God, which it is the duty of the judge to vindicate, though by so doing he may afford assistance to a party who personally may have no just claim to his interference. (The Muhammadan Law of Sale, according to the Haneefee Code, from the Fatawa Alamgiri, by Neil B. E. Baillie. Smith, Elder & Co., London.)

BAIL. Arabic كفالة‎ kafālah. Bail is of two descriptions: Kafālah bi-ʾn-nafs, or “security for the person”; Kafālah bi-ʾl-māl, or “security for property.” In the English courts in India, bail for the person is termed Ḥāẓir-ẓamānī, and bail for property Ẓamānah, or “security.” Bail for the person is lawful except in cases of punishment (Ḥudūd) and retaliation (Qiṣāṣ). (Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 576.)

AL-BĀʿIS̤ (الباعث‎). One of the ninety-nine special names of God. It means “He who awakes”; “The Awakener” (in the Day of Resurrection).

BAITU ʾL-ḤAMD (بيت الحمد‎). “The House of Praise.” An expression which occurs in the Traditions (Mishkāt v. 7). When the soul of a child is taken, God says, “Build a house for my servant in Paradise and call it a house of praise.”

BAITU ʾL-ḤARĀM (بيت الحرام‎). “The Sacred House.” A name given to the Meccan mosque. [[MASJIDU ʾL-HARAM].]

BAITU ʾL-ḤIKMAH (بيت الحكمة‎). Lit. “The House of Wisdom.” A term used by Ṣūfīs for the heart of the sincere seekers after God. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dictionary of Ṣūfī Terms.)

BAITU ʾL-LĀH (بيت الله‎). “The House of God.” A name given to the Meccan mosque. [[MASJIDU ʾL-HARAM].]

BAITU ʾL-MĀL (بيت المال‎). Lit. “The House of Property.” The public treasury of a Muslim state, which the ruler is not allowed to use for his personal expenses, but only for the public good.

The sources of income are: (1) Zakāt, or the legal tax raised upon land, personal property, and merchandise, which, after deducting the expense of collecting, should be expended in the support of the poor and destitute. (2) The fifth of all spoils and booty taken in war. (3) The produce of mines and of treasure-trove. (4) Property for which there is no owner. (5) The Jizyah, or tax levied on unbelievers. (Hidāyah, Arabic ed., vol. i. p. 452.)

AL-BAITU ʾL-MAʿMŪR (البيت المعمور‎). Lit. “The Inhabited House.” A house in the seventh heaven, visited by Muḥammad during the Miʿrāj or night-journey. It is said to be immediately over the sacred temple at Makkah. [[MIʿRAJ].]

BAITU ʾL-MIDRĀS (بيت المدراس‎). “The House of Instruction.” A term (used in a tradition given by Abū Hurairah) for a Jewish school. (Mishkāt, xvii. c. xi.) In Heb. ‏בֵּית הַמִּדְרָשׁ‎.

AL-BAITU ʾL-MUQADDAS (البيت المقدس‎). “The Holy House.” A name given to the temple at Jerusalem. [AL-MASJIDU ʾL-AQSA.]

BAITU ʾL-QUDS (بيت القدس‎). Lit. “The House of Holiness.” A term used by the Ṣūfīs for the heart of the true seeker after God when it is absorbed in meditation. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dictionary of Ṣūfī Terms.)

BAIʿU ʾL-WAFĀʾ (بيع الوفاء‎). The word wafā means the performance of a promise, and the Baiʿu ʾl-Wafāʾ is a sale with a promise to be performed. It is, in fact, a pledge in the hands of the pawnee, who is not its proprietor, nor is he free to make use of it without the permission of the owner. There are different opinions about the legality of this form of sale, but it is now the common form of mortgage in use in India, where it is usually styled Baiʿ bi-ʾl-wafā. (See Baillie’s Muḥammadan Law of Sale, p. 303.)

AL-BAIYINAH (البينة‎). Lit. “The Evidence.” A title given to the XCVIIIth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, in which the word occurs.

BAʿL (بعل‎), Heb. ‏הַבַּעַל‎, i.e. “Lord.” The chief deity worshipped by the Syro-Phœnician nations. It is known to the Muḥammadans as an idol worshipped in the days of the Prophet Elisha. (See G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hah.)

BALAAM. There is said to be an allusion to Balaam in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah vii. 174], “Recite to them the story of him to whom we gave our signs, and he departed therefrom, and Satan followed him, and he was of those who were beguiled.”

The commentary of the Jalālain says that he was a learned man amongst the Israelites, who was requested by the Canaanites to curse Moses at the time when he was about to attack the Jabbārūn or “giants,” a tribe of the Canaanites. Balaam at first refused to do so but at last yielded, when valuable presents were made to him. (See Tafsīru ʾl-Jalālain, p. 142.)

BALAD (بلد‎). Lit. Any country, district, or town, regarded as an habitation. Al-Balad, the sacred territory of Makkah. A title given to the XCth Sūrah, in which the word occurs.

BĀLIGH (بالغ‎). “Of years of legal maturity; adult.” [[PUBERTY].]

BANISHMENT. Arabic تغريب‎ Tag͟hrīb. Expatriation for fornication is enjoined by Muḥammadan law, according to the Imām ash-Shāfiʿī, although it is not allowed by the other doctors of the law, and it is also a punishment inflicted upon highway robbers.

BANKRUPT. There is no provision in the Muḥammadan law for declaring a person bankrupt, and so placing him beyond the reach of his creditors; but the Qāẓī can declare a debtor insolvent, and free him from the obligation of zakāt and almsgiving.

BANŪ ISRĀʾĪL (بنو اسرآئيل‎). “The Children of Israel.” A title of the XVIIth Sūrah or chapter of the Qurʾān, called also Sūratu ʾl-Miʿrāj.

BANŪN (بنون‎). The plural of ibn (Heb. ‏בָּנִים‎). “Sons; posterity; tribe.” The word is more familiar to English readers in its inflected form Banī. The tribes whose names occur frequently in the early history of Islām, and are mentioned in the Traditions, are the Banū-Quraish, Banū ʾn-Najjār, Banū-Quraiẓah, Banū-Kinānah, Banū ʾn-Naẓr, Banū-K͟huzāʿah, Banū-Bakrʾ, Banū-ʿĀmir, Banū-Asad, Banū-Fazārah, Banū-Liḥyān, Banū-Tamīm, Banū-Umaiyah, Banū-Zahrah, and Banū-Isrāʾīl.

BAPTISM. The only allusion to baptism in the Qurʾān is found in [Sūrah ii. 132]: “(We have) the baptism of God, and who is better to baptise than God?” The word here translated baptism is ṣibg͟hah, lit. “dye,” which, the commentators al-Jalālain and al-Baiẓāwī say, may, by comparison, refer to Christian baptism, “for,” says al-Baiẓāwī, “the Naṣārā (Christians) were in the habit of dipping their offspring in a yellow water which they called al-Maʿmūdiyah and said it purified them and confirmed them as Christians.” (See Tafsīru ʾl-Jalālain and Tafsīru ʾl-Baiẓāwī, in loco.)

AL-BĀQĪ (الباقى‎). One of the ninety-nine special names of God. It means “He who remains;” “The Everlasting One.”

AL-BAQARAH (البقرة‎). “The Cow.” The title of the second Sūrah of the Qurʾān, occasioned by the story of the red heifer mentioned in verse 63, “When Moses said to his people, God commandeth you to sacrifice a cow.”

BAQĪʿU ʾL-G͟HARQAD (بقيع الغرقد‎), or for shortness al-Baqī (البقيع‎). The burying-ground at al-Madīnah, which Muḥammad used to frequent at night to pray for forgiveness for the dead. (Mishkāt, iv. c. 28.)

BARĀʾAH (براءة‎). “Immunity, or security.” A title given to the IXth Chapter of the Qurʾān, called also Sūratu ʾt-Taubah, “The Chapter of Repentance.” It is remarkable as being the only Sūrah without the introductory form, “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.” Various reasons are assigned for this omission. Some commentators say that the prayer of mercy is not placed at the head of a chapter which speaks chiefly of God’s wrath.

BĀRAH-I-WAFĀT (باره وفات‎). Bārah (Urdū) “twelve,” and Wafāt. The twelfth day of the month Rabīʿu ʾl-Awwal, observed in commemoration of Muḥammad’s death.

It seems to be a day instituted by the Muḥammadans of India, and is not observed universally amongst the Muslims of all countries. On this day Fātiḥahs are recited for Muḥammad’s soul, and both in private houses and mosques portions of the Traditions and other works in praise of the Prophet’s excellences are read.

