N.
AN-NABAʾ (النباء). “The information.” The title of the LXXVIIIth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, in the second verse of which the word occurs: “Of the mighty information whereon they do dispute.”
NĀBĀLIG͟H (نابالغ). A Persian term used for a minor. [[PUBERTY].]
NABBĀSH (نباش). A plunderer or stripper of the dead. According to the Imāms Abū Yūsuf and ash-Shāfiʿī, the hand of a plunderer of the dead should be struck off, but Abū Ḥanīfah and the Imām Muḥammad are of the contrary opinion. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 94.)
NABĪ (نبى). Heb. נָבִיא. A prophet. One who has received direct inspiration (waḥy) by means of an angel, or by the inspiration of the heart (ilhām); or has seen the things of God in a dream. (Vide Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrīfāt.) A rasūl, or “messenger,” is one who has received a book through the angel Gabriel. [[PROPHETS].]
NABĪẔ (نبيذ). A kind of wine made from dates, which is lawful. (Hidāyah, vol. iv. p. 155.)
NĀD-I-ʿALĪ (ناد على). Persian. An amulet on which is inscribed a prayer to ʿAlī. It is much used by the Shīʿahs, and runs thus:—
“Cry aloud to ʿAlī, who is the possessor of wonders!
From him you will find help from trouble!
He takes away very quickly all grief and anxiety!
By the mission of Muḥammad and his own sanctity!”
NAFAQAH (نـفـقـة). [[MAINTENANCE].]
AN-NĀFIʿ (النافع). “The Profiter.” One of the ninety-nine names or attributes of God. It does not occur in the Qurʾān.
NĀFIʿ (نافع). A slave belonging to Ibn ʿUmar. Many traditions have been handed down by him, and his authority is highly respected. Died, A.H. 117.
NAFK͟H (نفخ). “Blowing.” The blast on the Day of Judgment which will be sounded by Isrāfīl.
NAFL (نفل). “A voluntary act.” A term applied to such acts of devotion as are not enjoined by the teaching of Muḥammad, or by his example. A work of supererogation. [[PRAYER].]
NAFS̤ (نفث). Blowing as a necromancer when making incantations.
(1) It occurs in this sense in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah cxiii. 4]: “I seek refuge … from the evil of the blowers upon knots.” Referring to those witches who make knots in a string and blow upon them, uttering some incantation.
(2) It is also used for the inspiration which Muḥammad professed to have received from Gabriel. (Majmaʿu ʾl-Biḥār, p. 376.)
NAFS (نفس). Animal life; soul; substance; desire. A word which occurs in the Qurʾān and the Traditions for the human conscience. [[CONSCIENCE].]
NAFSĀʾ (نفساء). A woman in the condition of nifās, or the period after childbirth.
NAHJU ʾL-BALĀG͟HAH (نـهـج البلاغة). “The Road of Eloquence.” A celebrated book of Muḥammadan traditions compiled by ash-Sharīf Abū ʾl-Qāṣim al-Murtaẓā, A.H. 406, or his brother ash-Sharīf ar-Raẓī al-Bag͟hdādī. (See Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn, vol. vi. p. 406.)
AN-NAḤL (النحل). “The Bee.” The title of the XVIth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, in the 70th verse of which the word occurs: “And thy Lord inspired the bee.”
NAḤR (نحر). The lawful slaughtering of a camel, namely, by spearing it in the hollow of the throat, near the breast-bone. (Hidāyah, vol. iv. p. 72.)
NĀʾIB (نائب). A deputy, a lieutenant. A K͟halīfah is the nāʾib, or lieutenant, of Muḥammad. It is also used for the Viceroy of Egypt, who is the nāʾib, or deputy, of the Sult̤ān. (Lane’s Arabian Nights, Intro. p. 8.)
NAJĀSAH (نجاسة). A legal term for an impurity of any kind.
NAJĀSHĪ (نجاشى). Negus. The King of Abyssinia, often mentioned in the history of Muḥammad. At̤-T̤abarī, in his history, p. 127, says: “Now a just king was there (Abyssinia) named an-Najāshī. It was a land where the Quraish used to do merchandise, because they found abundance of food, protection, and good traffic.” (Muir’s Life of Mahomet, vol. ii. p. 133.)
NAJD (نجد). “High.” The highlands of Arabia. The name of the central province of Arabia. One of its cities, Riyāẓ, is celebrated as the seat of the Wahhābīs. (See Central and Eastern Arabia, by W. G. Palgrave, London, 1865; Journey to the Wahabee Capital, by Colonel Lewis Pelly, Bombay, 1866.)
AN-NĀJIYAH (الناجية). “The Saved.” A term given to the orthodox sect of Muḥammadans, and consequently each sect arrogates to itself the title of an-Nājiyah, or “the saved.”
AN-NAJJĀRĪYAH (النجارية). A sect of Muḥammadans founded by Muḥammad ibn Ḥusain an-Najjār, who agreed with the Muʿtazilah in rejecting all eternal attributes of God, to avoid distinction of persons as taught by the Christians, and in holding that the Word of God was created in subjecto (as the schoolmen term it), and to consist of letters and sound, and that God will not be seen in Paradise with the corporeal eye; but they did not receive the doctrines of that sect with regard to the decrees and predestination of God, but held the views of the orthodox party on this subject. According to the Sharḥu ʾl-Muwāqif, they are divided into three sects, viz.: Burg͟hūs̤īyah, Zaʿfarānīyah, and Mustadrikah.
AN-NAJM (النجم). “The Star.” The title of the LIIIrd Sūrah of the Qurʾān, which begins with the words, “By the star when it falls.”
NAJRĀN (نجران). A district between Yaman and Najd, inhabited by a Christian tribe, whose endurance and constancy in their Christian belief are the subject of the following verses in the Qurʾān. [Sūrah lxxxv. 4–11]. (The verses are said to have been revealed at an early date, and indicate Muḥammad’s kind feeling towards the Christians):—
“Cursed be the diggers of the pit,
“Of the fuel-fed fire,
“When they sat around it
“Witnesses of what they inflicted on the believers!
