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

T.

T̤ĀʿAH (طاعة‎). Lit. “Obedience.” A word which occurs once in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah iv. 83]: “They say ‘Obedience!’ ” It is an old Arabic word used for the worship and service of God.

TAʿALLUQ (تعلق‎). Lit. “That which is suspended.” A division or district. A term applied in India to a district including a number of villages, for which a fixed amount of revenue is paid, and the possession of which is hereditary as long as the revenue is paid. These taʿalluqs, or, as they are commonly called, tāluks, are of two kinds: (1) Huẓūrī (from حضور‎, “the State”), of which the revenue is paid direct to Government; and (2) Maẕkurī (from مذكور‎, “specified”), of which the revenue is paid through a chief, who thus farms the revenue. The term was introduced to India by the Muslim conquerors.

T̤AʿĀM (طعام‎). [[FOOD].]

TAʿAWWUẔ (تعوذ‎). The ejaculation: “I seek refuge from God from the cursed Satan,” which forms part of the Muḥammadan daily prayer. It is called also ʿauẕun bi-ʾllāh. [[PRAYER].]

TABARRUK (تبرك‎). The commutation for an offering incumbent upon a religious mendicant holding some endowment (waqf).

TABAʿU ʾT-TĀBIʿĪN (تبع التابعين‎). Lit. “The followers of the followers.” Those who conversed with the Tābiʿūn (which term is used for those who conversed with Companions of Muḥammad). Traditions related by them are received, but are of less authority than those related by persons who had seen the Prophet. [[TRADITIONS].]

T̤ABĪB (طبيب‎). A doctor of medicine. One who practises at̤-t̤ibb, the “science of medicine.” Ḥakīm (lit. “a philosopher”) is also used to express a medical practitioner.

TĀBIʿŪN (تابعون‎), pl. of Tābiʿ. Those who conversed with the Associates or companions of Muḥammad. The traditions which they related are of high authority and form part of the Sunnah or traditional law. [[TRADITIONS].]

TABLES OF THE LAW. Arabic Alwāḥ (الواح‎), pl. of Lauḥ. The giving of the Law to Moses on tables is mentioned in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah vii. 142]: “We wrote for him (Moses) upon tables (alwāḥ) a monition concerning every matter.” But Muslim doctors are not agreed as to the number of the tables. The commentators al-Jalālān say that there were either seven or ten. [[TEN COMMANDMENTS].]

TABŪK (تبوك‎). A valley in Arabia, celebrated as the scene of one of Muḥammad’s military expeditions, and as the place where he made a treaty with John the Christian prince of Ailah. [[TREATY].]

TĀBŪT (تابوت‎). (1) The Ark of the Covenant, mentioned in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah ii. 249]: “Verily the sign of his (Saul’s) kingship shall be that the Ark (Tābūt) shall come to you: and in it Sakīnah from your Lord, and the relics left by Moses and Aaron; the angels shall bear it.”

Tābūt is the Hebrew ‏תֵּבָה‎ Tēbāh used for Noah’s Ark, and the Ark of bulrushes, [Ex. ii. 3], and not ‏אָרוֹן‎ Ārōn, the word in the Bible for the Ark of the Covenant.

The commentator, al-Baiẓāwī, says the Sakīnah was either the Taurāt, or Books of Moses, or an idol of emeralds or rubies, the head and tail of which was like that of a goat, and the wings of feathers, and which uttered a feeble cry; and when the ark was sent after an enemy, then this was sent. But some say it was a representation of the prophets.

Al-Jalālān say the relics left in the Ark were the fragments of the two tables of the Law, and the rod and robes and shoes of Moses, the mitre of Aaron, and the vase of manna. [[ARK OF THE COVENANT], [SAKINAH].]

(2) A coffin or bier for the burial of the dead.

(3) The representation of the funeral of al-Ḥusain. [[MUHARRAM].]

(4) The box or ark in which the body of the child Moses was placed by his mother for fear of Pharaoh. See Qurʾān, [Sūrah xx. 39]: “When we spake unto thy mother what was spoken: ‘Cast him into the ark: then cast him on the sea [the river], and the sea shall throw him on the shore: and an enemy to me and an enemy to him shall take him up.’ And I myself have made thee an object of love, That thou mightest be reared in mine eye.”

TADBĪR (تدبير‎). Post obit manumission of slaves. In its primitive sense it means looking forward to the event of a business. In the language of the law, it means a declaration of a freedom to be established after the master’s death. As when the master says to his slave, “Thou art free after my death.” The slave so freed is called a mudabbir. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. i. p. 475.) [[SLAVERY].]

TAFAKKUR (تفكر‎). Lit. “Contemplation or thought.” According to the Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrifāt, it is the lamp of the heart whereby a man sees his own evils or virtues.

TAFSĪR (تفسير‎). Lit. “Explaining.” A term used for a commentary on any book, but especially for a commentary on the Qurʾān. [[COMMENTARIES].]

AT-TAG͟HĀBUN (التغابن‎). “Mutual deceit.” The title of the 64th Sūrah of the Qurʾān, the IXth verse of which begins thus:

“The day when He shall gather you together for the day of the assembly will be the day of Mutual Deceit.”

That is, when the blessed will deceive or disappoint the damned by taking the places which they would have had in Paradise had they been true believers, and vice versâ.

TAG͟HLIB (تغلب‎). An Arabian tribe who, on the first spread of Islām, were occupying a province in Mesopotamia and professing the Christian faith. The Banū Tag͟hlib sent an embassy to Muḥammad, formed of sixteen men, some Muslims and some Christians. The latter wore crosses of gold. The Prophet made terms with the Christians, stipulating that they should themselves continue in the profession of their religion, but should not baptize their children into Christian faith. (Sir W. Muir, from Kātibu ʾl-Wāqidī, p. 61.)

AT-TAG͟HT̤ĪS (التغطيس‎). A term which occurs in the Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn for “baptism.” [[INJIL], [SIGHBAH].]

T̤ĀG͟HŪT (طاغوت‎). An idol mentioned in the Qurʾān:—

[Sūrah iv. 54]: “They believe in Jibt and T̤āg͟hūt.”

[Sūrah ii. 257]: “Whoso disbelieves in T̤āg͟hūt and believes in God, he has got a firm handle, in which is no breaking off.”

[Sūrah ii. 259]: “But those who misbelieve their patrons are T̤āg͟hūt, these bring them forth to darkness.”

Jalālu ʾd-dīn says T̤āg͟hūt was an idol of the Quraish, whom certain renegade Jews honoured in order to please the tribe.

Mr. Lane observes that in the Arabian Nights the name is used to express the devil as well as an idol.

T̤Ā HĀ (طه‎). The title of the XXth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, which begins with these Arabic letters. Their meaning is uncertain. Some fancy the first letter stands for t̤ūbā, “beatitude,” and the second for Hāwiyah, the name of the lowest pit of hell. T̤ah is also, like ṣah, and the English “hush,” an interjection commanding silence, and might be here employed to enjoin a silent and reverential listening to the revelation to follow.

TAḤĀLUF (تحالف‎). The swearing of both plaintiff and defendant. In a civil suit of both seller and purchaser. In a disagreement, if both should take an oath, the Qāẓī must dissolve the sale, or contract. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 85.)

TAḤANNUS̤ (تحنث‎). Avoiding and abstaining from sin. Worshipping God for a certain period in seclusion. The word is used in the latter sense for the seclusion of Muḥammad on Mount Ḥirāʾ, when he is supposed to have received his first revelation. (Mishkāt, book xxiv. c. v.) [[INSPIRATION], [QURʾAN]].

T̤AHĀRAH (طهارة‎). “Purification,” including waẓūʾ, tayammum, masaḥ, g͟husl, and miswāk, accounts of which are given under their respective articles. [[PURIFICATION].]

T̤ĀHIR (طاهر‎). A woman in a state of purity. [[PURIFICATION].]

TAHLĪL (تهليل‎). The ejaculation, “Lā ilāha illā ʾllāh!” (لا اله الا الله‎), “There is no deity but God!” (Mishkāt, book x. ch. ii.)

Abū Hurairah relates that the Prophet said, “That person who recites ‘There is no deity but God,’ one hundred times, shall receive rewards equal to the emancipating of ten slaves, and shall have one hundred good deeds recorded to his account, and one hundred of his sins shall be blotted out, and the words shall be a protection from the devil.” [[ZIKR].]

TAḤMĪD (تحميد‎). The ejaculation, “al-Ḥamdu li-ʾllāh!” (الحمد لله‎), “God be praised!” (Mishkāt, book x. ch. ii.)

ʿUmar ibn Shuʿaib relates from his forefathers that the Prophet said, “He who recites ‘God be praised,’ a hundred times in the morning and again a hundred times in the evening, shall be like a person who has provided one hundred horsemen for a jihād, or ‘religious war.’ ”

TAḤRĪF (تحريف‎). The word used by Muḥammadan writers for the supposed corruption of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. [[CORRUPTION OF THE SCRIPTURES].]

AT-TAḤRĪM (التحريم‎). “The Prohibition.” The title of the 66th Sūrah of the Qurʾān, which begins with the words: “Why O Prophet! dost thou forbid that which God hath made lawful to thee, from a desire to please thy wives.” The object of this chapter was to free Muḥammad from his obligation to his wife Ḥafṣah, to whom he had recently sworn to separate entirely from the Coptic slave-girl Māriyah.

TAHẔĪB (تهذيب‎). A book of traditions received by the Shīʿahs, compiled by Shaik͟h Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad, A.H. 466.

AT-T̤ĀʾIF (الطائف‎). The name of a town, the capital of a district of the same name in Arabia, which Muḥammad besieged A.H. 8, but the city was surrounded by strong battlements and was provisioned for some months. The siege was, therefore, raised by Muḥammad, after he had cut down and burned its celebrated vineyards. (Muir’s Life of Mahomet, new ed. p. 432.)