The Wahhābīs do not observe this day, as it is believed to be an innovation, not having been kept by the early Muslims.

AL-BARĀʾ IBN ʿĀZIB (البراء بن عازب‎). One of the Companions who accompanied Muḥammad at the battle of the Ditch, and in most of his subsequent engagements. He assisted in conquering the district of Rai, A.H. 22, and was with the K͟halīfah ʿAlī at the battle of the Camel, A.H. 36.

AL-BĀRĪʾ (البارىء‎). “The Maker.” One of the ninety-nine special names of God. It occurs in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah lix. 24]: “He is God the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are the excellent names.”

BĀRIQAH (بارقة‎). Lit. “Refulgence, lightning.” A term used by the Ṣūfīs for that enlightenment of the soul, which at first comes to the true Muslim as an earnest of greater enlightenment. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dictionary of Ṣūfī Terms.)

BARNABAS, the Gospel of. The Muḥammadans assert that a gospel of Barnabas existed in Arabic, and it is believed by some that Muḥammad obtained his account of Christianity from this spurious gospel.

“Of this gospel the Moriscoes in Africa have a translation in Spanish, and there is in the library of Prince Eugene of Savoy a manuscript of some antiquity, containing an Italian translation of the same gospel, made, it is supposed, for the use of renegades. This book appears to be no original forgery of the Muḥammadans, though they have no doubt interpolated and altered it since, the better to serve their purpose; and in particular, instead of the Paraclete or Comforter ([St. John xiv. 16], [26]; [xv. 26]; [xvi. 7]), they have in this apocryphal gospel inserted the word Periclyte, that is, “the famous or illustrious,” by which they pretend their prophet was foretold by name, that being the signification of Muḥammad in Arabic; and this they say to justify that passage in the Qurʾān ([Sūrah 61]) where Jesus is formally asserted to have foretold his coming, under his other name of Aḥmad, which is derived from the same root as Muḥammad, and of the same import. From these or some other forgeries of the same stamp, it is that Muḥammadans quote several passages of which there are not the least footsteps in the New Testament.” (Sale.)

After Mr. Sale had written the extract which we have quoted, he inspected a Spanish translation of the Italian copy of this apocryphal gospel, of which he gives the following account:—

“The book is a moderate quarto, in Spanish, written in a very legible hand, but a little damaged towards the latter end. It contains two hundred and twenty-two chapters of unequal length, and four hundred and twenty pages; and is said, in the front, to be translated from the Italian by an Aragonian Moslem named Moṣtafā de Aranda. There is a preface prefixed to it, wherein the discoverer of the original MS., who was a Christian monk called Fra Marino, tells us that, having accidentally met with a writing of Irenæus (among others), wherein he speaks against St. Paul, alleging for his authority the gospel of St. Barnabas, he became exceedingly desirous to find this gospel; and that God, of his mercy, having made him very intimate with Pope Sixtus V., one day, as they were together in that Pope’s library, his Holiness fell asleep, and he, to employ himself, reaching down a book to read, the first he laid his hand on proved to be the very gospel he wanted; overjoyed at the discovery, he scrupled not to hide his prize in his sleeve, and on the Pope’s awaking, took leave of him, carrying with him that celestial treasure, by reading of which he became a convert to Muḥammadanism.

“This Gospel of Barnabas contains a complete history of Jesus Christ, from His birth to His ascension, and most of the circumstances of the four real gospels are to be found therein, but many of them turned, and some artfully enough, to favour the Muḥammadan system. From the design of the whole, and the frequent interpolations of stories and passages, wherein Muḥammad is spoken of and foretold by name, as the messenger of God, and the great prophet who was to perfect the dispensation of Jesus, it appears to be a most bare-faced forgery. One particular I observe therein induces me to believe it to have been dressed up by a renegade Christian, slightly instructed in his new religion, and not educated as a Muḥammadan (unless the fault be imputed to the Spanish, or, perhaps, the Italian translator, and to the original compiler). I mean the giving to Muḥammad the title of Messiah, and that not once or twice only, but in several places; whereas, the title of Messiah, or, as the Arabs write it, al-Masîḥ, i.e. Christ, is appropriated to Jesus in the Qurʾān, and is constantly applied by the Muḥammadans to him, and never to their own Prophet. The passages produced from the Italian MS. by M. de la Monnoye are to be seen in this Spanish version almost word for word.”

The Rev. Joseph White, D.D., in his Bampton Lectures of 1784, gives a translation of those chapters in this spurious Gospel of Barnabas, which relate to the supposed crucifixion of Judas in the place of our Lord, and which we insert:—

“Judas came near to the people with whom Jesus was; and when He heard the noise He entered into the house where the disciples slept. And God, seeing the fear and danger of His servant, ordered Gabriel and Michael and Rafaīl and Azraīl to carry Him out of the world.

“And they came in all haste, and bare Him out of the window which looks towards the south. And they placed Him in the third heaven, where He will remain blessing God, in the company of angels, till near the end of the world.” (Chapter 216.)

“And Judas the traitor entered before the rest into the place from which Jesus had just been taken up. And the disciples were sleeping. And the Wonderful God acted wonderfully, changing Judas into the same figure and speech with Jesus.

“We believing that it was He, said to him, Master, whom seekest thou? And he said to them, smiling, Ye have forgotten yourselves, since ye do not know Judas Iscariot.

“At this time the soldiery entered; and seeing Judas so like in every respect to Jesus, laid hands upon him,” &c. (Chapter 217.)

“In which (Chap. 218) is related the passion of Judas the traitor.

“The soldiers afterwards took Judas and bound him, notwithstanding he said with truth to them that he was not Jesus. And soldiers mocked him saying, Sir, do not be afraid; for we are come to make thee King of Israel; and we have bound thee, because we know thou hast refused the kingdom. And Judas said, Ye have lost your senses.

“I came to show you Jesus, that ye might take Him; and ye have bound me, who am your guide. The soldiers lost their patience, hearing this, and they began to go with him, striking and buffeting him, till they reached Jerusalem,” &c. &c. (Chapter 218.)

“They carried him to Mount Calvary, where they executed criminals, and crucified him, stripping him naked for the greater ignominy. Then he did nothing but cry out, O my God, why hast thou forsaken me, that I should die unjustly, when the real malefactor hath escaped? I say in truth that he was so like in person, figure, and gesture to Jesus, that as many as knew Him, believed firmly that it was He, except Peter; for which reason many left his doctrine, believing that it had been false; as He had said that He should not die till the end of the world.

“But those who stood firm were oppressed with grief, seeing him die whom they understood to be Jesus: not recollecting what He had told them. And in company with His mother, they were present at his death, weeping continually. And by means of Joseph Abarimatheas (sic), they obtained from the president the body of Judas. And they took him down from the cross, burying him with much lamentation in the new sepulchre of Joseph; having wrapped him up in linen and precious ointments.” (Chapter 219.)

“They all returned, each man to his house: and he who writeth, with James and John, went with the mother of Jesus to Nazareth. And the disciples, who did not fear God with truth, went by night and stole the body of Judas, and hid it; spreading a report that He (i.e. Jesus) had risen again, from whence sprung great confusion among the people.

“And the High Priest commanded, under pain of anathema, that no one should talk of him; and on this account raised a great persecution, banishing some, tormenting others, and even stoning some to death: because it was not in the power of anyone to be silent on this subject. And then came news to Nazareth, that Jesus had risen again. And he that writeth desired the mother of Jesus to leave off her lamentation. And Mary said, Let us go to Jerusalem, to see if it is truth. If I see Him I shall die content. (Chapter 220).

“The Virgin returned to Jerusalem with him that writeth, and James and John, the same day that the decree of the High Priest came out.

“And as she feared God, though she knew the command was unjust, she entreated those who talked with her not to speak of her Son. Who can say, how we were then affected? God, who knows the heart of man, knows that between the grief for the death of Judas, whom we understood to be Jesus, and the pleasure of seeing him risen again, we almost expired. And the angels who were the guardians of Mary went up to heaven the third day, and told Jesus what was passing. And He, moved with compassion for His mother, entreated of God that He might be seen by His disciples. And the Compassionate God ordered His four favourite angels to place Him within His own house, and to guard Him three days; that they and they only might see Him, who believed in His doctrine. Jesus descended, surrounded with light, into the house of His mother, where were the two sisters, Martha and Mary, and Lazarus, and he that writeth, and John and James, and Peter. And when they saw Him, they fell with their faces on the earth as if dead. And Jesus lifted them up, saying, Fear not, for I am your Master. Lament not henceforth, for I am alive. They were astonished at seeing Jesus, because they thought Him dead. And Mary weeping said, Tell me, my Son, why, if God gave Thee power to raise up the dead, did He consent that Thou shouldest die, with so much reproach and shame to Thy relations and friends, and so much hurt to Thy doctrine, leaving us all in desolation? Jesus replied, embracing His mother, Believe me, for I tell thee the truth, I have not been dead; for God has reserved Me for the end of the world. In saying this He desired the angels to manifest themselves, and to tell how He had passed through everything. At the instant they appeared like four suns; and all present prostrated themselves on the ground, overcome by the presence of the angels. And Jesus gave to all of them something to cover themselves with, that they might be able to hear the angels speak.