“Nor did they torment them but for their faith in God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy:
“His the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; and God is the witness of everything.
“Verily, those who vexed the believers, men and women, and repented not, doth the torment of Hell, and the torment of the burning, await.
“But for those who shall have believed and done the things that be right, are the Gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow. This is the immense bliss!”
Sir William Muir gives the following account of the persecution:—
“Dzu Nowâs was a votary of Judaism, which he is said to have embraced on a visit to Medîna. This creed he supported with an intolerant and proselytizing adherence, which at last proved fatal to his kingdom. His bigotry was aroused by the prevalence and success of Christianity in the neighbouring province of Najrân; and he invaded it with a large army. The Christians offered a strenuous resistance, but yielded at length to the treacherous promise that no ill would be done to them. They were offered the choice of Judaism or death, and those who remained constant to the faith of Jesus were cruelly massacred. Deep trenches were dug and filled with combustible materials; the pile was lighted, and the Christian martyrs cast headlong into the flame. The number thus miserably burned, or slain by the sword, is stated at no less than twenty thousand.
“However much the account of this melancholy carnage may have been exaggerated, there can be no doubt of the cruel and bloody character of the tyrant’s administration in Najrân.
“News of the proceedings reached the Emperor Justin I., through his ambassador at Hîra, to which court Dzu Nowâs had exultingly communicated tidings of his triumph. One of the intended victims, Dous dzu Tholabân, also escaped to Constantinople, and holding up a half-burnt gospel, invoked, in the name of outraged Christendom, retribution upon the oppressor. The Emperor was moved, and indited a despatch to the Najâshi, or Prince of the Abyssinians, desiring him to take vengeance upon the barbarous Nimyarite. Immediately an armament was set on foot, and in a short time seventy thousand warriors embarked in thirteen hundred merchant ships or transports, crossed the narrow gulph which separates Yemen from Adulis. Dzu Nowâs was defeated. In despair, he urged his horse into the sea, and expiated in the waves the inhumanities of his career. The Abyssinian victory occurred in 525 A.D.” (Life of Mahomet, 1st ed., Intro., p. clxii.)
NAJSH (نجش). “Exciting; stirring up.” The practice of enhancing the price of goods, by making a tender for them without any intention of buying, but merely to incite others to offer a higher price. It is forbidden by Muḥammadan law. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 46.)
NAK͟Hʿ (نخع). The Banū ʾn-Nak͟hʿ, an Arabian tribe, the descendants of Qahlān, subdued by ʿAlī during the lifetime of Muḥammad, A.H. 10. Two hundred of this tribe came to tender their allegiance to the Prophet, it being the last deputation received by him. (Muir’s Life of Mahomet, new ed., p. 477.)
NAK͟HLAH (نخلة). A valley about midway between Makkah and at̤-T̤āʾif, famous as the scene of the first expedition planned by Muḥammad against Makkah in which blood was shed. (See Muir’s Life of Mahomet, new ed., p. 216 et seq.)
NĀKIḤ (ناكح). A legal term for a married man; a married woman is termed mankūḥah (منكوحة). The legal term for an unmarried person is ʾazab (عزب).
NAKĪR (نكير). One of the angels who interrogate the dead. [[MUNKAR AND NAKIR].]
NAMĀZ (نماز). The Persian and Hindūstānī term for ṣalāt, the Muḥammadan liturgical prayer. [[PRAYER].]
NAMES, SURNAMES. Arabic Ism (اسم), Laqab (لقب), Kunyah (كنية). The teaching of Muḥammad very greatly influenced the nomenclature of his followers, as is evident from the chapter devoted to the Traditions on the subject in the Mishkātu ʾl-Masābiḥ, entitled “Bābu ʾl-Asāmī,” book xxii. ch. viii., from which are extracted the following traditional sayings of Muḥammad:—
“The best names in the sight of God are ʿAbdu ʾllāh (the servant of God), ʿAbdu ʾr-Raḥmān (the servant of the Merciful One).”
“You must not name your slaves Yasār (abundance), Rabāḥ (gain), Najīḥ (prosperous), Aflaḥ (felicitous), because if you ask after one of these your domestic servants, and he be not present, the negative reply will express that abundance, or gain, or prosperity, or felicity, are not in your dwelling.”
“The vilest name you can give a human being is Maliku ʾl-Amlāk, or ‘King of Kings,’ because no one can be such but God Himself.”
“You must not say to your slaves, ‘My slave,’ or ‘My slave girl,’ for all your slaves are God’s, but say, ‘My boy,’ or ‘My girl,’ or ‘My youth,’ or ‘My lass.’ And a slave must not say to his master, Yā Rabbī! (i.e. My Lord!), but he may say to him Yā Saiyidī! (My Chief!).”
“Call your children after your Prophet (i.e. Muḥammad), but the names God likes best are ʿAbdu ʾllāh (servant of God), ʿAbdu ʾr-Raḥmān, and the next best names are Ḥāris̤ (husbandman), and Humām (high-minded). The worst of names is Ḥarb (enmity), or Murrah (bitterness).” [Heb. מָרָה, see [Ruth i. 20].]
Shuraiḥ ibn Hāniʾ relates that his father came to the Prophet with his tribe, and the Prophet heard them calling him Abū ʾl-Ḥakam. When the Prophet said, “Why do you call him so? Ḥakam, ‘Ruler,’ is an attribute of God.” And the Prophet ordered him to call himself Abū Shuraiḥ, i.e. the father of Shuraiḥ, his eldest son.
Modified, somewhat, by these injunctions of the Prophet, Muḥammadan names have still continued to be ordered amongst learned Muslims according to the ancient custom of Arabia. Persons are often named—
(1) By a single name, as Muḥammad, Mūsā (Moses), Dāʾūd (David), Ibrāhīm (Abraham), Ḥasan, Aḥmad.
(2) As the father or mother of certain persons, e.g. Abū Dāʾūd, the father of David; or Ummu Salimah, the mother of Salimah.