T̤AIRAH (طيرة‎). “Lightness; levity of mind.” Condemned in the Ḥadīs̤.

T̤AIY (طى‎). An Arabian tribe who emigrated from al-Yaman to the Najd about the third century. Some of them embraced Judaism and some Christianity, while a portion remained pagans and erected a temple to the idol Fuls. The whole tribe eventually embraced Islām, A.D. 632, when ʿAlī was sent to destroy the temple of Fuls.

Ḥātim at̤-T̤āʾīy, a Christian Bedouin Arab, celebrated for his hospitality, is the subject of Eastern poetry. He lived in the “time of ignorance,” viz. before Muḥammad, but his son ʿAdī became a Muslim, and is numbered among the “Companions.” Ḥātim at̤-T̤āʾīy’s most famous act of liberality was that which he showed to an ambassador of the Greek Emperor, sent to demand of him as a present for his master, a horse of very great price. The generous Arab, before he knew the object of this person’s mission, slaughtered his horse to regale him, having nothing at the time in his house to serve in its stead. It is also said that he often caused as many as forty camels to be slaughtered for the entertainment of his guests and the poor Arabs of the desert.

TĀJ (تاج‎). “A crown; a diadem.” The Muslim K͟halīfahs never wore a crown, the word is therefore not used in Muslim theology, but it is used by the Ṣūfī faqīrs for the cap worn by a leader of a religious order, which is generally of a conical shape. [[KULAH].]

AT-TAKĀS̤UR (التكاثر‎). “Multiplying.” The title of the CIInd Sūrah of the Qurʾān, the opening verses of which are:

“The desire of increasing riches occupieth you

Till you come to the grave.”

TAKBĪR (تكبير‎). The expression, “Allāhu akbar!” (الله اكبر‎), “God is very great!” (Mishkāt, book x. ch. ii.)

The ejaculation frequently occurs in the daily liturgy and in the funeral office. [[PRAYER].]

TAKBĪRU ʾT-TAḤRĪMAH (تكبير التحريمة‎). The first takbīr in the liturgical prayer, said standing, after the recital of which the worshipper must give himself up entirely to worship. [[PRAYER], [TAKBIR].]

TAK͟HĀRUJ (تخارج‎). An arrangement entered into by some heirs-at-law with others for their share of the inheritance, in consideration of some specific thing which excludes them from inheritance. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 201.)

AT-TAKWĪR (التكوير‎). “The Folding-up.” The title of the LXXXIst Sūrah of the Qurʾān, which opens a solemn announcement of the Judgment Day by the words: “When the sun shall be folded up.”

TAKYAH (تكية‎). Lit. “A pillow; a place of repose.” Used in all Muḥammadan countries for—

(1) A place in which some celebrated saint has stayed. In Central Asia, these places are often merely marked by a few stones and a flag, but they are held sacred.

(2) A monastery, or religious house, in which faqīrs and ascetics reside, as the Takyahs at Constantinople and Cairo.

(3) A hostel or rest-house, as the Takyah at Damascus, which is a hostel for pilgrims. Dr. Robinson describes it as a large quadrangular enclosure, divided into two courts, in the southern court of which there is a large mosque. Around the wall of the court runs a row of cells, with a portico or gallery of columns in front. This takyah was founded by Sultan Salīm, A.D. 1516. (Researches, vol. iii. p. 459.)

T̤ALĀQ (طلاق‎). (1) The sentence of divorce. [[DIVORCE].] (2) The title of the LXVth Sūrah of the Qurʾān which treats of the subject of divorce.

TALBĪYAH (تلبية‎). Lit. “Waiting or standing for orders.” The recitation of the following words during the pilgrimage to Makkah: “Labbaika! Allāhummah! Labbaika! Labbaika! Lā Sharīka laka! Labbaika! Inna ʾl-ḥamda wa-niʿamata laka! Wa ʾl-mulka! Lā Sharīka-laka!” “I stand up for Thy service, O God! I stand up! I stand up! There is no partner with Thee! I stand up for Thy service! Verily Thine is the praise, the beneficence, and the kingdom! There is no partner with Thee!”

From the Mishkāt (book xi. ch. ii. pt. 1), it appears that this hymn was in use amongst the idolaters of Arabia before Muḥammad’s time. [[HAJJ].]

T̤ALḤAH (طلحة‎), son of ʿUbaidu ʾllāh, the Quraish, was a grand-nephew of Abū Bakr. He was a distinguished Companion, and was honoured with the position of one of the ʿAsharah Mubashsharah, or “ten patriarchs of the Muslim faith.” He saved the life of Muḥammad at the battle of Uḥud. He was slain in the fight of the Camel, A.H. 36, aged 64, and was buried at al-Baṣrah.

T̤ĀLIB (طالب‎). Lit. “One who seeks.” An inquirer. A term generally used for a student of divinity, is T̤ālibu ʾl-ʿilm.

TALISMAN. Arabic (طلسم‎) t̤ilsam; pl. t̤alāsim. The English word is a corruption of the Arabic. A term applied to mystical characters, and also to seals and stones upon which such characters are engraved or inscribed. The characters are astrological, or of some other magical kind. Talismans are used as charms against evil, for the preserving from enchantment or from accident; they are also sometimes buried with a hidden treasure to protect it. [[AMULET], [EXORCISM].]

TALKING. [[CONVERSATION].]

TALMUD. The traditional law of the Jews. From Heb. ‏לָמַד‎ lāmad, “to learn.” The learning of the Rabbis. Mr. Emanuel Deutsch says:—

“It seems as if Muḥammad had breathed from his childhood almost the air of contemporary Judaism, as is found by us crystallized in the Talmud, the Targum and the Midrash.

* * *

“It is not merely parallelisms, reminiscences, allusions, technical terms, and the like of Judaism, its law and dogma and ceremony, its Halacha and its Haggadah (its law and legend), which we find in the Koran; but we think Islām neither more nor less than Judaism as adapted to Arabia—plus the Apostleship of Jesus and Muḥammad.” (Literary Remains, p. 64.)

How much Muḥammad was indebted to the Jewish Talmud for his doctrines, ethics, and ceremonial, is shown in an essay by the Jewish Rabbi, Abraham Geiger, in answer to the question put by the University at Bonn: “Inquiratur in fontes Alcorani seu legis Mohammedicæ eos, qui ex Judæismo derivandi sunt,” of which a German translation has appeared, Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen? (Bonn, 1833), and is treated of in the present work in the article on [JUDAISM].

The Talmud consists of two parts: The Mishna, or the text (what is called in Arabic the Matn), and the Gemara, or Commentary (Arabic Sharḥ). These two form the Talmud.

The Mishna (from Shanah, to “repeat”) or the oral law of the Jews, was not committed to writing until about the year A.D. 190, by Rabbi Judah, although it is said it was first commenced by Rabbi Akibah, A.D. 130.

The Gemara (lit. “that which is perfect”) are two commentaries on the Mishna. The one compiled by Rabbi Jochonam at Jerusalem about the middle of the third century, and the other by Rabbi Ashe at Babylon, about the middle of the sixth.

Canon Farrar (Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 348), says: “Anything more utterly unhistorical than the Talmud, cannot be conceived. It is probable that no human writings ever confounded names, dates, and facts, with more absolute indifference.”

And doubtless it is this unsatisfactory feature in the Talmud of the Jews which, to a great extent, accounts for the equally unhistorical character of the Qurʾān.

For information on the Talmud, the English reader can consult the following works: The Talmud, by Joseph Barklay, LL.D., Bishop of Jerusalem, 1878; A Talmudic Miscellany, by Paul Isaac Hershon, 1880; Selections from the Talmud, by H. Polono; The Talmud, an article in the Quarterly Review, October, 1867, by Emanuel Deutsch; The Talmud, a chapter in The Home and Synagogue of the Modern Jew (Religious Tract Society). A complete translation of the Talmud is being undertaken by Mr. P. I. Hershon. See Dr. Farrar’s Preface to the Talmudic Miscellany.

TALQĪN (تلقين‎). Lit. “Instructing.” An exhortation or instruction imparted by a religious teacher. It is specially used for the instruction given at the grave of a departed Muslim, at the close of the burial service, when one of the mourners draws near the middle of the grave, addresses the deceased, and says:—

“O servant of God, and child of a female servant of God.

“O son of such an one, remember the faith you professed on earth to the very last; this is your witness that there is no deity but God, and that certainly Muḥammad is His Apostle, and that Paradise and Hell and the Resurrection from the dead are real; that there will be a Day of Judgment; and say: ‘I confess that God is my Lord, Islām my religion, Muḥammad (on whom be the mercy and peace of God) my Prophet, the Qurʾān my guide, the Kaʿbah my Qiblah, and that Muslims are my brethren.’ O God, keep him (the deceased) firm in his faith, and widen his grave, and make his examination (by Munkar and Nakīr) easy, and exalt him and have mercy on him, O Thou most Merciful!” [[BURIAL].]

T̤ĀLŪT (طالوت‎). [[SAUL].]

TAMATTUʿ (تمتع‎). Lit. “Reaping advantage.” The act of performing the ʿUmrah until its completion, and then performing the Ḥajj as a separate ceremony, thus reaping the advantages of both. [[HAJJ], [UMRAH].]

TAMĪM (تميم‎). An independent Arab tribe of Makkan origin who occupied the north-eastern desert of Najd. They fought by the side of Muḥammad at Makkah and Ḥunain.

TAMJĪD (تمجيد‎). The expression, “Lā ḥaula wa lā quwwata illā bi-ʾllāhi ʾl ʿalīyi ʾl-ʿaz̤īm” (لا حول ولا قوة الا بالله العلى العظيم‎), “There is no power and strength but in God, the High one, the Great.” (Mishkāt, book x. ch. ii.)