“And Jesus said to His mother, These are the Ministers of God. Gabriel knows His secrets; Michael fights with His enemies; Asrafiel will cite all to judgment; and Azrael receives the souls. And the holy angels told how they had, by the command of God, taken up Jesus, and transformed Judas, that he might suffer the punishment which he wished to bring on Jesus. And he that writeth said, Is it lawful for me to ask of Thee, in the same manner as when thou wast in the world? And Jesus answered, Speak, Barnabas, what thou wishest.

“And he said, I wish that Thou wouldest tell me how God, being so compassionate, could afflict us so much, in giving us to understand that Thou wast he that suffered, for we have been very near dying? And Thou being a prophet, why did He suffer Thee to fall under disgrace, by (apparently) placing Thee on a cross, and between two robbers? Jesus answered, Believe Me, Barnabas, let the fault be ever so small God chastiseth it with much punishment. And as my mother and faithful disciples loved me with a little earthly love, God chastised that love by this grief; that He might not chastise it in the other world. And though I was innocent, yet as they called Me God, and His Son, that the devils might not mock Me on the Day of Judgment, He has chosen that I should be mocked in this world.

“And this mocking shall last till the holy Messenger of God (i.e. Muḥammad) shall come, who shall undeceive all believers. And then He said, Just art Thou, O God! and to Thee only belongeth the honour and glory, with worship, for ever.” (Chapter 221.)

“And then He said, Barnabas, that thou by all means write my gospel, relating everything which has happened in the world concerning Me; and let it be done exactly; in order that the faithful may be undeceived, knowing the truth. He that writeth said, Master, I will do it as Thou commandest me, God willing: but I did not see all that happened with Judas. Jesus answered, Here stand Peter and John, who saw it, and will relate it to thee.

“And He told James and John to call the seven apostles who were absent, and Nicodemus, and Joseph Abarimatheas (sic), and some of the seventy-two disciples. When they were come, they did eat with Him; and on the third day He commanded them all to go to the mount of Olives with His mother: because He was to return to heaven. All the apostles and disciples went, except twenty-five of the seventy-two, who had fled to Damascus with fear. And exactly at mid-day, while they were all in prayer, Jesus came with many angels (blessing God), with so much brightness that they all bent their faces to the ground. And Jesus raised them up, saying, Fear not your Master, who comes to take leave of you; and to recommend you to God our Lord, by the mercies received from His bounty: and be He with you!

“And upon this He disappeared with the angels; all of us remaining amazed at the great brightness in which he left us.” (Chapter 222.)

AL-BARR (البر‎). One of the ninety-nine special names of God. In its ordinary sense it means “pious,” or “good.” As applied to God, it means “The Beneficent One.”

BARTER. [[BAIʿ].]

BARZAK͟H (برزخ‎). (1) A thing that intervenes between any two things; a bar; an obstruction; or a thing that makes a separation between two things. In which sense it is used in the Qurʾān in two places. [Sūrah xxv. 55], “He hath put an interspace between them (i.e. the two seas), and a barrier which it is forbidden them to pass.” [Sūrah lv. 20], “Yet between them (the two seas) is a barrier.”

(2) The interval between the present life and that which is to come. See Qurʾān, [Sūrah xxiii. 99], “And say, My Lord, I seek refuge with Thee from the incitings of the devils, and I seek refuge with Thee from their presence. Until when death comes to any one of them, he says, My Lord! send me back (to life), if haply I may do right in that which I have left. Not so! A mere word that he speaks! But behind them there is barzak͟h (a bar), until the day when they shall be raised. And when the trumpet shall be blown, there shall be no relation between them on that day, nor shall they beg of each other then.” Upon this verse the commentator Baiẓāwī says: “Barzak͟h is an intervening state (ḥāʾil, ‘a barrier’) between death and the Day of Judgment, and whoever dies enters it.” The commentator Ḥusain remarks: “Barzak͟h is a partition (māniʿ) between the living and the Day of Judgment, namely, the grave in which they will remain until the resurrection.” The commentators al-Jalālain speak of it as a ḥājiz, or intervening state between death and judgment. ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq in his Dictionary of Technical Terms of the Ṣūfīs (Sprenger’s Edition), gives a similar definition.

The word is employed by Muḥammadan writers in at least two senses, some using it for the place of the dead, the grave, and others for the state of departed souls between death and judgment.

The condition of believers in the grave is held to be one of undisturbed rest, but that of unbelievers one of torment; for Muḥammad is related to have said, “There are appointed for the grave of the unbeliever ninety-nine serpents to bite him until the Day of Resurrection.” (Mishkāt, i. c. 5, p. 12.) The word seems generally to be used in the sense of Hades, for every person who dies is said to enter al-Barzak͟h.

BAʿS̤ (بعث‎). Lit. “Raising.” (1) The Day of Resurrection. (2) The office of a messenger or prophet.

BASE MONEY. The sale of one pure dirham and two base ones in exchange for two pure dirhams and one base one is lawful. By two base ones (g͟halat̤ain), are to be understood such as pass amongst merchants but are rejected at the public treasury. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. 560.)

AL-BAṢĪR (البصير‎). One of the ninety-nine special names of God. It frequently occurs in the Qurʾān, and means “The All-seeing One.”

BAṢĪRAH (بصيرة‎). Lit. “Penetration.” The sight of the heart as distinguished from the sight of the eye (Baṣārah or Baṣar). A term used by theologians to express that enlightenment of the heart “whereby the spiritual man can understand spiritual things with as much certainty as the natural man can see objects with the sight of the eye.” The word occurs twice in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xii. 108], “This is my way; I cry unto God, resting on clear evidence;” [Sūrah lxxv. 14], “A man shall be evidence against himself.”

AL-BĀSIT̤ (الباسط‎). One of the ninety-nine special names of God. It means “He who spreads, or stretches out,” and occurs in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xiii. 15]. As applied to God, it means, “He who dispenses riches,” &c.

BASTARD (ولد الزنا‎, waladu ʾz-zinā). An illegitimate child has, according to Muḥammadan law, no legal father, and consequently the law does not allow the father to interfere with his illegitimate child, even for the purposes of education. He cannot inherit the property of his father, but he is acknowledged as the rightful heir of his mother (Baillie’s Digest, p. 432). The evidence of a bastard is valid, because he is innocent with respect to the immorality of his parents; but the Imām Mālik maintains that his testimony is not to be accepted with respect to a charge of whoredom. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. 692.)

BATHING. The Arabic term for ordinary bathing is (غسل‎) g͟hasl, and that for the religious purification of the whole body g͟husl. In all large mosques, and in most respectable dwellings in Muḥammadan countries, there are bathing-rooms erected, both for the ordinary purposes of bathing and for the religious purification. An account of the legal purification will be found in the article [GHUSL]. Although purifications and bathing form so essential a part of the Muslim religion, cleanliness does not distinguish Muḥammadans, who are generally in this respect a striking contrast to their Hindū fellow subjects in India. According to the saying of Muḥammad, decency should be observed in bathing, and the clothes from the waist downwards should not be taken off at such times. (Mishkāt, ii. c. iv.)

BĀT̤IL (باطل‎). That which is false in doctrine.

AL-BĀT̤IN (الباطن‎). (1) One of the ninety-nine special names of God. It means “that which is hidden or concealed,” “The Hidden One,” or “He that knows hidden things.” (2) A term used in theology for that which is hidden in its meaning, in contradistinction to that which is evident.

BATŪL (بتول‎). Lit. “A shoot or offset of a palm-tree cut off from its mother tree;” “a virgin” (as cut off or withheld from men). The term al-Batūl is applied to Fāt̤imah, the daughter of Muḥammad, because she was separated from the other women of her age by her excellences. Heb. ‏בְּתוּלָה‎ Bethūlāh.