(3) As the son of a certain one, e.g. Ibn ʿUmar, the son of ʿUmar; Ibn ʿAbbās, the son of ʿAbbās, &c.
(4) By a combination of words, e.g. Nūru ʾd-dīn, “Light of Religion”; ʿAbdu ʾllāh, “Servant of God.”
(5) By a nickname of harmless signification, e.g. Abū Hurairah, “the kitten’s father.”
(6) By the trade or profession, e.g. al-Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj, Manṣūr the dresser of cotton.
(7) By the name of his birth-place, e.g. al-Buk͟hārī, the native of Buk͟hārah.
These rules, guiding the nomenclature of the Arabians, give a strange sound to western ears in the names of celebrated authors. For instance, the celebrated compiler of the chief book of authentic traditions is known as “Abū ʿAbdi ʾllāh, Muḥammad, ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Mug͟hīrah al-Juʿfī, al-Buk͟hārī,” which means that his name is Muḥammad and that he is the father of a son named ʿAbdu ʾllāh, and that his own father’s name was Ismāʿīl, the son of Ibrāhīm, the son of Mug͟hīrah, of the tribe of Juʿfī, and that he himself was born in Buk͟hārā.
Arabic names have undergone strange modifications when brought in contact with western languages, e.g. Averroës, the philosopher, is a corruption of Ibn Rashīd; Avicenna, of Ibn Sīnā; Achmet, the Sultan, of Aḥmad; Amurath, of al-Murād; Saladin, the celebrated warrior of the twelfth century, of the Arabic Ṣalāḥu ʾd-dīn, “the peace of religion.”
AN-NAML (النمل). “The Ants.” The title of the XXVIIth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, in the 18th verse of which the word occurs: “They came upon the valley of the ants.”
NĀMŪS (ناموس). The angel, spirit, or being, which Waraqah is related to have said appeared to Moses. See Ṣaḥīḥu ʾl-Buk͟hārī, p. 3, where it is said, when Muḥammad told Waraqah, the Jew, what he had seen on Mount Ḥirāʾ, Waraqah exclaimed, “It is the Nāmūs who appeared from God to Moses.”
ʿAbdu ʾl-Ḥaqq says Nāmūs means one who can take knowledge of the secret thoughts of a man, and is used in contradistinction to the word Jāsūs, “a spy,” who seeks to know the evil deeds of another.
According to the Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrifāt, it is the law of God.
Mr. Emanuel Deutsch says: “The nāmūs is a hermaphrodite in words. It is Arabic and also Greek. It is Talmudic. It is, in the first instance, νόμος, ‘law,’ that which by ‘custom and common consent’ has become so. In Talmudic phraseology it stands for the Thorah or Revealed Law. In Arabic it further means one who communicates a secret message. And all these different significations were conveyed by Waraqah to Muhammad.” (Literary Remains, p. 78.)
The word nāmūs occurs in the ethical work known as the Ak͟hlāq-i-Jalālī, in the following passage:—
“The maintenance of equity, then, is realised by three things: (1) The holy institute of God, (2) The equitable Prince, (3) Money, or, as the old philosophers laid it down, the foremost νόμος is the institute, the second νόμος is the Prince who conforms to the institute (for religion and government are twins); and the third νόμος is money (νόμος in their language meaning discipline and correction). Thus the institute or greatest arbitrator is obeyed of all; to this even the Prince or secondary arbitrator is bound to conform. While the third arbitrator, which is money, should be invariably under the authority of the second, which is the Prince. An intimation of this principle we have in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah lvii. 25]: “We have sent down the book, and the balance along with it, that man might stand by the right, and we have sent down steel (ḥadīd), wherein is mighty power and advantages to man.” The book in this passage alludes to the institute; the balance to that which tests the quantities of things, in fact any instrument for ascertaining the value of heterogeneous objects (money being such an one), and steel to the sword, which is grasped by the might of the wrath-exerting doom-pronouncing Prince.” (Ak͟hlāq-i-Jalālī, Thompson’s ed., p. 127.)
NAQL ṢAḤĪḤ (نقل صحيح). “Correct relation.” A term used for a Ḥadīs̤, or tradition, related by a person of authority. [[TRADITIONS].]
AN-NAQSHBANDĪYAH (النقشبندية). An ascetic order of Faqīrs, the followers of K͟hwājah Pīr Muḥammad Naqshband. They are a very numerous sect, and perform the Ẕikr-i-K͟hafī, or silent religious devotion described in the article on [ZIKR].
NĀQŪS (ناقوس). A thin oblong piece of wood, which is beaten with a flexible rod called wabīl (وبيل), used by the Christians of Muḥammad’s time to summon the people to worship. At first “the Companions” suggested either a lighted fire or the nāqūs as the call to prayer, but Muḥammad decided upon the aẕān. (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. v. pt. i.) This method of calling Christian people to prayer still exists in some Greek monasteries, and was seen and illustrated by the Hon. R. Curzon in 1833 (Visits to the Monasteries of the Levant). It is called the simandro (σιμανδρο) and is generally beaten by one of the monks. [[AZAN].]
THE NAQUS AS USED IN A MONASTERY
AN-NĀR (النار), “the fire,” occurs in the Qurʾān very frequently for hell, e.g. [Sūrah ii. 22]: “Fear the fire whose fuel is men and stones.”
All Sunnī commentators understand the fire of hell in its literal sense. (See al-Baiẓāwī on the above verse.) But Ṣūfī writers understand it to be merely figurative.
NĀRAWĀ (ناروا). “Unlawful.” A Persian word for those things which are expressly forbidden by the Qurʾān and Ḥadīs̤. It corresponds with the Arabic Ḥarām. [[LAW].]
AN-NĀS (الناس). “Mankind.” The title of the last Sūrah of the Qurʾān. The word occurs in this Sūrah, and is the last word in the Qurʾān, “from genii and men.”