Abū Hurairah relates that the Prophet said, “Recite very frequently, ‘There is no power and strength but in God,’ for these words are one of the treasures of Paradise. For there is no escape from God but with God. And God will open for the reciter thereof seventy doors of escape from evil, the least of which is poverty.”

TANĀSUK͟H (تناسخ‎). (1) In Muḥammadan law, the death of one heir after another before the partition of an inheritance.

(2) At-Tanāsuk͟h. The metempsychosis or Pythagorean system of the transmigration of souls, a doctrine held by the Hindus and Buddhists, but forming no part of the Muḥammadan system.

TANFĪL (تنفيل‎). “Plundering in religious warfare.” Commended in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah viii. 1]: “They will question thee about the spoils. Say: The spoils are God’s and the Apostle’s.”

TAQARRUB (تقرب‎). Lit. “Seeking admittance or striving to draw near.” A term used to express the desire of propitiating the Deity by prayer, almsgiving, or sacrifice.

TAQDĪR (تقدير‎). Lit. “To measure.” The doctrine of Fate or Predestination, al-Qadr. [[PREDESTINATION].]

TAQĪYAH (تقية‎). Lit. “Guarding oneself.” A Shīʿah doctrine. A pious fraud whereby the Shīʿah Muslim believes he is justified in either smoothing down or in denying the peculiarities of his religious belief, in order to save himself from religious persecution. A Shīʿah can, therefore, pass himself off as a Sunnī to escape persecution.

The Shīʿah traditionists relate that certain persons inquired of the Imām Ṣādiq if the Prophet had ever practised taqīyah, or “religious dissimulation,” and the Imām replied, “Not after this verse was sent down to the Prophet, namely, [Sūrah v. 71]: ‘O thou Apostle! publish the whole of what has been revealed to thee from thy Lord; if thou do it not, thou hast not preached His message, and God will not defend thee from wicked men; for God guides not the unbelieving people.’ When the Most High became surety for the Prophet against harm, then he no longer dissimulated, although before this revelation appeared he had occasionally done so.” (The Ḥayātu ʾl-Qulūb, Merrick’s ed., p. 96.) [[SHIʿAH].]

TAQLĪD (تقليد‎). Lit. “Winding round.” (1) Putting a wreath round a victim destined to be slain at Makkah. (2) Girding with a sword, as a sign of investiture of a high dignitary. (3) A term used in Muḥammadan law for the following of a religious leader without due inquiry.

TAQWĀ (تقوى‎). [[ABSTINENCE].]

TARĀWĪH (تراويح‎). The plural of tarwīḥ, “Rest.” The prayers, of usually twenty rakʿahs, recited at night during the month of Ramaẓān; so called because the congregation sit down and rest after every fourth rakʿah and every second “Salām.” [[RAMAZAN].]

TARIKAH (تركة‎). A legacy, a bequest, an inheritance.

AT-T̤ĀRIQ (الطارق‎). “The night-comer.” The title of the LXXXVIth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, beginning thus:

“By the heaven, and by the night-comer!

But what shall teach thee

What the night-comer is?

’Tis the star of piercing radiance.”

According to al-Wāḥidī, these words were revealed when Abū T̤ālib, at the time of the evening meal, was startled by a shooting star. Nöldeke, however, observes that the three verses seem rather to apply to a planet or a fixed star of particular brightness.

T̤ARĪQAH (طريقة‎). “A path.” A term used by the Sūfīs for the religious life. [[SUFI].]

TARWIYAH (تروية‎). Lit. “Satisfying thirst,” or, according to some, “giving attention.” The eighth day of the pilgrimage; so called either because the pilgrims give their camels water on this day, or because Abraham gave attention (rawwa) to the vision wherein he was instructed to sacrifice his son Ishmael (?) on this day.

TAṢAWWUF (تصوف‎). A word used to express the doctrines of the Ṣūfīs or Muḥammadan mystics. Ṣūfīism. The word does not occur in the celebrated Arabic Dictionary, the Qāmūs, which was compiled A.H. 817, nor in the Ṣiḥāḥ, A.H. 393. [[SUFI].]

TASBĪḤ (تسبيح‎). (1) The ejaculation, “Subḥāna ʾllāh!” (سبحان الله‎), “I extol the holiness of God!” or “Holy God!” A most meritorious ejaculation, which, if recited one hundred times, night and morning, is said by the Prophet to atone for man’s sins, however many or great. (Mishkāt, book x. ch. ii.)

(2) A Rosary. [[ROSARY], [ZIKR].]

TASHAHHUD (تشهد‎). Lit. “Testimony.” A declaration of the Muslim faith recited during the stated prayers, immediately after the Taḥīyah, in the same attitude, but with the first finger of the right hand extended, as a witness to the Unity of God. It is as follows: “I testify that there is no deity but God, and I testify that Muḥammad is the Messenger of God.” It is also used as an expression of faith upon a person becoming a Muḥammadan. (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. xvi.) [[PRAYERS].]

TASHRĪQ (تشريق‎). Lit. “Drying flesh in the sun.” A name given to three days after the sacrifice at Makkah during the Pilgrimage, either because the flesh of the victim is then dried, or because they are not slain until sunrise. [[HAJJ].]

TASLĪM (تسليم‎). The benediction at the close of the usual form of prayer, “As-salāmu ʿalaikum wa raḥmatu ʿllāh!” (السلام عليكم ورحمة الله‎), “The peace and mercy of God be with you.” [[PRAYERS].]

TASMĪʿ (تسميع‎). The following ejaculation which is recited by the Imām in the daily prayers: “God hears him who praises Him.” [[PRAYERS].]

TASMIYAH (تسمية‎). Lit. “Giving a name.” (1) A title given to the Bismillāh, or the initial sentence, “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” This occurs at the commencement of each chapter or Sūrah of the Qurʾān, with the exception of the IXth Sūrah. [[QURʾAN].] (2) Also used at the commencement of any religious act (except sacrifice), such as prayer, ablutions, &c. (3) The usual “grace before meat,” amongst Muslims. [[BISMILLAH].]

TASNĪM (تسنيم‎). Lit. “Anything convex and shelving at both sides.” The name of a fountain in Paradise mentioned in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah lxxxiii. 28]: “Mingled therewith shall be the waters of Tasnīm.”

TAS̤WĪB (تثويب‎). Repeating the phrase, “Aṣ-ṣalātu k͟hairun mina ʾn-nāum” (i.e. “Prayer is better than sleep”), in the Aẕān for the early morning prayer. [[AZAN], [PRAYER].]

TAT̤AWWUʿ (تطوع‎). An act of supererogation. A term which includes both the sunnah and nafl actions of the Muslim (q.v.).

AT-TAT̤FĪF (التطفيف‎). “Giving Short Measure.” The title of the LXXXIIIrd Sūrah of the Qurʾān, beginning with the words:

“Woe to those who stint the measure:

Who when they take by measure from others, exact the full;

But when they mete to them or weigh to them, minish—

Have they no thought that they shall be raised again

For a great day.”

We learn from the Itqān that some commentators see in this passage allusions to Madīnah circumstances, and consequently think that the Sūrah, or at least part of it, was revealed in that town. But in connection with such obviously Makkan verses, as 30 and following, where it is said:

“The sinners, indeed, laugh the faithful to scorn,

And when they pass by them, they wink at one another,

And when they return to their own people, they return jesting,

And when they see them, they say, ‘Verily these are the erring ones’ ”—

it appears evident, that the pride and arrogance of the Makkans, founded on their ill-gotten wealth, is contrasted with the humble and precarious condition of the followers of Muḥammad, to convey at the same time a solemn warning, that the positions will be reversed on the Great Day of Reckoning.

TAT̤HĪR (تطهير‎). A purifying or cleansing of anything which is ceremonially unclean. For example, if a dog drinks from a vessel, it becomes najis, or “impure,” but it can be purified (tat̤hīr) by washing it seven times. A mosque which has been defiled can be cleansed with dry earth or water, and by recitals from the Qurʾān. If the boots on the feet have been defiled, they can be purified by rubbing them on dry earth.

Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib says that Muḥammad taught that the micturation of an animal lawful for food does not render clothes ceremonially unclean. (Mishkāt, book iii. ch. ix.) [[PURIFICATION].]

TATTOOING. Muḥammad forbade the custom of the idolaters of Arabia to prick the hands of their women and to rub the punctures over with wood, indigo, and other colours. (Mishkāt, book xii. ch. i. pt. 1.)

TAUBAH (توبة‎). (1) Repentance. (2) At-Taubah, a title of the IXth Sūrah of the Qurʾān. [[PARDON], [REPENTANCE].]

AT-TAUBATU ʾN-NAṢŪḤ (التوبة النصوح‎). Lit. “Sincere repentance.” A term used by divines for true repentance of the heart, as distinguished from that only of the lips.

TAUḤĪD (توحيد‎). A term used to express the unity of the Godhead, which is the great fundamental basis of the religion of Muḥammad. [[GOD].]

TAUJĪH (توجيه‎). Any pious ejaculation recited by the pious before or after the Takbīr. (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. xii.) [[PRAYER].]

TAURĀT (توراة‎). The title given in the Qurʾān ([Sūrah iii. 2]), and in all Muḥammadan works, for the Books of Moses. It is the Hebrew ‏תּוֹרָה‎ Tōrāh, “the Law.”

The author of the Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn (the bibliographical dictionary of Ḥājī K͟halīfah), says:—

“The Taurāt is the inspired book which God gave to Moses, and of which there are three well-known editions. (1) The Taurātu ʾs-Sabaʿīn, ‘the Torah of the Seventy,’ which was translated from the Hebrew into Greek by seventy-two learned Jews. (It is admitted by Christian writers that the Law, i.e. the Pentateuch, alone was translated first.) It has since been translated into Syriac and Arabic. (2) The Taurātu ʾl-Qarrāʾīn wa Rabbānīyīn, ‘the Taurāt of the learned doctors and rabbins.’ (3) The Taurātu ʾs-Sāmirah, ‘The Samaritan Pentateuch.’ ”

The same writer says the learned who have examined these editions of the Taurāt, found that although they agreed with each other and taught the unity of God, they do not contain an account of the stated prayers, the fast, the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and almsgiving, nor anything regarding heaven or hell, which is, he adds, a proof of the Taurāt having been altered by the Jews. (Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn, Flügel’s edition, vol. ii. p. 459.)