BĀʿŪS̤ (باعوث‎). A Syriac word, ‏בָּעוּתָא‎ (i.e. “petition, prayer”), which, in the dictionary al-Qāmūs, is said to mean the Christian Easter; and also prayers for rain, or the Istisqā of the Christians. (Majmu ʾl-Biḥār, p. 101.)

BĀẔAQ or BĀẔIQ (باذق‎). A prohibited liquor. The juice of the grape boiled until a quantity less than two-thirds evaporates.

BEARD. Arabic لحية‎ liḥyah or ذقن‎ ẕaqan. The beard is regarded by Muslims as the badge of the dignity of manhood. The Prophet is related to have said, “Do the opposite of the polytheists and let your beard grow long.” (Mishkāt, xx. iv.) And the growing of a beard is said to be Fit̤rah, or one of those customs which have been observed by every Prophet. [[FITRAH].]

BEAUTY, Female. “The maiden, whose loveliness inspires the most impassioned expression in Arabic poetry and prose, is celebrated for her slender figure; she is like the cane among plants, and is elegant as the twig of the oriental willow. Her face is like the full moon, presenting the strongest contrast to the colour of her hair, which (to preserve the nature of the simile just employed) is of the deepest hue of night, and descends to the middle of her back. A rosy blush overspreads the centre of each cheek; and a mole is considered an additional charm. The Arabs, indeed, are particularly extravagant in their admiration of this natural beauty-spot, which, according to its place, is compared to a globule of ambergris upon a dish of alabaster, or upon the surface of a ruby. The eyes of the Arab beauty are intensely black, large, and long, of the form of an almond; they are full of brilliancy; but this is softened by a lid slightly depressed, and by long silken lashes, giving a tender and languid expression, which is full of enchantment, and scarcely to be improved by the adventitious aid of the black border of the kuḥl; for this the lovely maiden adds rather for the sake of fashion than necessity, having what the Arabs term natural kuḥl. The eye-brows are thin and arched, the forehead is wide, and fair as ivory; the nose straight, the mouth small; the lips are of a brilliant red, and the teeth “like pearls set in coral.” The forms of the bosom are compared to two pomegranates; the waist is slender; the hips are wide and large; the feet and hands small; the fingers tapering, and their extremities dyed with the deep orange-red tint imparted by the leaves of ḥinnā.”

The following is the most complete analysis of Arabian beauty, given by an unknown author, quoted by Al-Isḥāqī:—

“Four things in a woman should be black: the hair of the head, the eye-brows, the eye-lashes, and the dark part of the eyes; four white: the complexion of the skin, the white of the eyes, the teeth, and the legs; four red: the tongue, the lips, the middle of the cheeks, and the gums; four round: the head, the neck, the fore-arms, and the ankles; four long: the back, the fingers, the arms, and the legs; four wide: the forehead, the eyes, the bosom, and the hips; four fine: the eye-brows, the nose, the lips, and the fingers; four thick: the lower part of the back, the thighs, the calves of the legs, and the knees; four small: the ears, the breasts, the hands, and the feet.” (Lane’s Arabian Nights, vol. i. p. 25.)

BEGGING. It is not lawful for any person possessing sufficient food for a day and night to beg (Durru ʾl-Muk͟htār, p. 108), and it is related that the Prophet said: “Acts of begging are scratches and wounds with which a man wounds his own face.” “It is better for a man to take a rope and bring in a bundle of sticks to sell than to beg.” “A man who continues to beg will appear in the Day of Judgment without any flesh on his face.” (Mishkāt, Book vi. chap. v.)

BEINGS. According to Muḥammadan belief, there are three different species of created intelligent beings: (1) Angels (Malāʾikah), who are said to be created of light; (2) Genii (Jinn), who are created of fire; (3) Mankind (Insān), created of earth. These intelligent beings are called Ẕawū ʾl-ʿUqūl, or “Rational beings,” whilst “unintelligent beings” are called G͟hair Ẕawū ʾl-ʿUqūl. Ḥayawāni-Nāt̤iq is also a term used for rational beings (who can speak), and Ḥayawāni-ʿAjam for all irrational creatures. [[JINN].]

BELIEVERS. The terms used for believers are—Muʾmin, pl. Muʾminūn; and Muslim, pl. Muslimūn. The difference expressed in these two words is explained in the Traditions, in a Ḥadīs̤ given in the Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim (p. 27), where it is recorded by ʿUmar, as having been taught by Muḥammad, that a Muʾmin is one who has īmān, or “faith;” Faith being a sincere belief in God, His angels, His inspired books, His prophets, the Day of Resurrection, and the predestination of good and evil; and that a Muslim is one who is resigned and obedient to the will of God, and bears witness that there is no god but God, and that Muḥammad is His Apostle, and is steadfast in prayer, and gives zakāt, or “legal alms,” and fasts in the month of Ramaẓān, and makes a pilgrimage to the Temple (Bait) at Makkah, if he have the means.

The rewards in store for the believer are as follows (see Sūratu ʾl-Baqarah, [Sūrah ii. 76]):—

“They who have believed and done the things that be right, they shall be the inmates of Paradise,—therein to abide for ever.”

Sūratu ʾn-Nisā, [Sūrah iv. 60]:—

“Those who have believed, and done the things that are right, we will bring them into gardens ’neath which the rivers flow—therein to abide eternally; therein shall they have wives of stainless purity: and we will bring them into shadowing shades.”

Sūratu ʾl-Aʿrāf, [Sūrah vii. 40]:—

“Those who have believed and done the things which are right, (we will lay on no one a burden beyond his power)—these shall be inmates of Paradise: for ever shall they abide therein;

“And will we remove whatever rancour was in their bosoms; rivers shall roll at their feet; and they shall say, ‘Praise be to God who hath guided us hither! We had not been guided had not God guided us! Of a surety the Apostles of our Lord came to us with truth.’ And a voice shall cry to them, ‘This is Paradise, of which, as the meed of your works, ye are made heirs.’

“And the inmates of Paradise shall cry to the inmates of the Fire, ‘Now have we found what our Lord promised us to be true. Have ye too found what your Lord promised you to be true?’ And they shall answer, ‘Yes.’

“And a Herald shall proclaim between them: ‘The curse of God be upon the evil doers, who turn men aside from the way of God, and seek to make it crooked, and who believe not in the life to come!’

“And between them shall be a partition; and on the wall al-Aʿrāf, shall be men who will know all, by their tokens, and they shall cry to the inmates of Paradise, ‘Peace be on you!’ but they shall not yet enter it, although they long to do so.

“And when their eyes are turned towards the inmates of the Fire, they shall say, ‘O our Lord! place us not with the offending people.’

“And they who are upon al-Aʿrāf shall cry to those whom they shall know by their tokens, ‘Your amassings and your pride have availed you nothing.

“ ‘Are these they on whom ye sware God would not bestow mercy? Enter ye into Paradise! where no fear shall be upon you, neither shall ye put to grief.’

“And the inmates of the Fire shall cry to the inmates of Paradise: ‘Pour upon us some water, or of the refreshments God hath given you!’ They shall say, ‘Truly God hath forbidden both to unbelievers.’”

For a further description of the Muḥammadan future state the reader is referred to the article [PARADISE], which deals more directly with the sensual character of the heaven supposed to be in store for the believer in the mission of Muḥammad.

The following is a description of the believer which is given in the Qurʾān, Sūratu ʾl-Muʾminīn, the XXIIIrd Sūrah, v. [1]:—

“Happy now the Believers,

Who humble themselves in their prayer,

And who keep aloof from vain words,

And who are doers of alms-deeds (zakāt),

And who restrain their appetites,

(Save with their wives, or the slaves whom their right hands possess; for in that case they shall be free from blame:

But they whose desires reach further than this are transgressors:)

And who tend well their trusts and their covenants,

And who keep them strictly to their prayers:

These shall be the heritors, who shall inherit Paradise, to abide therein for ever.”

BELLS. [[NAQUS].]

BENEFICE. [[WAQF].]

BENEFICENCE (Arabic سماحة‎ samāḥah) is commended by Muḥammad as one of the evidences of faith. (Mishkāt, Book i. c. i. part 3.)

ʿAmr ibn ʿAbaratah relates: “I came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Prophet, what is Islām?’ And he said, ‘It is purity of speech and hospitality.’ I then said, ‘And what is faith?’ And he said, ‘Patience and beneficence.’”