NASAʾ (نساء). “To omit.” A term used in the Qurʾān for the system of intercalation of the year practised by the ancient Arabs, and which was abolished in the Qurʾān. ([Sūrah ix. 37].) [[INTERCALATION OF THE YEAR].]
NASAB (نسب). Family, race, lineage. The term, in its legal sense, is generally restricted to the descent of a child from his father, but it is sometimes applied to descent from the mother, and is generally employed in a larger sense to embrace other relationships. (Baillie’s Dig. Muh. Law, p. 389.)
AN-NASĀʾĪ (النسائى). “Sunanu ʾn-Nasāʾī,” or al-Mujtaba (the selected), a name given to the collection of traditions by Abū ʿAbdi ʾr-Raḥmān Aḥmad an-Nasāʾī. Born A.H. 215, died A.H. 303. He first compiled a large collection of traditions called the Sunanu ʾl-Kubrā, but he afterwards revised the whole and admitted only those traditions which were of authority. This collection (Sunanu ʾṣ-Ṣug͟hrā) is one of the Kutubu ʾs-Sittah, or “six (correct) books.” [[TRADITIONS].]
NAṢĀRĀ (نصارى), pl. of Naṣrān, Nazarenes. The name given to professors of the Christian faith, both in the Qurʾān and the Traditions, and also in the theological works of the Muḥammadans. Christians are never called either ʿIsawī or Masīḥī, in Muḥammadan books written before the existence of modern missions; these titles having been applied to Christians by our own missionaries. [[CHRISTIANITY].]
NĀSIK͟H (ناسخ). “One who cancels.” A term used for a verse or sentence of the Qurʾān or Ḥadīs̤, which abrogates a previous one. The one abrogated being called mansūk͟h. [[QURʾAN].]
NASR (نسر). One of the idols of ancient Arabia, mentioned in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah lxxi. 23]. It was an idol which, as its name implies, was worshipped under the form of an eagle.
AN-NAṢR (النصر). “Help.” The title of the CXth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, in the first verse of which the word occurs: “When there comes God’s help and victory.”
NAṢṢ (نص). “A demonstration.” A legal term used for the express law of the Qurʾān or Ḥadīs̤.
NAṢṢ-I-KARĪM (نص كريم). “Gracious revelation.” A title given to the Qurʾān.
NAṢŪḤ (نصوح). “Sincere in friendship or repentance.” In the latter sense the word occurs once in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah lxvi. 8]: “O Believers! turn to God with the turning of true repentance.”
NĀSŪT (ناسوت). “Human nature.” A term used by the Ṣūfīs to express the natural state of every man before he enters upon the mystic journey. They say the law has been specially revealed for the guidance of people in this condition, but that the law is not necessary for the higher states. [[SUFI].]
NAUḤAH (نوحة). “Lamentations for the dead.” The employment of paid mourners is forbidden by the Sunnī law, for Abū Saʿīdu ʾl-K͟hudrī says, “The Prophet cursed both the paid mourner and him that listened to her lamentations.” (Mishkāt, book v. ch. viii. pt. 2.)
NAU ROZ (نو روز). “New Year’s Day.” Chiefly observed amongst the Persians. In Persia it is a day of great festivity. It is observed the first day after the sun has crossed the vernal equinox, and the festivities last for a week or more.
NAWAʾIB (نوائب), pl. of nāʾibah. “Adversities.” A legal term used for any special tax levied by the sovereign of a country. The ruling of the Sunnī law regarding it is as follows:—
“If it extend only to what is just (such as exactions for digging a canal, for the wages of safe guards, for the equipment of an army to fight against the infidels, for the release of Muslim captives, or for the digging of a ditch, the mending of a fort, or the construction of a bridge), the tax is lawful in the opinion of the whole of our doctors. But if it extend to exactions wrongfully imposed, that is, to such as tyrants extort from their subjects, in that case, concerning the validity of security for it, there is a difference of opinion amongst our modern doctors.” (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 594.)
NAZARENES. [[NASARA].]
AN-NĀZIʿĀT (النازعات). “Those who tear out.” The title of the LXXIXth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, which opens with the verse, “By those who tear out violently,” referring to the Angel of Death and his assistants, who tear away the souls of the wicked violently, and gently release the souls of the good.
AN-NAẒĪR (النضير). A Jewish tribe residing in the vicinity of al-Madīnah, and known as the Banū ʾn-Naẓīr, or Nadhīr. They are celebrated in Muḥammadan history, as having accepted the Prophet’s mission after the battle of Badr, but when he met with reverses at Uḥud they forsook him, but they were afterwards defeated by the Prophet and exiled, some to K͟haibar, and some to Ḥirāʾ. They were the occasion of the LIXth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, known as the Sūratu ʾl-Ḥashr, or “Chapter of Emigration.” (See al-Baiẓāwī in loco.)
NAẔR WA NIYĀZ (نذر و نياز). “Vows and oblations.” These are given in the name of God, or in the name of the Prophet, or in the name of some Muslim saint. [[VOWS].]
NEBUCHADNEZZAR. [[BUKHT NASSAR].]
NECKLACE. Arabic qilādah (قلادة). The wearing of necklaces (among men) is forbidden in the Ḥadīs̤ (Mishkāt, Arabic edition, vol. ii. 5), although it is a custom very common amongst the Musalmāns of India.
NEGUS. [[NAJASHI].]
NEHEMIAH. Not mentioned in the Qurʾān or in Muslim commentaries. But the following legend given in the Qurʾān [Sūrah ii. 261], seems to have its origin in the circuit made by Nehemiah ([Neh. ii. 13]):—
“Hast thou considered him who passed by a city which had been laid in ruins. ‘How,’ said he, ‘shall God give life to this city, after she hath been dead?’ And God caused him to die for an hundred years, and then raised him to life. And God said, ‘How long hast thou waited?’ He said, ‘I have waited a day or part of a day.’ He said, ‘Nay, thou hast waited an hundred years. Look on thy food and thy drink; they are not corrupted; and look on thine ass; we would make thee a sign unto men: And look on the bones of thine ass, how we will raise them, then clothe them with flesh.’ And when this was shown to him, he said, ‘I acknowledge that God hath power to do all things.’ ”
The commentators, al-Kamālān, say it was either Jeremiah, or K͟hiẓr, or Ezekiel.