Although Muḥammad professed to establish the Taurāt of Moses (see Qurʾān, [Sūrahs ii. 130]; [iii. 78]; [iv. 135]), it would appear from the Traditions that he did not view with favour the reading of it in his presence.

It is related that ʿUmar once brought a copy of the Taurāt to the Prophet, and said, “This is a copy of the Taurāt.” Muḥammad was silent, and ʿUmar was about to read some portions of it. Then Abū Bakr said, “Your mother weeps for you. Don’t you see the Prophet’s face looks angry.” Then ʿUmar looked, and he saw the Prophet was angry, and he said, “God protect me from the anger of God and of His Apostle. I am satisfied with God as my Lord, Islām as my creed, and Muḥammad as my Prophet.” Then Muḥammad said, “If Moses were alive and found my prophecy, he would follow me.” [[OLD TESTAMENT].]

AT-TAUWĀB (التواب‎). Literally “One who turns frequently,” hence “the Relenting.” One of the ninety-nine names or attributes of God. Preceded by the article, as a name of God, it occurs four times in the Sūratu ʾl-Baqarah (ii. 35, 51, 122, 155), and twice in the Sūratu ʾt-Taubah (ix. 105, 119). In three of these passages, God’s relenting mercy is illustrated by striking instances taken from ancient and contemporaneous history, viz. in the case of Adam, of the Jews after their worshipping the golden calf, and of the three men who did not accompany Muḥammad in the expedition to Tabūk, and who, put under interdiction after his return, were not released from it till after fifty days of penance.

[Sūrah ii. 35]: “And words of prayer learned Adam from his Lord: and God relented towards him; verily, He is the Relenting, the Merciful.”

[Sūrah ii. 51]: “And remember when Moses said to his people: ‘O my people! verily ye have sinned to your own hurt, by your taking to yourself the calf to worship it: Be turned then to your Creator, and slay the guilty among you; this will be best for you with your Creator.’ So he relented towards you: verily He is the Relenting, the Merciful.”

[Sūrah iv. 119]: “He has also turned in Mercy unto the three who were left behind, so that the earth, spacious as it is, became too strait for them; and their souls became so straitened within them, that there was no refuge from God but unto Himself. Then was He turned to them that they might turn to Him. Verily, God is He that turneth, the Merciful.”

In the other places, mentioned above, and in two more ([Sūrahs xxiv. 10], and [xlix. 12]), where the word is used as an adjective without the article, it describes God as ever ready to turn in forgiveness to man in general and to the Muslim in particular, if they turn in repentance unto him.

T̤AWĀF (طواف‎). The ceremony of circumambulating the Kaʿbah seven times, three times in a quick step and four at the ordinary pace. It is enjoined in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xxii. 27]. Shaik͟h ʿAbdu ʾl-Ḥaqq says it was the custom of the Arabian idolaters to perform the t̤awāf naked. [[HAJJ].]

TAʿWĪẔ (تعويذ‎). Lit. “To flee for refuge.” An amulet or charm. A gold or silver case, inclosing quotations from the Qurʾān or Ḥadīs̤, and worn upon the breast, arm, neck, or waist. [[AMULET].]

TAXATION. There are three words used for taxation in Muslim books of law. (1) ʿUshr (عشر‎), “the tenth”; (2) K͟harāj (خراج‎), “land revenue”; (3) Jizyah (جزية‎), “capitation tax.”

(1) Lands, the proprietors of which become Muslims, or which the Imām divides among the troops, are ʿUshrī, or subject to tithe, because it is necessary that something should be imposed and deducted from the subsistence of Muslims, and a tenth is the proportion most suitable to them, as that admits the construction of an oblation or act of piety; and also, because this is the most equitable method, since in this way the amount of what is levied depends upon the actual product of the lands.

(2) Lands, on the other hand, which the Imām subdues by force of arms and then restores to the people of the conquered territory, are K͟harājī, or subject to tribute, because it is necessary that something be imposed and deducted from the subsistence of infidels, and tribute is the most suitable to their situation, as that bears the construction of a punishment, since it is a sort of hardship, the tax upon tribute land being due from the proprietor, although he should not have cultivated it. It is to be remarked, however, that Makkah is excepted from this rule, as Muḥammad conquered that territory by force of arms, and then restored it to the inhabitants without imposing tribute.

It is written in the Jāmiʿu ʾṣ-Ṣag͟hīr that all land subdued by force of arms, if watered by canals cut by the Gentiles, is subject to tribute, whether the Imām have divided it among the troops, or restored it to the original inhabitants; and if there be no canals, but the land be watered by springs, which rise within, it is subject to tithe, in either case, because tithe is peculiar to productive land, that is, land capable of cultivation, and which yields increase, and the increase produced from it is occasioned by water. The standard, therefore, by which tribute is due is the land being watered by tribute water, namely, rivers, and the standard by which tithe is due is the land being watered by tithe water, namely, springs.

If a person cultivate waste lands, the imposition of tithe or tribute upon it (according to Abū Yūsuf) is determined by the neighbouring soils; in other words, if the neighbouring lands be subject to tithe, a tithe is to be imposed upon it, or tribute if they be subject to tribute; because the rule respecting anything is determined by what is nearest to it; as in the case of a house, for instance, the rule with respect to it extends to its court-yard, although it be not the owner’s immediate property. The tribute established and imposed by ʿUmar upon the lands of al-ʿIrāq was adjusted as follows:—Upon every jarīb of land through which water runs (that is to say, which is capable of cultivation) one sāʿ and one dirham, and upon every jarīb of pasture-land five dirhams, and upon every jarīb of gardens and orchards ten dirhams, provided they contain vines and date-trees.

This rule for tribute upon arable and pasture lands, gardens, and orchards, is taken from ʿUmar, who fixed it at the rates above-mentioned, none contradicting him; wherefore it is considered as agreed to by all the Companions. Upon all land of any other description (such as pleasure-grounds, saffron-fields, and so forth) is imposed a tribute according to ability; since, although ʿUmar has not laid down any particular rule with respect to them, yet as he has made ability the standard of tribute upon arable land, so in the same manner, ability is to be regarded in lands of any other description. The learned in the law allege that the utmost extent of tribute is one half of the actual product, nor is it allowable to exact more; but the taking of a half is no more than strict justice, and is not tyrannical, because, as it is lawful to take the whole of the persons and property of infidels, and to distribute them among the Muslims, it follows that taking half their incomes is lawful a fortiori.

(3) Jizyah, or capitation-tax, is of two kinds. The first species is that which is established voluntarily, and by composition, the rate of which is such as may be agreed upon by both parties. The second is that which the Imām himself imposes, where he conquers infidels, and then confirms them in their possessions, the common rate of which is fixed by his imposing upon every avowedly rich person a tax of forty-eight dirhams per annum, or four dirhams per month; and upon every person in middling circumstances twenty-four dirhams per annum, or two dirhams per month; and upon the labouring poor twelve dirhams per annum, or one dirham per month.

(For further information see Raddu ʾl-Muḥtār, vol. ii. 7; Fatāwā-i-ʿĀlamgīrī, ii. 860; Hidāyah, vol. i. 102.)

TAYAMMUM (تيمم‎). Lit. “Intending or proposing to do a thing.” The ceremony of ablution performed with sand instead of water, as in the case of waẓūʾ. The permission to use sand for this purpose, when water cannot be obtained, is granted in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah v. 9]:—

“If ye cannot find water, then take fine surface sand and wipe your faces and your hands therewith. God does not wish to make any hindrance for you.”

It is related in the Traditions that Muḥammad said: “God has made me greater than all preceding prophets, inasmuch as my ranks in worship are like the ranks of angels; and the whole earth is fit for my people to worship on; and the very dust of the earth is fit for purification when water cannot be obtained.” (Mishkāt, book iii. ch. xi.)

Tayammum, or “purification by sand,” is allowable under the following circumstances: (1) When water cannot be procured except at a distance of about two miles; (2) in case of sickness when the use of water might be injurious; (3) when water cannot be obtained without incurring danger from an enemy, a beast, or a reptile; and (4) when on the occasion of the prayers of a Feast day or at a funeral, the worshipper is late and has no time to perform the waẓūʾ. On ordinary days this substitution of tayammum for waẓūʾ is not allowable. [[WAZUʾ].]

TAʿZĪAH (تعزية‎). Lit. “A consolation.” A representation or model of the tomb of Ḥasan and Ḥusain at Karbalāʾ, carried in procession at the Muḥarram by the Shīʿahs. It is usually made of a light frame of wood-work, covered with paper, painted and ornamented, and illuminated within and without. It is sometimes of considerable size and of elaborate execution according to the wealth of the owner. [[MUHARRAM].]

A TAʿZIAH. (A. F. Hole.)

TAʿZĪR (تعزير‎). From ʿazr, “to censure or repel.” That discretionary correction which is administered for offences, for which Ḥadd, or “fixed punishment,” has not been appointed.

According to the Sunnī law the following are the leading principles of Taʿzīr:—

Taʿzīr, in its primitive sense, means “prohibition,” and also “instruction”; in Law it signifies an infliction undetermined in its degree by the law, on account of the right either of God, or of the individual; and the occasion of it is any offence for which ḥadd, or “stated punishment,” has not been appointed, whether that offence consist in word or deed.