BENJAMIN. Heb. ‏בִּנְיָמִין‎, Arabic بنيامين‎ Binyāmīn. The youngest of the children of Jacob. He is not mentioned by name in the Qurʾān, but he is referred to in [Sūrah xii. 69], “And when they entered in unto Joseph, he took his brother (i.e. Benjamin) to stay with him. He said Verily I am thy brother, then take not that ill which they have been doing. And when he had equipped them with their equipment, he placed the drinking-cup in his brother’s pack,” &c. [[JOSEPH].]

BEQUESTS. Arabic وصية‎ waṣīyah, pl. waṣāyā. A bequest or will can be made verbally, although it is held to be better to execute it in writing. Two lawful witnesses are necessary to establish either a verbal bequest or a written will. A bequest in favour of a stranger to the amount of one-third of the whole property, is valid, but a bequest to any amount beyond that is invalid, unless the heirs give their consent. If a person make a bequest in favour of another from whom he has received a mortal wound, it is not valid, and if a legatee slay his testator the bequest in his favour is void. A bequest made to part of the heirs is not valid unless the other heirs give their consent. The bequest of a Muslim in favour of an unbeliever, or of an unbeliever in favour of a Muslim, is valid. If a person be involved in debt, legacies bequeathed by him are not lawful. A bequest in favour of a child yet unborn is valid, provided the fœtus happen to be less than six months old at the time of the making of the will.

If a testator deny his bequest, and the legatee produce witnesses to prove it, it is generally held not to be a retractation of it. If a person on his death-bed emancipate a slave, it takes effect after his death.

If a person will that “the pilgrimage incumbent on him be performed on his behalf after his death,” his heirs must depute a person for the purpose, and supply him with the necessary expenses. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. iv. 466.)

BESTIALITY is said by Muslim jurists to be the result of the most vitiated appetite and the utmost depravity of sentiment. But if a man commit it, he does not incur the Ḥadd, or stated punishment, as the act is not considered to have the properties of whoredom; the offender is to be punished by a discretionary correction (Taʿẕīr). According to Muslim law, the beast should be killed, and if it be of an eatable species, it should be burnt. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. 27.) Obs. According to the Mosaic code, a man guilty of this crime was surely to be put to death. ([Ex. xviii. 19].)

BETROTHAL. [[KHITBAH].]

BĪʿAH (بيعة‎). A Christian church. The word occurs in a tradition in the Mishkāt (iv. c. vii. 2), and is translated by ʿAbdu ʾl-Ḥaqq “Kalīsah.” [[CHURCH].]

BIDʿAH (بدعة‎). A novelty or innovation in religion; heresy; schism.

BIER. Arabic جنازة‎ jināzah and janāzah. The same word is used for the corpse, the bier, and the funeral. In most Muḥammadan countries the ordinary charpoy, or “bedstead,” is used for the bier, which, in the case of a female, is covered with a canopy. [[BURIAL].]

BIHISHT (بهشت‎). The Persian word for the celestial regions. [[PARADISE], [JANNAH], [FIRDAUS].]

BILĀDU ʾL-ISLĀM (بلاد الاسلام‎). “The countries of Islām.” A term used in Muḥammadan law for Muslim countries. It is synonymous with the term Dāru ʾl-Islām. [[DARU ʾL-ISLAM].]

BILĀL (بلال‎). The first Muʾaẕẕin or caller to prayer appointed by Muḥammad. He was an Abyssinian slave who had been ransomed by Abū Bakr. He was tall, dark, and gaunt, with negro features and bushy hair. Muḥammad honoured and distinguished him as the “first fruits of Abyssinia.” He survived the Prophet.

BILQĪS (بلقيس‎). The Queen of Sabaʾ, who visited Solomon and became one of his queens. An account of her, as it is given in the Qurʾān, will be found in the story of King Solomon. [[SOLOMON].]

BINT LABŪN (بنت لبون‎). “The daughter of a milk-giver.” A female camel two years old; so called because the mother is then suckling another foal. The proper age for a camel given in zakāt, or “legal alms,” for camels from thirty-six in number up to forty-five.

BINT MAK͟HĀẒ (بنت مخاض‎). “The daughter of a pregnant.” A female camel passed one year; so called because the mother is again pregnant. This is the proper age for a camel given in zakāt, or “alms,” for camels from twenty-five in number up to thirty-five.

BIOGRAPHERS OF MUḤAMMAD. Although the Qurʾān may be said to be the key-stone to the biography of Muḥammad, yet it contains but comparatively few references to the personal history of the Prophet. The Traditions, or Aḥādīs̤, form the chief material for all biographical histories. [[TRADITION].] The first who attempted to compile an account of Muḥammad in the form of a history, was az-Zuhrī, who died A.H. 124, and whose work, no longer extant, is mentioned by Ibn K͟hallikān. The earliest biographical writers whose works are extant are—Ibn Isḥāq, A.H. 151; Al-Wāqidī, A.H. 207; Ibn Hishām, A.H. 218; Al-Buk͟hārī (history), A.H. 256; At̤-T̤abarī, A.H. 310. Amongst more recent biographies, the most noted are those by Ibnu ʾl-Aṣīr, A.H. 630, and Ismāʿīl Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ, A.H. 732. Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ’s work was translated into Latin by John Gagnier, Professor of Arabic at Oxford, A.D. 1723, and into English by the Rev. W. Murray, Episcopal clergyman at Duffus in Scotland, and published (without date) at Elgin. The first life of Muḥammad published in English is that by Dean Prideaux, which first appeared in 1723, and afterwards passed through several editions. Dr. Sprenger commenced a life of Muḥammad in English, and printed the first part at Allahabad, India, A.D. 1851; but it was never completed. The learned author afterwards published the whole of his work in German, at Berlin, 1869. The only complete life of Muḥammad in English which has any pretension to original research, is the well-known Life of Mahomet, by Sir William Muir, LL.D. (First Edition, four vols., London. 1858–61; Second Edition, one vol., London. 1877).

BIOGRAPHY. A Dictionary of Biography is called اسماء الرجال‎ asmāʾu ʾr-rijāl (lit. “The Names of Men”). The most celebrated of these is, amongst Muslims, that by Ibn K͟hallikān, which has always been considered a work of the highest importance for the civil and literary history of the Muḥammadan people. Ibn K͟hallikān died A.H. 681 (A.D. 1282), but his dictionary received numerous additions from subsequent writers. It has been translated into English by MacGuckin De Slane (Paris, 1843).

BIRDS. It is commonly believed by the Muḥammadans that all kinds of birds, and many, if not all, beasts, have a language by which they communicate their thoughts to each other, and in the Qurʾān ([Sūrah xxvii. 16]) it is stated that King Solomon was taught the language of birds.

BIʾR ZAMZAM (بئر زمزم‎). The well of Zamzam. [[ZAM-ZAM].]

BIʾR MAʿŪNAH (بئر معونة‎). The well of Maʿūnah. A celebrated spot four marches from Makkah, where a party of Muḥammad’s followers were slain by the Banū ʿĀmir and Banū Sulaim. He professed to have received a special message from heaven regarding these martyrs, which runs thus:—“Acquaint our people that we have met our Lord. He is well pleased with us, and we are well pleased with Him.” It is a remarkable verse, as having for some reason or other been cancelled, and removed from the Qurʾān. (Muir’s Life of Mahomet, vol. iii. p. 207.)

BIRTH, Evidence of. According to the Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, if a married woman should claim to be the mother of a child, her claim is not to be valid unless the birth of the child is attested by the testimony of one woman. But in the case of a father, inasmuch as the claim of parentage is a matter which relates purely to himself, his testimony alone is to be accepted.

The testimony of the midwife alone is sufficient with respect to birth, but with regard to parentage, it is established by the fact of the mother of the child being the wife of the husband.

If the woman be in her ʿiddah [[ʿIDDAH]] from a complete divorce, the testimony of the midwife is not sufficient with respect to birth, but the evidence of two men, or of one man and two women, is requisite. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 134.)

It is also ruled that it is not lawful for a person to give evidence to anything which he has not seen, except in the cases of birth, death, and marriage. (Vol. ii. 676.)

BISHĀRAH (بشارة‎). [[BUSHRA].]

BĪ-SHARʿ (بى شرع‎). Lit. “Without the law.” A term applied to those mystics who totally disregard the teaching of the Qurʾān. Antinomians. [[SUFI].]

BISMILLĀH (بسم الله‎). Lit. “In the name of God.” An ejaculation frequently used at the commencement of any undertaking. There are two forms of the Bismillah:—

1. Bi-ʾsmi ʾllāhi ʾr-raḥmāni ʾr-raḥīm, i.e. “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” This is used at the commencement of meals, putting on new clothes, beginning any new work, and at the commencement of books. It occurs at the head of every chapter or sūrah in the Qurʾān, with the exception of the IXth (i.e. the Sūratu ʾl-Barāʾah).