NEIGHBOURS. Arabic jār (جار), pl. jīrān. The Sunnīs hold that neighbours are those who worship in the same mosque, but some Shīʿah doctors say that a neighbour is anyone whose house is within forty cubits, whilst others maintain that the term extends to all the occupants of forty houses on either side. (Baillie’s Digest, Sunni Code, p. 579; Im. Code, p. 216.)
A neighbour has the next right of preemption to a partner in the sale and purchase of houses and lands. (Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 562.)
The rights of a neighbour in case of the sale of property, are established by the Muḥammadan law, for the Prophet has said that the neighbour of a house has a superior right to the purchase of that house (i.e. next to immediate relatives), and the neighbour of lands has a prior claim to the purchase of those lands, and if he be absent, the seller must wait his return. (Hidāyah, vol. iv. p. 562.)
Muslims are enjoined in the Qurʾān ([Sūrah iv. 40]) to be kind to their neighbours. In the Traditions, it is said that Muḥammad was so frequently advised by the angel Gabriel to order his people to be kind to their neighbours, that he almost imagined that he (the angel) wished to make neighbours heirs to each other. It is also related that the Prophet said, “He is not a perfect Muslim who eats to his full and leaves his neighbour hungry.”
Abū Hurairah says that a man once said to the Prophet, “There is a woman who worships God a great deal, but she is very abusive to her neighbours.” And the Prophet said, “She will be in the fire.” The man then said, “But there is another woman who worships little and gives but little in alms, but she does not annoy her neighbours with her tongue?” The Prophet said, “She will be in Paradise.” (Mishkāt, book xxii. ch. xv.)
NESTOR. Arabic Naṣt̤ūr (نصطور). A Christian monk who resided in Syria, who is said to have borne witness to Muḥammad. The legend is not accepted by Sunnī writers, and Sir William Muir (Life of Mahomet, new ed., p. 21), says it is to be rejected as a puerile fabrication. It is, however, believed by the Shīʿahs, and the following is the story as given in the Shīʿah work entitled the Ḥayātu ʾl-Qulūb, on the supposed authority of Abū T̤ālib, Muḥammad’s uncle:—
“As we approached Shâm (Syria),” continued Abutâlib, “I saw the houses of that country in motion, and light above the brightness of the sun beaming from them. The crowd that collected to see Mohammed, that Yusoof of Misree perfection, made the Bâzârs impassable wherever we went, and so loud were exclamations at his beauty and excellence altogether, that the sound reached the frontiers of Shâm. Every monk and learned man came to see him. The wisest of the wise among the people of the Book, who was called Nestoor, visited him, and for three days was in his company without speaking a word. At the close of the third day, apparently overwhelmed with emotion, he came near and walked around the Prophet, upon which I said unto him, ‘O monk what do you want of the child?’ He said, ‘I wish to know his name.’ I told him it was Mohammed-bin-Abdullah. At the mention of the name the monk’s colour changed, and he requested to be allowed to see the shoulders of the Prophet. No sooner did he behold the seal of prophecy [[SEAL OF PROPHECY]], than he cast himself down, kissed it, and wept, saying, ‘Carry back this sun of prophecy quickly to the place of his nativity. Verily, if you had known what enemies he has here, you would not have brought him with you.’ The learned man continued his visit to the Prophet, treated him with the greatest reverence, and when we left the country gave him a shirt as a memento of his friendship. I carried Mohammed home with the utmost expedition, and when the news of our happy return reached Mekkah, great and small came out to welcome the Prophet, except Abujahl, who was intoxicated and ignorant of the event.”
Other traditions respecting this journey into Syria inform us that many more miracles attended it. Savage animals and birds of the air rendered the most obsequious homage to the Prophet. And when the party reached the bâzârs of Buṣrā they met a company of monks, who immediately changed colour, as if their faces had been rubbed over with saffron, while their bodies shook as in an ague. “They besought us to visit their chief in their great church. We replied, What have you to do with us? On which they said, What harm is there in your coming to our place of worship? Accordingly we went with them, they supposing that Mohammed was in our company, and entered a very large and lofty church, where we saw their great wise man sitting among his disciples with a book in his hand. After looking at the book and scrutinizing us, he said to his people, ‘You have accomplished nothing, the object of our inquiry is not here.’ He then asked who we were, to which we replied that we were Koraysh. ‘Of what family of that tribe?’ he further demanded. We answered that we were of the Benee Abdulshems. He then demanded if there was no other person belonging to our party besides those present. We told him there was a youth of the Benee Hâshim belonging to our company, who was called the orphan grandson of Abdulmutalib. On hearing this he shrieked, nearly swooned away, sprang up and cried, ‘Alas! alas! the Nasarânee religion is ruined!’ He then leaned on his crosier and fell into profound thought for a long time, with eight of his patriarchs and disciples standing around him. At last he said, ‘Can you show me that youth?’ We answered in the affirmative.
“He then accompanied us to the bâzâr, where we found the Prophet, with light beaming from the radiant moon of his face, and a great crowd of people around him, who had been attracted by his extraordinary beauty, and were buying his goods at the highest prices, while they sold their own to him at the cheapest rate. With the view of proving the knowledge of the wise man, we pointed out another individual as the object of his inquiry, but presently he recognised the Prophet himself, and shouted, ‘By the truth of the Lord Meseeh, I have found him!’ and overpowered with emotion, came and kissed his blessed head, saying, ‘Thou art holy!’ He then asked Mohammed many things concerning himself, all of which he satisfactorily answered. The wise man affirmed that if he were to live in the time of Mohammed’s prophecy, he would fight for him in the cause of truth, declaring that whoever obeyed him would gain everlasting life, and whoever rejected him would die eternal death.” (Merrick’s translation of Ḥayātu ʾl-Qulūb, p. 64.)