(1) Chastisement is ordained by the law, the institution of it being established on the authority of the Qurʾān, which enjoins men to chastise their wives, for the purpose of correction and amendment; and the same also occurs in the Traditions. It is, moreover, recorded that the Prophet chastised a person who had called another perjured; and all the Companions agree concerning this. Reason and analogy, moreover, both evince that chastisement ought to be inflicted for acts of an offensive nature, in such a manner that men may not become habituated to the commission of such acts; for if they were, they might by degrees be led into the perpetration of others more atrocious. It is also written in the Fatāwā-i-Timūr Tashī of Imām Siruk͟hsh, that in taʿzīr, or “chastisement,” nothing is fixed or determined, but that the degree of it is left to the discretion of the Qāẓī, because the design of it is correction, and the dispositions of men with respect to it are different, some being sufficiently corrected by reprimands, whilst others, more obstinate, require confinement, and even blows.

(2) In the Fatāwā-i-Shāfiʿī it is said that there are four orders or degrees of chastisement:—First, the chastisement proper to the most noble of the noble (or, in other words, princes and men of learning), which consists merely in admonition, as if the Qāẓī were to say to one of them, “I understand that you have done thus, or thus,” so as to make him ashamed. Secondly, the chastisement proper to the noble (namely, commanders of armies, and chiefs of districts), which may be performed in two ways, either by admonition (as above), or by jarr, that is, by dragging the offender to the door and exposing him to scorn. Thirdly, the chastisement proper to the middle order (consisting of merchants and shopkeepers), which may be performed by jarr (as above), and also by imprisonment; and Fourthly, the chastisement proper to the lowest order in the community, which may be performed by jarr, or by imprisonment, and also by blows.

(3) It is recorded from Abū Yūsuf that the ruler of a country may inflict chastisement by means of property, that is, by the exaction of a small sum in the manner of a fine, proportioned to the offence; but this doctrine is rejected by many of the learned.

(4) Imām Timūr Tashī says that chastisement, where it is incurred purely as the right of God, may be inflicted by any person whatever; for Abū Jaʿfar Hindūānī, being asked whether a man, finding another in the act of adultery with his wife, might slay him, replied, “If the husband know that expostulation and beating will be sufficient to deter the adulterer from a future repetition of his offence, he must not slay him; but if he sees reason to suppose that nothing but death will prevent a repetition of the offence, in such case it is allowed to the husband to slay that man: and if the woman were consenting to his act, it is allowed to her husband to slay her also;” from which it appears that any man is empowered to chastise another by blows, even though there be no magistrate present. He has demonstrated this fully in the Muntafiʿ: and the reason of it is that the chastisement in question is of the class of the removal of evil with the hand, and the Prophet has authorized every person to remove evil with the hand, as he has said: “Whosoever among ye see the evil, let him remedy it with his own hands; but if he be unable so to do, let him forbid it with his tongue.” Chastisement, therefore, is evidently contrary to punishment, since authority to inflict the latter does not appertain to any but a magistrate or a judge. This species of chastisement is also contrary to the chastisement which is incurred on account of the right of the individual (such as in cases of slander, and so forth), since that depends upon the complaint of the injured party, whence no person can inflict it but the magistrate, even under a private arbitration, where the plaintiff and defendant may have referred the decision of the matter to any third person.

(5) Chastisement, in any instance in which it is authorized by the law, is to be inflicted where the Imām sees it advisable.

(6) If a person accuse of whoredom a male or female slave, an ummu ʾl-walad, or an infidel, he is to be chastised, because this accusation is an offensive accusation, and punishment for slander is not incurred by it, as the condition, namely, Iḥsān (or marriage in the sense which induces punishment for slander), is not attached to the accused: chastisement, therefore, is to be inflicted. And in the same manner, if any person accuse a Muslim of any other thing than whoredom (that is, abuse him, by calling him a reprobate, or a villain, or an infidel, or a thief), chastisement is incurred, because he injures a Muslim and defames him; and punishment (ḥadd) cannot be considered as due from analogy, since analogy has no concern with the necessity of punishment: chastisement, therefore, is to be inflicted. Where the aggrieved party is a slave, or so forth, the chastisement must be inflicted to the extremity of it: but in the case of abuse of a Muslim, the measure of the chastisement is left to the discretion of the magistrate, be it more or less; and whatever he sees proper let him inflict.

(7) If a person abuse a Muslim, by calling him an ass, or a hog, in this case chastisement is not incurred, because these expressions are in no respect defamatory of the person towards whom they are used, it being evident that he is neither an ass nor a hog. Some allege that, in our time, chastisement is inflicted, since, in the modern acceptation, calling a man an ass or a hog is held to be abuse. Others, again, allege that it is esteemed such only where the person towards whom such expressions are used happens to be of dignified rank (such as a prince, or a man of letters), in which case chastisement must be inflicted upon the abuser, as by so speaking he exposes that person of rank to contempt; but if he be only a common person, chastisement is not incurred: and this is the most approved doctrine.

(8) The greatest number of stripes in chastisement is thirty-nine (see [2 Cor. xi. 24]), and the smallest number is three. This is according to Abū Ḥanīfah and Imām Muḥammad. Abū Yūsuf says that the greatest number of stripes in chastisement is seventy-five. The restriction to thirty-nine stripes is founded on a saying of the Prophet: “The man who shall inflict scourging to the amount of punishment, in a case where punishment is not established, shall be accounted an aggravator” (meaning a wanton aggravator of punishment), from which saying it is to be inferred that the infliction of a number of stripes in chastisement, to the same amount as in punishment, is unlawful; and this being admitted, Abū Ḥanīfah and Imām Muḥammad, in order to determine the utmost extent of chastisement, consider what is the smallest punishment: and this is punishment for slander with respect to a slave, which is forty stripes; they therefore deduct therefrom one stripe, and establish thirty-nine as the greatest number to be inflicted in chastisement. Abū Yūsuf, on the other hand, has regard to the smallest punishment with respect to freemen (as freedom is the original state of man), which is eighty stripes; he therefore deducts five, and establishes seventy-five as the greatest number to be inflicted in chastisement as aforesaid, because the same is recorded of ʿAlī, whose example Abū Yūsuf follows in this instance. It is in one place recorded of Abū Yūsuf that he deducted only one stripe, and declared the utmost number of stripes in chastisement to be seventy-nine. Such, also, is the opinion of Zafr; and this is agreeable to analogy. Imām Muḥammad, in his book, has determined the smallest number of stripes in chastisement to be three, because in fewer there is no chastisement. The more modern doctors assert that the smallest degree of chastisement must be left to the judgment of the Imām or Qāẓī, who is to inflict whatever he may deem sufficient for chastisement, which is different with respect to different men. It is recorded of Abū Yūsuf that he has alleged that the degree thereof is in proportion to the degree of the offence; and it is also recorded from him that the chastisement for petty offences should be inflicted to a degree approaching to the punishment allotted for offences of a similar nature; thus the chastisement for libidinous acts (such as kissing and touching), is to be inflicted to a degree approaching to punishment for whoredom; and the chastisement for abusive language to a degree approaching to punishment for slander.

(9) If the Qāẓī deem it fit in chastisement to unite imprisonment with scourging, it is lawful for him to do both, since imprisonment is of itself capable of constituting chastisement, and has been so employed, for the Prophet once imprisoned a person by way of chastising him. But as imprisonment is thus capable of constituting chastisement, in offences where chastisement is incurred by their being established, imprisonment is not lawful before the offence be proved, merely upon suspicion, since imprisonment is in itself a chastisement: contrary to offences which induce punishment, for there the accused may be lawfully imprisoned upon suspicion, as chastisement is short of punishment (whence the sufficiency of imprisonment alone in chastisement); and such being the case, it is lawful to unite imprisonment with blows.

(10) The severest blows or stripes may be used in chastisement, because, as regard is had to lenity with respect to the number of the stripes, lenity is not to be regarded with respect to the nature of them, for otherwise the design would be defeated; and hence, lenity is not shown in chastisement by inflicting the blows or stripes upon different parts or members of the body. And next to chastisement, the severest blows or stripes are to be inflicted in punishment for whoredom, as that is instituted in the Qurʾān. Whoredom, moreover, is a deadly sin, insomuch that lapidation for it has been ordained by the law. And next to punishment for whoredom, the severest blows or stripes are to be inflicted in punishment for wine-drinking, as the occasion of punishment is there fully certified. And next to punishment for wine-drinking, the severity of the blows or stripes is to be attended to in punishment for slander, because there is a doubt in respect to the occasion of the punishment (namely, the accusation), as an accusation may be either false or true; and also, because severity is here observed, in disqualifying the slanderer from appearing as an evidence: wherefore severity is not also to be observed in the nature of the blows or stripes.

(11) If the magistrate inflict either punishment or chastisement upon a person, and the sufferer should die in consequence of such punishment or chastisement, his blood is Nadar, that is to say, nothing whatever is due upon it, because the magistrate is authorized therein, and what he does is done by decree of the law; and an act which is decreed is not restricted to the condition of safety. This is analogous to a case of phlebotomy; that is to say, if any person desire to be let blood, and should die, the operator is in no respect responsible for his death; and so here also. It is contrary, however, to the case of a husband inflicting chastisement upon his wife, for his act is restricted to safety, as it is only allowed to a husband to chastise his wife; and an act which is only allowed is restricted to the condition of safety, like walking upon the highway. Ash-Shāfiʿī maintains that, in this case, the fine of blood is due from the public treasury; because, although where chastisement or punishment prove destructive, it is homicide by misadventure (as the intention is not the destruction, but the amendment of the sufferer), yet a fine is due from the public treasury, since the advantage of the act of the magistrate extends to the public at large, wherefore the atonement is due from their property, namely, from the public treasury. The Ḥanafī doctors, on the other hand, say that whenever the magistrate inflicts a punishment ordained of God upon any person, and that person dies, it is the same as if he had died by the visitation of God, without any visible cause; wherefore there is no responsibility for it. (See the Hidāyah; the Durru ʾl-Muk͟htār; the Fatāwā-i-ʿĀlamgīrī, in loco.) [[PUNISHMENT].]