2. Bi-ʾsmi ʾllāhi ʾllāhi ʾl-akbar, i.e. “In the name of God, God the Most Great.” Used at the time of slaughtering of animals, at the commencement of a battle, &c., the attribute of mercy being omitted on such occasions.

The formula Bi-ʾsmi ʾllāhi ʾr-raḥmāni ʾr-raḥīm is of Jewish origin. It was in the first instance taught to the Quraish by Umaiyah of T̤āʾif, the poet, who was a contemporary but somewhat older than Muḥammad, and who, during his mercantile journeys into Arabia Petræa and Syria, had made himself acquainted with the sacred books and doctrines of Jews and Christians. (Kitābu ʾl-Aghānī, 16, Delhi; quoted by Rodwell.)

BIẒĀʿAH (بضاعة‎). A share in a mercantile adventure. Property entrusted to another to be employed in trade.

BLACK STONE. [AL-HAJARU ʾL-ASWAD.]

BLASPHEMY. Arabic كفر‎ kufr. Lit. “to hide” (the truth). It includes a denial of any of the essential principles of Islām.

A Muslim convicted of blasphemy is sentenced to death in Muḥammadan countries. [[APOSTASY].]

BLEEDING. Arabic حجامة‎ ḥijāmah. The two great cures recommended by Muḥammad were blood-letting and drinking honey; and he taught that it was unlucky to be bled on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, the most lucky day being Tuesday, and the most lucky date the seventeenth of the month. (Mishkāt, xxi. c. 1.)

BLIND, The. Arabic أعمى‎ Aʿmā, pl. ʿUmyān. It is not incumbent upon a blind man to engage in Jihād, or a religious war. And, according to the Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, the evidence of a blind person is not admissible, but the Imām Zufar maintains that such evidence is lawful when it affects a matter in which hearsay prevails. Sales and purchases made by a blind person are lawful. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. pp. 141, 402, 682.)

BLOOD. The sale of blood is unlawful. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 428.)

BLOOD, The Avenger of. [[QISAS].]

BLOOD, Issue of. [[ISTIHAZAH].]

BOASTING. Arabic مفاخرة‎ mufāk͟harah. Muḥammad is related to have said, “I swear by God, a tribe must desist from boasting of their forefathers; for they are nothing more than coals from hell-fire (i.e. they were idolaters); and if you do not leave off boasting, verily you will be more hateful in the sight of God than a black-beetle. Mankind are all the sons of Adam, and Adam was of the earth.” (Mishkāt, xxii. c. 13.)

BOOKS OF MOSES. [[TAURAT].]

BOOKS, Stealing. The hand of a thief is not to be cut off for stealing a book, whatever be the subject of which it treats, because the object of the theft can only be the contents of the book, and not the book itself. But yet, it is to be observed, the hand is to be cut off for stealing “an account book,” because in this case it is evident that the object of the theft is not the contents of the book, but the paper and material of which the book is made. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. 92.)

BOOTS. [[SHOES].]

BREACH OF TRUST. Arabic خيانة‎ k͟hiyānah. The punishment of amputation of the hand is not inflicted for a breach of trust. And if a guest steal the property of his host whilst he is staying in his house, the hand is not cut off. Breach of trust in Muslim law being a less offence than ordinary theft, the punishment for breach of trust is left to the discretion of the judge. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. pp. 93–102.)

BRIBERY (Arabic رشوة‎ rishwah) is not mentioned in the Qurʾān. In the Fatāwā ʿĀlamgīrī it is stated that presents to magistrates are of various kinds; for example, if a present be made in order to establish a friendship, it is lawful; but if it be given to influence the decision of the judge in the donor’s favour, it is unlawful. It is also said, if a present be made to a judge from a sense of fear, it is lawful to give it, but unlawful to accept it. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 332.)

BUʿĀS̤, Battle of. Arabic حرب بعاث‎ Ḥarb Buʿās̤. A battle fought between the Banū K͟hazraj and Banū Aus, about six years before the flight of Muḥammad from Makkah.

BUHTĀN (بهتان‎). A false accusation; calumny.

The word occurs twice in the Qurʾān:—

[Sūrah iv. 112]: “Whoso commits a fault or sin, and throws it upon one who is innocent, he hath to bear calumny (buhtān) and manifest sin.”

[Sūrah xxiv. 15]: “And why did ye not say when ye heard it, ‘It is not for us to speak of this’? Celebrated be Thy praises, this is a mighty calumny (buhtān).” [[BACKBITING].]

BUKĀʾ (بكاء‎). Heb. ‏בָּכָה‎ he wept. Weeping and lamentation for the dead. Immoderate weeping and lamentation over the graves of the dead is clearly forbidden by Muḥammad, who is related to have said, “Whatever is from the eyes (i.e. tears), and whatever is from the heart (i.e. sorrow), are from God; but what is from the hands and tongue is from the devil. Keep yourselves, O women, from wailing, which is the noise of the devil.” (Mishkāt, v. c. vii.) The custom of wailing at the tombs of the dead is, however, common in all Muḥammadan countries. (See Arabian Nights, Lane’s Modern Egyptians, Shaw’s Travels in Barbary.) [[BURIAL].]

AL-BUK͟HĀRĪ (البخارى‎). A short title given to the well-known collection of Sunnī traditions by Abū ʿAbdu ʾllāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mug͟hīrah al-Juʿfī al-Buk͟hārī, who was born at Buk͟hārā, A.H. 194 (A.D. 810), and died at the village of K͟hartang near Samarqand, A.H. 256 (A.D. 870). His compilation comprises upwards of 7,000 traditions of the acts and sayings of the Prophet, selected from a mass of 600,000. His book is called the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Buk͟hārī, and is said to have been the result of sixteen years labour. It is said that he was so anxious to record only trustworthy traditions that he performed a prostration in worship before the Almighty before he recorded each tradition.

BUK͟HTU NAṢṢAR (بخت نصر‎). “Nebuchadnezzar.” It is thought by Jalālu ʾd-dīn that there is a reference to his army taking Jerusalem in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xvii. 8], “And when the threat for the last (crime) came (to be inflicted, we sent an enemy) to harm your faces, and to enter the temple as they entered it the first time.” The author of the Qāmūs says that Buk͟ht is “son,” and Naṣṣar, “an idol,” i.e. “the son of Naṣṣar.”

BŪLAS (بولس‎). “Despair.” The name of one of the chambers of hell, where the proud will drink of the yellow water of the infernal regions. (Mishkāt, xxii. c. 20.)

BURĀQ (براق‎). Lit. “The bright one.” The animal upon which Muḥammad is said to have performed the nocturnal journey called Miʿrāj. He was a white animal, between the size of a mule and an ass, having two wings. (Majmaʿu ʾl-Biḥār, p. 89.) Muḥammad’s conception of this mysterious animal is not unlike the Assyrian gryphon, of which Mr. Layard gives a sketch. [[MIʿRAJ].]

THE ASSYRIAN GRYPHON (Layard ii. 459).

BURGLARY is punished as an ordinary theft, namely by the amputation of the hand, but it is one of the niceties of Muḥammadan law, according to the Ḥanafī code, that if a thief break through the wall of the house, and enter therein, and take the property, and deliver it to an accomplice standing at the entrance of the breach, amputation of the hand is not incurred by either of the parties, because the thief who entered the house did not carry out the property. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. 103.)

BURIAL OF THE DEAD (جنازة‎ Jināzah or Janāzah). The term Janāzah is used both for the bier and for the Muḥammadan funeral service. The burial service is founded upon the practice of Muḥammad, and varies but little in different countries, although the ceremonies connected with the funeral procession are diversified. In Egypt and Buk͟hārā, for instance, the male relations and friends of the deceased precede the corpse, whilst the female mourners follow behind. In India and Afg͟hānistān, women do not usually attend funerals, and the friends and relatives of the deceased walk behind the bier. There is a tradition amongst some Muḥammadans that no one should precede the corpse, as the angels go before. Funeral processions in Afg͟hānistān are usually very simple in their arrangements, and are said to be more in accordance with the practice of the Prophet, than those of Egypt and Turkey. It is considered a very meritorious act to carry the bier, and four from among the near relations, every now and then relieved by an equal number, carry it on their shoulders. Unlike our Christian custom of walking slowly to the grave, the Muḥammadans carry their dead quickly to the place of interment; for Muḥammad is related to have said, that it is good to carry the dead quickly to the grave, to cause the righteous person to arrive soon at happiness, and if he be a bad man, it is well to put wickedness away from one’s shoulders. Funerals should always be attended on foot; for it is said that Muḥammad on one occasion rebuked his people for following on horse-back. “Have you no shame?” said he, “since God’s angels go on foot, and you go upon the backs of quadrupeds?” It is a highly meritorious act to attend a funeral, whether it be that of a Muslim, a Jew, or a Christian. There are, however, two traditions which appear to mark a change of feeling on the part of the Prophet of Arabia towards the Jews and Christians. “A bier passed by the Prophet, and he stood up; and it was said to the Prophet, this is the bier of a Jew. ‘It is the holder of a soul,’ he replied, ‘from which we should take warning and fear.’ ” This rule is said to have been abrogated, for, “on one occasion the Prophet was sitting on the road when a bier passed, and the Prophet disliked that the bier of a Jew should be higher than his head, and he therefore stood up.” (Mishkāt, v. c. v.) Notwithstanding these contradictory traditions, we believe that in all countries Muḥammadans are wont to pay great respect to the funerals of both Jews and Christians.