NEW MOON. Arabic Hilāl (هلال). The term is used for the first three days of the new moon.
NEW TESTAMENT. Arabic al-ʿAhdu ʾl-Jadīd (العهد الجديد). There is no evidence in the Qurʾān, or in the Traditions, that Muḥammad had ever seen, or was acquainted with, the New Testament. The Christian scriptures are spoken of in the Qurʾān as the Injīl, εὐαγγέλιον, “which was given to Jesus”; by which Muḥammadans understand a complete book somewhat similar to the Qurʾān. See [Sūrah lvii. 27]: “We caused our Apostles to follow in their footsteps (i.e. of Noah and Abraham), and We caused Jesus the son of Mary to follow them, and We gave him the Injīl, and We put into the hearts of those who followed him kindness and compassion; but as to the monastic life, they invented it themselves.” The only New Testament characters mentioned by name in the Qurʾān are Jesus, Mary, Zacharias, John, and Gabriel, and there is no direct reference to the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, nor to the miracles or parables of Jesus. This is all the more remarkable, because the Old Testament history and its leading characters, are frequently mentioned in the Qurʾān. [[INJIL], [CHRISTIANITY].]
NEW YEAR. [[NAUROZ].]
NICKNAME. Arabic nabaz (نبز), pl. anbāz. The calling of nicknames is forbidden in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xlix. 11]: “O Believers, let not men laugh men to scorn who haply may be better than themselves. Neither let women laugh women to scorn, who haply may be better than themselves. Neither defame one another, nor call one another by nicknames.”
This verse is said to have been given when Ṣafīyah, one of the Prophet’s wives, complained that she had been taunted by the other women with her Jewish origin. Muḥammad answered her, “Canst thou not say, ‘Aaron is my father, Moses is my uncle, and Muḥammad is my husband.’ ” (See al-Baiẓāwī, in loco.)
NIFĀQ (نفاق). Hypocrisy, or professing with the lips to believe and hiding infidelity in one’s heart. (Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrīfāt, in loco.)
NIFĀS (نفاس). The condition of a woman after the birth of a child, during which period she is unclean and is not permitted to perform the usual prayers. According to the Sunnīs, it is a period of forty days, but according to the Shīʿahs, only ten.
NIGHT JOURNEY OF MUḤAMMAD. [[MIʿRAJ].]
NIGHT PRAYERS. Arabic ṣalātu ʾl-layl (صلوة الليل), or ṣalātu ʾt-tahajjud (صلوة التهجد). From eight to twelve rakʿah prayers recited during the night, in addition to the witr prayers, which consist of an odd number of rakʿahs. These prayers are Sunnah, i.e. established according to the custom of the Prophet, but they are voluntary acts of devotion. (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. xxxii.)
NIKĀḤ (نكاح). A word which, in its literal sense signifies conjunction, but which in the language of the law implies the marriage contract. [[MARRIAGE].]
NIMROD. Arabic Numrūd (نمرود). Heb. נִמְרוֹד. All Muḥammadan commentators say he was the son of Canaan (Kanʿān), and not, as stated in [Genesis x. 8], the son of Cush.
He is referred to in the Qurʾān in the following passage:—
[Sūrah ii. 260]: “Hast thou not thought on him who disputed with Abraham about his Lord, because God had given him the kingdom? When Abraham said, ‘My Lord is He who maketh alive and causeth to die:’ He said, ‘It is I who make alive and cause to die!’ Abraham said, ‘Since God bringeth the sun from the East, do thou, then bring it from the West.’ The infidel was confounded; for God guideth not the evil doers.”
[Sūrah xxi. 68, 69]: “They said: ‘Burn him, and come to the succour of your gods: if ye will do anything at all.’ We said, ‘O fire! be thou cold, and to Abraham a safety!’”
The Rabbins make Nimrod to have been the persecutor of Abraham (comp. Targ. Jon. on [Gen. xv. 7]; Tr. Bava Bathra, fol. 91a.; Maimon. More Nevochim, iii. 29; Weil, Legenden, p. 74), and the Muḥammadan commentators say, that by Nimrod’s order a large space was inclosed at Kūs̤ā, and filled with a vast quantity of wood, which being set on fire, burned so fiercely that none dared to venture near it; then they bound Abraham, and putting him into an engine (which some suppose to have been of the Devil’s invention), shot him into the midst of the fire, from which he was preserved by the angel Gabriel, who was sent to his assistance, the fire burning only the cords with which he was bound. They add that the fire, having miraculously lost its heat in respect to Abraham, became an odoriferous air, and that the pile changed to a pleasant meadow, though it raged so furiously otherwise, that, according to some writers, about two thousand of the idolaters were consumed by it.
This story seems to have had no other foundation than that passage of Moses, where God is said to have brought Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, misunderstood; which word the Jews, the most trifling interpreters of scripture, and some moderns who have followed them, have translated out of the fire of the Chaldees; taking the word Ur, not for the proper name of a city, as it really is, but for an appellative signifying “fire.” However, it is a fable of some antiquity, and credited not only by the Jews, but by several of the eastern Christians; the twenty-fifth of the second Kānūn, or January, being set apart in the Syrian calendar for the commemoration of Abraham’s being cast into the fire.
The Jews also mention some other persecutions which Abraham underwent on account of his religion, particularly a ten years’ imprisonment, some saying he was imprisoned by Nimrod, and others by his father Terah. Some tell us that Nimrod, on seeing this miraculous deliverance from his palace, cried out that he would make an offering to the God of Abraham; and that he accordingly sacrificed four thousand kine. But if he ever relented, he soon relapsed into his former infidelity, for he built a tower that he might ascend to heaven to see Abraham’s God, which being overthrown, still persisting in his design, he would be carried to heaven in a chest borne by four monstrous birds; but after wandering for some time through the air, he fell down on a mountain with such force that he made it shake, whereto (as some fancy) a passage in the Qurʾān alludes ([Sūrah xiv. 47]), which may be translated, “Although their contrivances be such as to make the mountains tremble.” Nimrod, disappointed in his design of making war with God, turns his arms against Abraham, who being a great prince, raised forces to defend himself; but God, dividing Nimrod’s subjects, and confounding their language, deprived him of the greater part of his people, and plagued those who adhered to him by swarms of gnats, which destroyed almost all of them; and one of those gnats having entered into the nostril, or ear, of Nimrod, penetrated to one of the membranes of his brain, where growing bigger every day, it gave him such intolerable pain that he was obliged to cause his head to be beaten with a mallet, in order to procure some ease, which torture he suffered four hundred years; God being willing to punish by one of the smallest of his creatures him who insolently boasted himself to be lord of all. A Syrian calendar places the death of Nimrod, as if the time were well known, on the 8th of Tamūz, or July. (See Sale’s Koran; D’Herbelot’s Bibl. Orient.; al-Baiẓāwī’s Com.)