TAZKIYAH (تزكية‎). Lit. “Purifying.” (1) Giving the legal alms, or zakāt.

(2) The purgation of witnesses. (See Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 674.) An institution of inquiry into the character of witnesses.

TAZWĪJ (تزويج‎). Lit. “Joining.” A term used for a marriage contract. [[MARRIAGE].]

TEMPLE AT MAKKAH, The. [[MASJIDU ʾL-HARAM].]

TERAH. [[AZAR].]

THEFT. [[LARCENY].]

THEOLOGY. Arabic al-ʿIlmu ʾl-Ilāhī (العلم الالهى‎), “The Science of God.” In the Traditions, the term ʿIlm, “knowledge,” is specially applied to the knowledge of the Qurʾān.

Shaik͟h ʿAbdu ʾl-Ḥaqq, in his remarks on the term ʿIlm, says religious knowledge consists in an acquaintance with the Qurʾān and the Traditions of Muḥammad.

Muḥammadan theology may be divided into:—

(1) ʿIlmu ʾt-Tafsīr, a knowledge of the Qurʾān and the commentaries thereon.

(2) ʿIlmu ʾl-Hadīs̤, a knowledge of the Traditions.

(3) ʿIlmu ʾl-Uṣūl, a knowledge of the roots, or of the four principles of the foundations of Muslim law, being expositions of the exegesis of the Qurʾān and the Ḥadīs̤, and the principles of Ijmāʿ and Qiyās.

(4) ʿIlmu ʾl-Fiqh, Muslim law, whether moral, civil, or ceremonial.

(5) ʿIlmu ʾl-ʿAqāʾid, scholastic theology, founded on the six articles of the Muslim creed, the Unity of God, the Angels, the Books, the Prophets, the Resurrection, and Predestination. [[ʿILM].]

THUNDER. Arabic Raʿd (رعد‎). In the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xiii. 13, 14], it is said: “He (God) it is who shows you the lightning for fear and hope (of rain); and He brings up heavy clouds, and the thunder celebrates His praise; and the angels, too, fear him, and He sends the thunder-clap and overtakes therewith whom He will; yet they wrangle about God! But He is strong in might.”

AT̤-T̤IBBU ʾR-RŪḤĀNI (الطب الروحانى‎). Lit. “The science (medical) of the heart.” A term used by the Ṣūfīs for a knowledge of the heart and of remedies for its health. (See Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrīfāt.)

TILĀWAH (تلاوة‎). Lit. “Reading.” The reading of the Qurʾān. [[QURʾAN].]

AT-TĪN (التين‎). “The Fig.” The title of the XCVth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, the opening words of which are: “I swear by the fig and by the olive.”

T̤ĪNATU ʾL-K͟HABĀL (طــيــنــة الخبال‎). Lit. “The clay of putrid matter.” The sweat of the people of hell. An expression used in the Traditions. (Mishkāt, book xv. ch. vii. pt. 1.)

AT-TIRMIẔĪ (الترمذى‎). The Jāmiʿu ʾt-Tirmiẕī, or the “Collection of Tirmiẕī.” One of the six correct books of Sunnī traditions collected by Abū ʿĪsā Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā ibn Saurah at-Tirmiẕī, who was born at Tirmiẕ on the banks of the Jaihun, A.H. 209. Died A.H. 279. [[TRADITIONS].]

TITHE. [[TAXATION].]

TOBACCO. Arabic duk͟hān (دخان‎) (smoke). In some parts of Syria tabag͟h (تبغ‎) and tutun (تتن‎); in India and Central Asia, tamāku, corruption of the Persian tambākū (تنباكو‎). Tobacco was introduced into Turkey, Arabia, and other parts of Asia soon after the beginning of the seventeenth century of the Christian era, and very soon after it had begun to be regularly imported from America into western Europe. Its lawfulness to the Muslim is warmly disputed. The Wahhābīs have always maintained its unlawfulness, and even other Muslims hardly contend for its lawfulness, but it has become generally used in Muslim countries. In India, smoking is allowed in mosques; but in Afg͟hānistān and Central Asia, it is generally forbidden. The celebrated Muslim leader, the Ak͟hūnd of Swat, although an opponent of the Wahhābīs, condemned the use of tobacco on account of its exhilarating effects.

TOLERATION, RELIGIOUS. Muḥammadan writers are unanimous in asserting that no religious toleration was extended to the idolaters of Arabia in the time of the Prophet. The only choice given them was death or the reception of Islām. But they are not agreed as to how far idolatry should be tolerated amongst peoples not of Arabia. Still, as a matter of fact, Hindūs professing idolatry are tolerated in all Muslim countries. Jews, Christians, and Majūsīs are tolerated upon the payment of a capitation tax [[JIZYAH], [TREATY]]. Persons paying this tax are called Ẕimmīs, and enjoy a certain toleration. (Fatāwā-i-ʿAlamgīrī, vol. i. p. 807.) [[ZIMMI].]

According to the Ḥanafīs, the following restrictions are ordained regarding those who do not profess Islām, but enjoy protection on payment of the tax:—

It behoves the Imām to make a distinction between Muslims and Ẕimmīs, in point both of dress and of equipage. It is, therefore, not allowable for Ẕimmīs to ride upon horses, or to use armour, or to use the same saddles and wear the same garments or head-dresses as Muslims, and it is written in the Jāmiʿu ʾṣ-Ṣag͟hīr, that Ẕimmīs must be directed to wear the kistīj openly on the outside of their clothes (the kistīj is a woollen cord or belt which Ẕimmīs wear round their waists on the outside of their garments); and also that they must be directed, if they ride upon any animal, to provide themselves a saddle like the panniers of an ass.

The reason for this distinction in point of clothing and so forth, and the direction to wear the kistīj openly, is that Muslims are to be held in honour (whence it is they are not saluted first, it being the duty of the highest in rank to salute first [[SALUTATION]]), and if there were no outward signs to distinguish Muslims from Ẕimmīs, these might be treated with the same respect, which is not allowed. It is to be observed that the insignia incumbent upon them to wear is a woollen rope or cord tied round the waist, and not a silken belt.

It is requisite that the wives of Ẕimmīs be kept separate from the wives of Muslims, both in the public roads, and also in the baths; and it is also requisite that a mark be set upon their dwellings, in order that beggars who come to their doors may not pray for them. The learned have also remarked that it is fit that Ẕimmīs be not permitted to ride at all, except in cases of absolute necessity, and if a Ẕimmī be thus, of necessity, allowed to ride, he must alight wherever he sees any Muslims assembled; and, as mentioned before, if there be a necessity for him to use a saddle, it must be made in the manner of the panniers of an ass. Ẕimmīs of the higher orders must also be prohibited from wearing rich garments.

The construction of churches or synagogues in the Muslim territory is unlawful, this being forbidden in the Traditions; but if places of worship originally belonging to Jews or Christians be destroyed, or fall to decay, they are at liberty to repair them, because buildings cannot endure for ever, and as the Imām has left these people to the exercise of their own religion, it is a necessary inference that he has engaged not to prevent them from rebuilding or repairing their churches and synagogues. If, however, they attempt to remove these, and to build them in a place different from their former situation, the Imām must prevent them, since this is an actual construction; and the places which they use as hermitages are held in the same light as their churches, wherefore the construction of those also is unlawful.

It is otherwise with respect to such places of prayer as are within their dwellings, which they are not prohibited from constructing, because these are an appurtenance to the habitation. What is here said is the rule with respect to cities, but not with respect to villages or hamlets, because, as the tokens of Islām (such as public prayer, festivals, and so forth) appear in cities, Ẕimmīs should not be permitted to celebrate the tokens of infidelity there in the face of them; but as the tokens of Islām do not appear in villages or hamlets, there is no occasion to prevent the construction of synagogues or churches there.

Some allege that Ẕimmīs are to be prohibited from constructing churches or synagogues, not only in cities but also in villages and hamlets, because in the villages various tokens of Islām appear, and what is recorded from Abū Ḥanīfah (that the prohibition against building churches and synagogues is confined to cities, and does not extend to villages and hamlets) relates solely to the villages of al-Kūfah, because the greater part of the inhabitants of villages are Ẕimmīs, there being few Muslims among them, wherefore the tokens of Islām did not there appear; moreover, in the territory of Arabia Ẕimmīs are prohibited from constructing churches or synagogues, either in cities or villages, because the Prophet has said: “Two religions cannot be possessed together in the peninsula of Arabia.” (See Fatāwā-i-ʿAlamgīrī, Durru ʾl-Muk͟htār, Hidāyah, in loco.) [[ZIMMI].]

TOMBS. The erection of tombs and monuments over the graves of Muslims is forbidden by the strict laws of Islām. For the teaching of the Traditions on the subject is unmistakable, as will be seen by the following Aḥādīs̤ (Mishkāt, book v. ch. vi. pt. 1):—

Jābir says: “The Prophet prohibited building with mortar on graves.”

Abū ʾl-Haiyāj al-Asadī relates that the K͟halīfah ʿAlī said to him: “Shall I not give you the orders which the Prophet gave me, namely, to destroy all pictures and images, and not to leave a single lofty tomb without lowering it within a span from the ground.”

Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ said, when he was ill: “Make me a grave towards Makkah, and put unburnt bricks upon it, as was done upon the Prophet’s.”

The Wahhābīs consequently forbid the erection of monuments, and when they took possession of al-Madīnah, they intended to destroy the handsome building which covers the grave of the Prophet, but were prevented by accident. (See Burton’s Pilgrimage, vol. i. p. 354.) [[WAHHABI].]