The Muḥammadan funeral service is not recited in the graveyard, it being too polluted a place for so sacred an office; but either in a mosque, or in some open space near the dwelling of the deceased person or the graveyard. The owner of the corpse, i.e. the nearest relative, is the proper person to recite the service; but it is usually said by the family Imām, or the Qāẓī.

The following is the order of the service:—

Some one present calls out,—

“Here begin the prayers for the dead.”

Then those present arrange themselves in three, five, or seven rows opposite the corpse, with their faces Qiblah-wards (i.e. towards Makkah). The Imām stands in front of the ranks opposite the head (the Shīʿahs stand opposite the loins of a man) of the corpse, if it be that of a male, or the waist, if it be that of a female.

The whole company having taken up the Qiyām, or standing position, the Imām recites the Nīyah.

“I purpose to perform prayers to God for this dead person, consisting of four Takbīrs.”

Then placing his hands to the lobes of his ears, he says the first Takbīr.

“God is great!”

Then folding his hands, the right hand placed upon the left, below the navel, he recites the Subḥān:—

“Holiness to Thee, O God,

And to Thee be praise.

Great is Thy Name.

Great is Thy Greatness.

Great is Thy Praise.

There is no deity but Thee.”

Then follows the second Takbīr:—

“God is great!”

Then the Durūd:—

“O God, have mercy on Muḥammad and upon his descendants, as Thou didst bestow mercy, and peace, and blessing, and compassion, and great kindness upon Abraham and upon his descendants.

“Thou art praised, and Thou art great!

“O God, bless Muḥammad and his descendants, as Thou didst bless and didst have compassion and great kindness upon Abraham and upon his descendants.”

Then follows the third Takbīr:—

“God is great!”

After which the following prayer (Duʿā) is recited:—

“O God, forgive our living and our dead and those of us who are present, and those who are absent, and our children, and our full grown persons, our men and our women. O God, those whom Thou dost keep alive amongst us, keep alive in Islām, and those whom Thou causest to die, let them die in the Faith.”

Then follows the fourth Takbīr:—

“God is great!”

Turning the head round to the right, he says:—

“Peace and mercy be to Thee.”

Turning the head round to the left, he says:—

“Peace and mercy be to Thee.”

The Takbīr is recited by the Imām aloud, but the Subḥān, the Salām, the Durūd, and the Duʿā, are recited by the Imām and the people in a low voice.

The people then seat themselves on the ground, and raise their hands in silent prayer in behalf of the deceased’s soul, and afterwards addressing the relatives they say, “It is the decree of God.” To which the chief mourner replies, “I am pleased with the will of God.” He then gives permission to the people to retire by saying, “There is permission to depart.”

Those who wish to return to their houses do so at this time, and the rest proceed to the grave. The corpse is then placed on its back in the grave, with the head to the north and feet to the south, the face being turned towards Makkah. The persons who place the corpse in the grave repeat the following sentence: “We commit thee to earth in the name of God and in the religion of the Prophet.”

The bands of the shroud having been loosed, the recess, which is called the laḥd, is closed in with unburnt bricks and the grave filled in with earth. [[GRAVE].] In some countries it is usual to recite verse [57] of the XXth Sūrah of the Qurʾān as the clods of earth are thrown into the grave; but this practice is objected to by the Wahhābīs, and by many learned divines. The verse is as follows:—

“From it (the earth) have We (God) created you, and unto it will We return you, and out of it will We bring you forth the second time.”

After the burial, the people offer a fātiḥah (i.e. the first chapter of the Qurʾān) in the name of the deceased, and again when they have proceeded about forty paces from the grave they offer another fātiḥah; for at this juncture, it is said, the two angels Munkar and Nakīr examine the deceased as to his faith. [[PUNISHMENTS OF THE GRAVE].] After this, food is distributed to beggars and religious mendicants as a propitiatory offering to God, in the name of the deceased person.

If the grave be for the body of a woman, it should be to the height of a man’s chest, if for a man, to the height of the waist. At the bottom of the grave the recess is made on the side to receive the corpse, which is called the lāḥid or laḥd. The dead are seldom interred in coffins, although they are not prohibited.

To build tombs with stones or burnt bricks, or to write a verse of the Qurʾān upon them, is forbidden in the Ḥadīs̤; but large stone and brick tombs are common to all Muḥammadan countries, and very frequently they bear inscriptions.

On the third day after the burial of the dead, it is usual for the relatives to visit the grave, and to recite selections from the Qurʾān. Those who can afford to pay Maulavīs, employ these learned men to recite the whole of the Qurʾān at the graves of their deceased relatives; and the Qurʾān is divided into sections to admit of its being recited by the several Maulavīs at once. During the days of mourning the relatives abstain from wearing any article of dress of a bright colour, and their soiled garments remain unchanged.

A funeral procession in Egypt is graphically described by Mr. Lane in his Modern Egyptians. We give the account as it contrasts strikingly with the simple processions of Sunnī Muḥammadans in India.

“The first persons are about six or more poor men, called ‘Yamanīyah,’ mostly blind, who proceed two and two, or three and three, together. Walking at a moderate pace, or rather slowly, they chant incessantly, in a melancholy tone, the profession of faith (‘There is no deity but God; Muhammad is God’s Apostle; God favour and preserve him!’). They are followed by some male relations and friends of the deceased, and, in many cases, by two or more persons of some sect of darweshes, bearing the flags of their order. This is a general custom at the funeral of a darwesh. Next follow three or four or more schoolboys; one of them carries a mus̤ḥaf (or copy of the Qurʾān), or a volume consisting of one of the thirty sections of the Qurʾān, placed upon a kind of desk formed of palm-sticks, and covered over, generally with an embroidered kerchief. These boys chant, in a higher and livelier voice than the Yamanīyah, usually some words of a poem called the Ḥashrīyah, descriptive of the events of the last day, the judgment, &c. The schoolboys immediately precede the bier, which is borne head-foremost. Three or four friends of the deceased usually carry it for a short distance; then three or four other friends bear it a little further; and then these are in like manner relieved. Casual passengers, also, often take part in this service, which is esteemed highly meritorious. Behind the bier walk the female mourners; sometimes a group of more than a dozen, or twenty; with their hair dishevelled, though generally concealed by the head-veil; crying and shrieking, as before described; and often, the hired mourners accompany them, celebrating the praises of the deceased. Among the women, the relations and domestics of the deceased are distinguished by a strip of linen or cotton stuff or muslin, generally blue, bound round the head, and tied in a single knot behind: the ends hanging down a few inches. Each of these also carries a handkerchief, usually dyed blue, which she sometimes holds over her shoulders, and at other times twirls with both hands over her head, or before her face. The cries of the women, the lively chanting of the youths, and the deep tones uttered by the Yamanīyah, compose a strange discord.