NĪNAWĀ (نينوى). [[NINEVEH].]
NINEVEH. Arabic Nīnawā (نينوى). Heb. נִינְוֵה. Not mentioned by name in the Qurʾān, but according to al-Baiẓāwī it is the city of “a hundred thousand persons, or even more,” to whom Jonah was sent. See Qurʾān, [Sūrah xxxvii. 147].
AN-NISĀ (النساء). “Women.” The title of the IVth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, in the first verse of which the word occurs, and which treats to a great extent the subject of women.
NIṢĀB (نصاب). An estate or property for which zakāt, or legal alms, must be paid. [[ZAKAT].]
NĪYAH (نية). A vow; intention; purpose. A term used for the vow or declaration of the intention to perform prayers. ‘I have purposed to offer up to God only with a sincere heart this morning (or, as the case may be), with my face Qiblah-wards two (or, as the case may be) rakʿah prayers farẓ (sunnah, nafl, or witr).’ It is also used by a Muslim about to perform the pilgrimage or the month’s fast. The formula is necessary to render an act of devotion acceptable. [[PRAYER].]
NIYĀZ-I-ALLĀH (نياز الله). A Persian term for offerings in the name of God.
NIYĀZ-I-RASŪL (نياز رسول). A Persian term for offerings in the name of the Prophet.
NOAH. Arabic Nūḥ (نوح). Heb. נוֹחַ. A prophet to whom Muḥammadans give the Kalimah, or title, of Nabīyu ʾllāh, “the Prophet of God.” He is not supposed to have been the inspired author of “a Book.”
The following is the account given of him and of the flood in the Qurʾān (with Mr. Lane’s annotations in italics: see second edition, by Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole):—
“We formerly sent Noah unto his people, saying, Verily I am unto you a plain admonisher that ye worship not [any] but God. Verily I fear for you, if ye worship any other, the punishment of an afflictive day in this world and the world to come.—But the chiefs who disbelieved among his people replied, We see thee not to be other than a man, like unto us; and we see not any to have followed thee except the meanest of us, as the weavers and the cobblers, at first thought (or rashly), nor do we see you to have any excellence above us: nay, we imagine you to be liars in your claim to the apostolic commission. He said, O my people, tell me, if I have an evident proof from my Lord and He hath bestowed on me mercy (the gift of prophecy) from Himself which is hidden from you, shall we compel you to receive it when ye are averse thereto? We cannot do so. And, O my people, I ask not of you any riches for it; namely, for delivering my message. My reward is not due from any but God; and I will not drive away those who have believed as ye have commanded me [because they are poor people]. Verily they shall meet their Lord at the resurrection, and He will recompense them, and will exact for them [reparation] from those who have treated them with injustice, and driven them away. But I see you [to be] a people who are ignorant of the end of your case. And, O my people, who will defend me against God if I drive them away? Will ye not then consider? And I do not say unto you, I have the treasures of God; nor [do I say], I know the things unseen; nor do I say, Verily I am an angel; nor do I say, of those whom your eyes contemn, God will by no means bestow on them good: (God best knoweth what is in their minds:) verily I should in that case be [one] of the offenders.—They replied, O Noah, thou hast disputed with us and multiplied disputes with us: now bring upon us that punishment wherewith thou threatenest us, if thou be of those that speak truth. He said, Only God will bring it upon you, if He please to hasten it unto you; for it is His affair, not mine; and ye shall not escape God: nor will my counsel profit you, if I desire to counsel you, if God desire to lead you into error. He is your Lord; and unto Him shall ye be brought back.” ([Sūrah xi. 27–36].)
“And it was said by revelation unto Noah, Verily there shall not believe of thy people [any] but they who have already believed; therefore be not grieved for that which they have done.” ([Sūrah xi. 38].)
“And he uttered an imprecation upon them, saying, O my Lord, leave not upon the earth any one of the unbelievers; for if Thou leave them, they will lead Thy servants into error, and will not beget [any] but a wicked, ungrateful [offspring]. O my Lord, forgive me and my parents (for they were believers), and whomsoever entereth my house (my abode, or my place of worship), being a believer, and the believing men, and the believing women, (to the day of resurrection,) and add not to the offenders [aught] save destruction.” ([Sūrah lxxi. 27–29].)