But notwithstanding the general consensus of orthodox opinion, that the erection of such buildings is unlawful, domed tombs of substantial structure, similar to the illustration given on this page, are common to all Muḥammadan countries, and masonry tombs are always erected over the graves of persons of respectability.

Some have a head-stone, in which there are recesses for small oil lamps, which are lighted every Thursday evening. Persons of distinction are generally honoured with tombs constructed with domes. The specimens given in the illustrations are common to all parts of the Muslim world.

The most common form of structure is not dissimilar to that which is erected in Christian cemeteries, but it is usual to put a head-stone to the grave of a male on which is a figure representing the turban as a sign of authority. Sometimes there is a cavity in the top of the grave-stone filled with mould, in which flowers are planted.

Writing of the grave-yards of Damascus, Mr. Wellsted says: “I know of nothing which displays the Moslem character to more advantage than the care they bestow on their burial-grounds. On Friday, the Moslem Sunday, those of Damascus afford at once a touching and animated scene. The site selected for the remains of those most cherished in life is generally picturesquely situated, in some lower spot, beneath the lofty cypress or quivering poplar. Here a head-stone of marble, covered with inscriptions, and of a male, surmounted with a turban, mingles with costlier buildings, of an oblong form, very tastefully and elaborately inscribed with sentences from the Koran. The greatest care is observed in preserving these sepulchral monuments. A small aperture is left in some portions, which is filled with earth, and in them the females plant myrtle and other flowers, and not infrequently water them with their tears. On the day I have named, they may be perceived in groups, hastening to perform the sad but pleasing office of mourning for the departed.” (Travels to the City of the Caliphs, vol. i. p. 348.)

Mr. Lane (Arabian Nights, vol. i. p. 433) says the tomb “is a hollow, oblong vault, one side of which faces Mekkeh, generally large enough to contain four or more bodies, and having an oblong monument of stone or brick constructed over it with a stela at the head and foot. Upon the former of these two stelæ (which is often inscribed with a text from the Ḳur-án, and the name of the deceased, with the date of his death), a turban, or other head-dress, is sometimes carved, shewing the rank or class of the person or persons buried beneath; and in many cases, a cupola, supported by four walls, or by columns, &c., is constructed over the smaller monument. The body is laid on its right side, or inclined by means of a few crude bricks, so that the face is turned towards Mekkeh; and a person is generally employed to dictate to the deceased the answers which he should give when he is examined by the two angels Munkir and Nekeer.” [[TALQIN].]

The tombs of the imperial family of Turkey are amongst the most interesting sights of the city of Constantinople. They are principally erected in the outer courts of mosques and behind the miḥrāb. One of the finest of these mausoleums is that of Sultān Sulaimān I., who died A.D. 1566. It is an octagonal building of divers coloured marbles, with cupola and fluted roof; four pillars support the dome, which is elaborately painted in red and delicate arabesque. It contains the remains of three Sultāns, Sulaimān I., Sulaimān II., and Aḥmad II., besides some female members of the family. The biers are decorated with rich embroideries and costly shawls, and with turbans and aigrettes; and that of Sulaimān I. is surrounded by a railing inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

The mausoleum of the Emperor Jahāngīr at Shahdarrah, near Lahore, is one of the finest Muḥammadan tombs in the world. It is situated in a garden 1,600 feet square. There is, first, a fine corridor 233 feet long, from which to the central dome is 108 feet. The passage to the tomb is pared with beautifully streaked marble from Jaipūr and other places. The sarcophagus stands on a white marble platform, 13 feet 5 inches long, from north to south, and 8 feet 9 inches broad. The sarcophagus itself is of white marble, and is 7 feet long. On the east and west sides of it are the ninety-nine names of God, [[GOD, NAMES OF]] most beautifully carved, and on the south side is inscribed: “The glorious tomb of His High Majesty, the Asylum of Protectors, Nūru ʾd-dīn Muḥammad, the Emperor Jihāngīr, A.H. 1037” (A.D. 1627). On the north end of the tomb is in Arabic, “Allāh the Living God. There is no deity but God over the invisible world and all things. He is the Merciful and the Compassionate.” On the top is a short passage from the Qurʾān, written in beautiful T̤ug͟hra. The central dome of the building is 27 feet square, and on the four sides there are fine screens of trellis work. Just inside the entrance, and to the right of it, is a staircase with twenty-five steps, which leads up to a magnificent tesselated pavement, at each corner of which is a minaret 95 feet high from the platform. This platform is 211 feet 5 inches square, and is truly beautiful. A marble wall ran round the pavement, but it was taken away by the Sikhs, and it has been replaced by a poor substitute of masonry. The minarets are four storeys high, and are built of magnificent blocks of stone 8 feet by 61 feet, and in them are steps leading to the top of the building, from which there is a fine view of Lahore.

The tomb of Aḥmad Shāh Abdalī at Kandahar, is an octagonal structure, overlaid with coloured porcelain bricks, and is surmounted with a gilded dome, surrounded by small minarets. The pavement inside is covered with a carpet, and the sarcophagus of the Afghan king is covered with a shawl. The tomb itself is made of Kandahar stone, inlaid with wreaths of flowers in coloured marble. The interior walls are prettily painted and the windows are of fine trellis work in stone.

The sepulchre of the Taimur, who died A.D. 1405, is at Samarkand in Bukhārah, and is described by M. Vambéry as a neat little chapel crowned with a splendid dome, and encircled by a wall in which there is an arched gate. On both sides are two small domes, miniature representations of the large one in the centre. The court-yard between the wall and the chapel is filled with trees; the garden being much neglected. Upon entering the dome, there is a vestibule which leads to the chapel itself. This is octagonal, and about ten short paces in diameter. In the middle, under the dome, that is to say, in the place of honour, there are two tombs, placed lengthways, with the head in the direction of Makkah. One of these tombs is covered with a very fine stone of a dark green colour, two and a half spans broad and ten long, and about the thickness of six fingers. It is laid flat in two pieces over the grave of Taimur. The other grave is covered with a black stone. It is the tomb of Mīr Syud Bakar, the teacher and spiritual guide of Taimur, and beside whose grave the great Ameer gratefully desired to be buried. Round about lie other tombstones great and small. The inscriptions are simple, and are in Arabic and Persian.

It has often been the case that Muḥammadan kings have erected their mausoleums during their lifetime, although such acts are strictly contrary to the teachings of their Prophet. A remarkable instance of this is to be seen at Bijapur in India, where the unfinished tomb of ʿAlī ʿAdl Shah (A.D. 1557) is still to be seen, having never been completed after his burial. His successor, Ibrāhīm (A.D. 1579), warned by the fate of his predecessor’s tomb, commenced his own on so small a plan—116 feet square—that, as he was blessed with a long and prosperous reign, it was only by ornament that he could render the place worthy of himself. This he accomplished by covering every part with the most exquisite and elaborate carvings. The ornamental carvings on this tomb are so numerous, that it is said the whole Qurʾān is engraven on its walls. The principal apartment in the tomb is a square of forty feet, covered by a stone roof perfectly flat in the centre, and supported by a cove projecting ten feet from the wall on every side. Mr. Fergusson says: “How the roof is supported is a mystery, which can only be understood by those who are familiar with the use the Indians make of masses of concrete, which, with good mortar, seems capable of infinite applications unknown in Europe.” (Architecture, vol. iii. p. 562.) The tomb of Maḥmūd, Ibrāhīm’s successor (A.D. 1626), was also built in his lifetime, and is remarkable for its simple grandeur and constructive boldness. It is internally 135 feet each way, and its area is consequently 18,225 square feet, while the Pantheon at Rome has only an area of 15,833 feet.

The tomb of Imām ash-Shāfiʿī, the founder of one of the four orthodox sects of the Sunnīs, and who died A.H. 204, is still to be seen near the city of Cairo. It is surmounted by a large dome, with a weathercock in the form of a boat. It is said to have been erected by Yūsuf Ṣalāḥu ʾd-Dīn (Saladin). The interior is cased to a height of eight feet with marble, above which the whole building is coloured in recent and unartistic style. The windows contain coloured glass. There are three niches, with a fourth in the form of a miḥrāb, marking the direction of Makkah. The covering of the tomb of the celebrated Muslim doctor is of simple brocade, embroidered with gold. It is enclosed with a wooden railing, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, the corners being clasped with silver fittings. At the head of the tomb is a large turban, partly covered with a Cashmere shawl. Near the head of the tomb is a marble pillar, with sculptured inscriptions, coloured red and gold. From the roof are suspended a few porcelain lamps; and lamps of glass, as well as ostrich eggs, hang in profusion from the canopy of the tomb and from light wooden beams. The walls and tomb-enclosure are adorned with scrolls. Close to the building are four other tombs of the Imām’s family.

The tomb of Zubaidah, the beloved wife of the celebrated K͟halīfah Hārūnu ʾr-Rashīd, the hero of the tales of The Thousand and One Nights, is a simple edifice standing on a sloping eminence, within an extensive cemetery outside the city of Bag͟hdad. It is a building of an octagonal shape, thirty feet in diameter, and surmounted by a spire. In the upper part of the building are two ranges of windows, the upper of which presents the flattened and the lower the pointed arch. The spire is a mere sharpened cone, ornamented without with convex divisions corresponding to concave arches within. The interior is occupied by three oblong buildings of masonry, coated with lime. A modern Pacha and his wife have now the honour of reposing beside the remains of the fair Persian, and an inscription over the porch testifies that their remains were deposited nine centuries after the favourite wife of the renowned K͟halīfah.

THE TAJ AT AGRA. (A. F. Hole.)