“The funeral procession of a man of wealth, or of a person of the middle classes, is sometimes preceded by three or four or more camels, bearing bread and water to give to the poor at the tomb, and is composed of a more numerous and varied assemblage of persons. The foremost of these are the Yamanīyah, who chant the profession of the faith, as described above. They are generally followed by some male friends of the deceased, and some learned and devout persons who have been invited to attend the funeral. Next follows a group of four or more faqīhs, chanting the ‘Sūratu ʾl-Anʿām’ (the VIth chapter of the Qurʾān); and sometimes, another group, chanting the ‘Sūratu Yā-sīn’ (the XXXVIth chapter); another, chanting the ‘Sūratu ʾl-Kahf’ (the XVIIIth chapter); and another chanting the ‘Sūratu ʾd-Duk͟hān’ (the XLIVth chapter). These are followed by some munshids, singing the ‘Burdah;’ and these by certain persons called ‘Aṣḥābu ʾl-Aḥzāb,’ who are members of religious orders founded by celebrated shaikhs. There are generally four or more of the order of the Ḥizbu ʾs-Sādāt, a similar group of the Ḥizbu ʾsh-Shāzilī, and another of the Ḥizbu ʾsh-Shaʿrāwī; each group chants a particular form of prayer. After them are generally borne two or more half-furled flags, the banners of one or other of the principal orders of darweshes. Then follow the school-boys, the bier, and the female mourners, as in the procession before described, and, perhaps, the led horses of the bearers, if these be men of rank. A buffalo, to be sacrificed at the tomb, where its flesh is to be distributed to the poor, sometimes closes the procession.

“The funeral of a devout shaikh, or of one of the great ʿUlamā, is still more numerously attended, and the bier of such a person is not covered with a shawl. A ‘walī’ is further honoured in his funeral by a remarkable custom. Women follow his bier, but, instead of wailing, as they would after the corpse of an ordinary mortal, they rend the air with the shrill and quavering cries of joy called ‘zaghārīt̤’; and if these cries are discontinued but for a minute, the bearers of the bier protest that they cannot proceed, that a supernatural power rivets them to the spot on which they stand. Very often, it is said, a ‘walī’ impels the bearers of his corpse to a particular spot. The following anecdote, describing an ingenious mode of puzzling a dead saint in a case of this kind, was related to me by one of my friends. Some men were lately bearing the corpse of a ‘walī’ to a tomb prepared for it in the great cemetery on the north of the metropolis, but on arriving at the gate called Bābu ʾn-Naṣr, which leads to the cemetery, they found themselves unable to proceed further, from the cause above-mentioned. ‘It seems,’ said one of the bearers, ‘that the shaikh is determined not to be buried in the cemetery of Bābu ʾn-Naṣr, and what shall we do?’ They were all much perplexed, but being as obstinate as the saint himself, they did not immediately yield to his caprice. Retreating a few paces, and then advancing with a quick step, they thought by such an impetus to force the corpse through the gateway; but their efforts were unsuccessful; and the same experiment they repeated in vain several times. They then placed the bier on the ground to rest and consult; and one of them, beckoning away his comrades to a distance beyond the hearing of the dead saint, said to them, ‘Let us take up the bier again, and turn it round several times till the shaikh becomes giddy; he then will not know in what direction we are going, and we may take him easily through the gate.’ This they did; the saint was puzzled as they expected, and quietly buried in the place which he had so striven to avoid.

“In the funerals of females and boys, the bier is usually only preceded by the Yamanīyah, chanting the profession of the faith, and by some male relations of the deceased; and followed by the female mourners; unless the deceased were of a family of wealth, or of considerable station in the world; in which case, the funeral procession is distinguished by some additional display. I shall give a short description of one of the most genteel and decorous funerals of this kind that I have witnessed: it was that of a young, unmarried lady. Two men, each bearing a large, furled, green flag, headed the procession, preceding the Yamanīyah, who chanted in an unusually low and solemn manner. These faqīrs, who were in number about eight, were followed by a group of fakīhs, chanting a chapter of the Qurʾān. Next after the latter was a man bearing a large branch of ‘Nabq’ (or lote-tree), an emblem of the deceased. On each side of him walked a person bearing a tall staff or cane, to the top of which were attached several hoops ornamented with strips of various coloured paper. These were followed by two Turkish soldiers, side by side, one bearing, on a small round tray, a gilt silver ‘qumqum’ of rose-water, and the other bearing, on a similar tray, a ‘mibk͟harah’ of gilt silver, in which some odoriferous substance (as benzoin, or frankincense) was burning. These vessels diffused the odour of their contents on the way, and were afterwards used to perfume the sepulchral vault. Passengers were occasionally sprinkled with the rose-water. Next followed four men, each of whom bore, upon a small tray, several small lighted tapers of wax, stuck in lumps of paste of ‘ḥinnā.’ The bier was covered with rich shawls, and its shāhid was decorated with handsome ornaments of the head, having, besides the ṣafā, a ‘quṣṣah almās’ (a long ornament of gold and diamonds worn over the forehead), and, upon its flat top, a rich diamond qurṣ. These were the jewels of the deceased, or were, perhaps, as is often the case, borrowed for the occasion. The female mourners, in number about seven or eight, clad in the usual manner of the ladies of Egypt (with the black silk covering, &c.), followed the bier, not on foot, as is the common custom in funerals in this country, but mounted on high-saddled asses; and only the last two or three of them were wailing; these being, probably, hired mourners. In another funeral procession of a female, the daughter of a Turk of high rank, the Yamanīyah were followed by six slaves, walking two by two. The first two slaves bore each a silver qumqum of rose-water, which they sprinkled on the passengers; and one of them honoured me so profusely as to wet my dress very uncomfortably; after which, he poured a small quantity into my hands; and I wetted my face with it, according to custom. Each of the next two bore a silver mibk͟harah, with perfume; and the other two carried a silver ʾāzqi (or hanging censer), with burning charcoal of frankincense. The jewels on the shāhid of the bier were of a costly description. Eleven ladies, mounted on high-saddled asses, together with several naddābahs, followed.”

BURNING THE DEAD. There is no express injunction, in either the Qurʾān or the Traditions, regarding the burning of dead bodies, although the burning of the living is strictly forbidden. For Muḥammad said, “Punish not with God’s punishment (which is fire), for it is not fit for anyone to punish with fire but God.” (Mishkāt, xiv. c. v. part 1.)

The teaching of the Traditions is that a dead body is as fully conscious of pain as a living body, for ʿĀyishah said, that the Prophet said, “The breaking of the bones of a corpse is the same as doing it in life.” (Mishkāt, v. c. vi. part 2.)

It is, therefore, pretty clearly established that cremation of the dead is strictly forbidden by the Muḥammadan religion. There is, however, nothing to confirm the impression that the burning of a corpse in any way prevents its soul entering paradise.

BURNING TO DEATH is strictly forbidden by Muslim law. ʿIkrimah relates that some apostates from Islām were brought to the K͟halīfah ʿAlī, and he burnt them; and when Ibn ʿAbbās heard of it, he said, “Had they been brought to me, I would not have burnt them; for the Prophet said, ‘Punish not with God’s punishment. Verily it is not fit for anyone to punish with fire but God.’ ” (Mishkāt, xiv. c. v. part 1.)

BURQAʿ (برقع‎). The veil or covering used for the seclusion of women when walking abroad. [[VEILING OF WOMEN].]

BURŪJ (بروج‎). Lit. “Towers,” which some interpret as real towers wherein the angels keep watch. A term used for the twelve signs of the zodiac. [[SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC].] Al-Burūj is the title of the LXXXVth Sūrah of the Qurʾān.

BURYING OF THE DEAD. It is said by commentators that God taught mankind to bury their dead when “God sent a crow to scratch the earth, to show him (Cain) how he might hide his brother’s body.” (Qurʾān, [Sūrah v. 34]; Tafsīr-i-Ḥusainī, in loco.) The custom of burying their dead is universal in Islām. The ceremonies connected with funerals will be found in the article on Burial. [[BURIAL].]

BURYING-GROUND. Arabic مقبرة‎ maqbarat or maqbarah, “The place of graves.” Persian Qabr-gāh, or Qabristān. They are sometimes spoken of by religious Muslims as Marqad, a “cemetery” or “sleeping-place,” but the name has not obtained a general application to burial-grounds in the East as it has in the West. They are generally situated outside the city, the graves being covered with pebbles, and distinguished by headstones, those on the graves of men being with a turban-like head. The graves are dug from north to south. The grave-yards are usually much neglected. The Wahhābīs hold it to be a meritorious act, in accordance with the injunctions of the Prophet, to neglect the graves of the dead, the erection of brick tombs being forbidden. (Hidāyah, Arabic ed., vol. i. p. 90.) A grave-yard does not become public property until the proprietor formally makes a gift or bequest of it. (Hidāyah, vol ii., p. 357.)

BUSHRĀ (بشرى‎). “Good news;” “the gospel.” A word used in the Traditions for the publication of Islām. (Mishkāt, xxiv. c. i.) “Accept good news, O ye sons of Tamīm,” which ʿAbdu ʾl-Ḥaqq says means “embrace Islām.”

BUYING. [[BAIʿ].]

BUZURG (بزرگ‎). Lit. “great.” A Persian word used in the East for a saintly person, an old man, or a person of rank.