“And God answered his prayer, and said, Construct the ark in our sight and according to our revelation, and speak not unto Me concerning those who have offended, to beg Me not to destroy them; for they [shall be] drowned. And he constructed the ark; and whenever a company of his people passed by him, they derided him. He said, If ye deride us, we will deride you, like as ye deride, when we are saved and ye are drowned, and ye shall know on whom shall come a punishment which shall render him vile, and whom shall befall a lasting punishment. [Thus he was employed] until when Our decree for their destruction came to pass, and the baker’s oven overflowed with water (for this was a signal unto Noah), We said, Carry into it (that is, into the ark) of every pair, male and female, of each of these descriptions, two (and it is related that God assembled for Noah the wild beasts and the birds and other creatures, and he proceeded to put his hands upon each kind, and his right hand fell always upon the male, and his left upon the female, and he carried them into the ark), and thy family (excepting him upon whom the sentence of destruction hath already been pronounced, namely, Noah’s wife, and his son Canaan: but Shem and Ham and Japheth and their three wives he took), and those who have believed; but there believed not with him save a few: they were six men and their wives: and it is said that all who were in the ark were eighty, half of whom were men and half women. And Noah said, Embark ye therein. In the name of God [be] its course and its mooring. Verily my Lord is very forgiving [and] merciful.—And it moved along with them amid waves like mountains; and Noah called unto his son, Canaan, who was apart from the ark, O my child, embark with us, and be not with the unbelievers! He replied, I will betake me to a mountain which will secure me from the water. [Noah] said, There is nought that will secure to-day from the decree of God [any] but him on whom He hath mercy. And the waves intervened between them; so he became [one] of the drowned. And it was said, O earth, swallow up thy water (whereupon it drank it up, except what had descended from heaven, which became rivers and seas), and, O heaven, cease from raining;—and the water abated, and the decree was fulfilled, and it (namely, the ark), rested on El-Joodee (a mountain of El-Jezeereh, near El-Mósil); and it was said, Perdition to the offending people!” ([Sūrah xi. 39–46].)
“And Noah called upon his Lord, and said, O my Lord, verily my son is of my family, and Thou hast promised me to save them, and verily Thy promise is true, and Thou art the most just of those who exercise judgment. God replied, O Noah, verily he is not of thy family who should be saved, or of the people of thy religion. Verily it (namely, thine asking Me to save him) is not a righteous act; for he was an unbeliever, and there is no safety for the unbelievers; therefore ask not of Me that wherein thou hast no knowledge. I admonish thee, lest thou become [one] of the ignorant.—Noah said, O my Lord, I beg Thee to preserve me from asking Thee that wherein I have no knowledge; and if Thou do not forgive me and have mercy upon me, I shall be of those who suffer loss.—It was said, O Noah, descend from the ark, with peace from Us, and blessings, upon thee and upon peoples [that shall proceed] from those who are with thee in the ark (that is, their believing posterity); but peoples [that shall proceed] from those who are with thee We will permit to enjoy the provisions of this world; then a painful punishment shall befall them from Us, in the world to come; they being unbelievers.” ([Sūrah xi. 47–50].)
The commentator, al-Baiẓāwī, says that Noah went into the ark on the tenth of Rajab, and came out of it on the tenth of Muḥarram; which therefore became a fast; so that the whole time of Noah’s being in the ark, according to him, was six months; and that Noah was two years in building the ark, which was framed of Indian plane-tree; that it was divided into three stories, of which the lower was designed for the beasts, the middle one for the men and women, and the upper for the birds; and the men were separated from the women by the body of Adam, which Noah had taken into the ark.
NOMOS. Greek νόμος. [[NAMUS].]
NOSE, Cutting off. There is retaliation for cutting off a nose: a nose for a nose. (Hidāyah, vol. iv. p. 294.)
NUBŪWAH (نبوة). “Prophecy.” The office or work of a nabī or prophet. [[PROPHETS].]
NŪḤ (نوح). [[NOAH].]
AN-NUJABĀʾ (النجباء), the pl. of Najīb. “The Excellent ones.” According to the Ṣūfīs, forty saintly characters who always exist on earth for the benefit of its people. (See Kashshāfu ʾl-Iṣt̤ilaḥāt in loco.) [[ABDAL].]
NUʿMĀN (نعمان). The name of several of the Kings of Ḥirāʾ. Nuʿmān V. is celebrated in the annals of the history of Arabia, because his reign approached close upon the rise of Islām, and he was the patron of several poets of renown, who have celebrated his name. (See Muir’s Life of Mahomet, 1st ed., Intro. p. clxxxi.)
Nuʿmān is also the popular title of the Imām Abū Ḥanīfah. [[HANIFAH].]
NUMRŪD (نمرود). [[NIMROD].]
NŪN (نون). The letter N ن, which occurs at the commencement of the LXVIIIth Sūrah of the Qurʾān. The meaning of which is acknowledged by all commentators to be a mystery.
Al-Baiẓāwī says it is supposed that nūn either means an inkstand, referring to the pen of the first verse, or a fish, referring to that which swallowed Jonah mentioned in the 48th verse of this Sūrah, but he thinks it is merely an initial letter, the meaning of which is unknown to mortal man.
NUPTIAL FEAST. [[WALIMAH], [MARRIAGE].]
AN-NUQABĀʾ (النقباء), the pl. of Naqīb. “The Watchmen.” According to the Ṣūfīs, they are three hundred persons who are ever to be found in the world, and who are engaged in its enlightenment. (See Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrīfāt, in loco.) [[ABDAL].]
NUQŪʿU ʾZ-ZABĪB (نقوع الزبيب). “Infusion of raisins.” Water in which raisins are steeped until it becomes sweet and is affected in its substance. It is a prohibited liquor. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. iv. p. 159.)
AN-NŪR (النور). “The Light.” One of the ninety-nine names or attributes of God. It occurs in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xxiv. 35]:—
“God is the Light of the Heavens and of the Earth. His Light is like a niche in which is a lamp—the lamp encased in glass—the glass, as it were, a glistening star. From a blessed tree is it lighted, the olive neither of the East nor the West, whose oil would well nigh shine out, even though fire touched it not! It is light upon light. God guideth whom He will to His light, and God setteth forth parables to men, for God Knoweth all things.”
NŪR-I-MUḤAMMADĪ (نور محمدى). Persian for “The Light of Muḥammad.” The original essence of Muḥammad, known in Arabic as the Haqīqatu ʾl-Muḥammadīyah, under which title the subject is discussed in this dictionary. [[HAQIQATU ʾL-MUHAMMADIYAH].]
NŪRU ʾL-ANWĀR (نور الانوار). “The Light of Lights.” A title given to the Divine Being. (See ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)
NUZŪL (نزول). “Descent.” (1) The portions of the Qurʾān as they were declared by Muḥammad to have descended from heaven by the hand of Gabriel.
(2) Property which falls to the state from default of heir, or which has been confiscated.