A very interesting specimen of tomb architecture is found at Sultaniah in Persia. It is the sepulchre of one Muḥammad K͟hudabandia. Texier ascribes the building to K͟hudabandia, of the Ṣūfī dynasty, A.D. 1577–85; but Fergusson says its style shows that the monument must be two or three hundred years older than that king. Ker Porter says it is the work of the Tartar Muḥammad K͟hudabandia, who was the successor of G͟hazan K͟hān, the builder of the celebrated mosque at Tabrīz, who, being seized with as much zeal for his Shīʿite faith as his predecessor had been for the Sunnite, his intention was to lodge in this mausoleum the remains of ʿAlī and his son al-Ḥusain. This intention, however, was not carried into effect, and consequently the bones of the founder repose alone in this splendid shrine, and not under the central dome, but in a side chamber. The general plan of this building is an octagon, with a small chapel opposite the entrance, in which the body lies. Internally, the dome is 81 feet in diameter by 150 feet in height, the octagon being worked (Mr. Fergusson says) into a circle by as elegant a series of brackets as, perhaps, ever were employed for this purpose. The form of the dome is singularly graceful and elegant, and superior to anything of the kind in Persia. The whole is covered with glazed tiles, rivalling in richness those of the celebrated mosque at Tabrīz; and with its general beauty of outline, it affords one of the finest specimens of this style of architecture found in any country.

The grave of the Persian poet Ḥāfiz̤, at Shiraz in Persia, is a single block of beautiful marble from Yezd, of which about eighteen inches appear above the ground. It is a fine slab, is perfectly flat, and is nine feet long by two feet nine inches in width. Raised in low relief, in the centre of the top of the slab, is one of the poet’s odes in the beautiful letters of the Persian alphabet, and round the edges, in a band about five inches deep, is another ode. The tomb, which is probably about two hundred years old, is situated in a square enclosure or garden, and the ground around is thickly beset with tombs, mostly flat like that of the poet.

The finest specimen of monumental architecture is the celebrated Tāj at Agra, erected over the grave of Urjummad Banu Begum, called Mumtāz-i-Maḥall, or the “Exalted One of the Palace,” the favourite wife of the Emperor Shāh Jahān, who died about A.D. 1629. The designs and estimates for the building are said to have been prepared by a Venetian named Geronimo Verroneo; but the architect died at Lahore before its completion, and the work is supposed to have been handed over to a Byzantine Turk. Mr. Keene says that it is certain Austin, the French artist, was consulted. Mr. Fergusson gives the following particulars of this remarkable building:—

“The enclosure, including garden and outer court, is a parallelogram of 1,860 feet by more than 1,000 feet. The outer court, surrounded by arcades and adorned by four gateways, is an oblong, occupying in length the whole breadth of the enclosure, and is about 450 feet deep. The principal gateway leads from this court to the garden, where the tomb is seen framed in an avenue of dark cypress trees. The plinth of white marble is 18 feet high, and is an exact square of 313 feet each way. At the four corners stand four columns or towers, each 137 feet high, and crowned with a little pavilion. The mausoleum itself occupies a space of 186 feet square, in the centre of this larger square, and each of the four corners is cut off opposite each of the towers. The central dome is 50 feet in diameter by 80 feet in height. On the platform in front of the juwab, or false mosque, is a tracing of the topmost spine, a gilded spike crowning the central dome to the height of 30 feet. The interior is lighted from marble-trellised-screen lights above and below.”—Fergusson’s History of Architecture, vol. ii. p. 693. [[ZIYARAH].]

TRADITION. It is the belief of all Muḥammadans, whether Sunnī, Shīʿah, or Wahhābī, that in addition to the revelation contained in the Qurʾān, the Prophet received the Waḥy g͟hair Matlū (lit. “an unread revelation”), whereby he was enabled to give authoritative declarations on religious questions, either moral, ceremonial, or doctrinal. Muḥammad traditions are therefore supposed to be the uninspired record of inspired sayings, and consequently occupy a totally different position to what we understand by traditions in the Christian Church. The Arabic words used for these traditions are Ḥadīs̤ (حديث‎), pl. Aḥādīs̤, “a saying”; and Sunnah (سنة‎), pl. Sunan, “a custom.” The word Ḥadīs̤, in its singular form, is now generally used by both Muḥammadan and Christian writers for the collections of traditions. They are records of what Muḥammad did (Sunnatu ʾl-fiʿl), what Muḥammad enjoined (Sunnatu ʾl-qaul), and that which was done in the presence of Muḥammad and which he did not forbid (Sunnatu ʾt-taqrīr). They also include the authoritative sayings and doings of the Companions of the Prophet.

The following quotations from the Traditions as to the sayings of Muḥammad on the subject of this oral law, will explain the position which he intended to assign to it.

“That which the Prophet of God hath made unlawful is like that which God himself hath made so.”

“I am no more than a man, but when I enjoin anything respecting religion receive it, and when I order anything about the affairs of the world, then I am nothing more than man.”

“Verily the best word is the word of God, and the best rule of life is that delivered by Muḥammad.”

“I have left you two things, and you will not stray as long as you hold them fast. The one is the book of God, and the other the law (sunnah) of His Prophet.”

“My sayings do not abrogate the word of God, but the word of God can abrogate my sayings.”

“Some of my injunctions abrogate others.” (Mishkāt, book i. ch. vi.)

Muḥammad gave very special injunctions respecting the faithful transmission of his sayings, for, according to at-Tirmiẕī, Ibn ʿAbbās relates that Muḥammad said: “Convey to other persons none of my words, except those ye know of a surety. Verily he who represents my words wrongly shall find a place for himself in the fire.”

But notwithstanding the severe warning given by their Prophet, it is admitted by all Muslim scholars that very many spurious traditions have been handed down. Abū Dāʿūd received only four thousand eight hundred traditions out of five hundred thousand, and even in this careful selection, he states, that he has given “those which seem to be authentic and those which are nearly so.” (Vide Ibn K͟hallikān, vol. i. p. 590.)

Out of forty thousand persons who have been instrumental in handing down traditions, al Buk͟hārī only acknowledges two thousand as reliable authorities.

In consequence of the unreliable character of the Traditions, the following canons have been framed for the reception or rejection (vide Nuk͟hbatu ʾl-Faqr, by Shaik͟h Shihābu ʾd-Dīn Aḥmad, ed. by Captain N. Lees):—

I. With reference to the character of those who have handed down the tradition:—

(1) Ḥadīs̤u ʾṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ, a genuine tradition, is one which has been handed down by truly pious persons who have been distinguished for their integrity.

(2) Ḥadīs̤u ʾl-Ḥasan, a mediocre tradition, is one the narrators of which do not approach in moral excellence to those of the Ṣaḥīḥ class.

(3) Ḥadīs̤u ʾẓ-Ẓaʿīf, a weak tradition, is one whose narrators are of questionable authority.

The disputed claims of narrators to these three classes have proved a fruitful source of learned discussion, and very numerous are the works written upon the subject.

II. With reference to the original relators of the Ḥadīs̤:—

(1) Ḥadīs̤u ʾl-Marfūʿ, an exalted tradition is a saying, or an act, related or performed by the Prophet himself and handed down in a tradition.

(2) Ḥadīs̤u ʾl-Mauqūf, a restricted tradition, is a saying or an act related or performed by one of the aṣḥāb, or Companions of the Prophet.

(3) Ḥadīs̤u ʾl-Maqt̤ūʿ, an intersected tradition, is a saying or an act related or performed by one of the Tābiʿūn, or those who conversed with the Companions of the Prophet.

III. With reference to the links in the chain of the narrators of the tradition, a Ḥadīs̤ is either Muttaṣil, connected, or Munqat̤iʿ, disconnected. If the chain of narrators is complete from the time of the first utterance of the saying or performance of the act recorded to the time that it was written down by the collector of traditions, it is Muttaṣil; but if the chain of narrators is incomplete, it is Munqat̤iʿ.

IV. With reference to the manner in which the tradition has been narrated, and transmitted down from the first:—

(1) Ḥadīs̤u ʾl-Mutawātir, an undoubted tradition, is one which is handed down by very many distinct chains of narrators, and which has been always accepted as authentic and genuine, no doubt ever having been raised against it. The learned doctors say there are only five such traditions; but the exact number is disputed.

(2) Ḥadīs̤u ʾl-Mashhūr, a well-known tradition, is one which has been handed down by at least three distinct lines of narrators. It is called also Mustafīẓ, diffused. It is also used for a tradition which was at first recorded by one person, or a few individuals, and afterwards became a popular tradition.

(3) Ḥadīs̤u ʾl-ʿAzīz, a rare tradition, is one related by only two lines of narrators.

(4) Ḥadīs̤u ʾl-G͟harīb, a poor tradition, is one related by only one line of narrators.

(5) K͟habaru ʾl-Wāḥid, a single saying, is a term also used for a tradition related by one person and handed down by one line of narrators. It is a disputed point whether a K͟habar Wāḥid can form the basis of Muslim doctrine.

(6) Ḥadīs̤u ʾl-Mursal (lit. “a tradition let loose”), is a tradition which any collector of traditions, such as al-Buk͟hārī and others, records with the assertion, “the Apostle of God said.”

(7) Riwāyah, is a Ḥadīs̤ which commences with the words “it is related,” without the authority being given.

(8) Ḥadīs̤u ʾl-Mauẓūʿ, an invented tradition, is one the untruth of which is beyond dispute.

The following is a specimen of a ḥadīs̤, as given in the collection of at-Tirmiẕī, which will exemplify the way in which a tradition is recorded:—

“Abū Kuraib said to us (ḥaddas̤a-nā) that Ibrāhīm ibn Yūsuf ibn Abī Isḥāq said to us (ḥaddas̤a-nā), from (ʿan) his father, from (ʿan) Abū Isḥāq, from (ʿan) Tulātā ibn Musārif, that he said, I have heard (samiʿtu), from ʿAbdu ʾr-Raḥmān ibn Ausajah, that he said (yaqūlu), I have heard (samiʿtu) from Barā ibn ʿĀzib that he said (yaqūlu) I have heard (samiʿtu) that the Prophet said, Whoever shall give in charity a milch cow, or silver, or a leathern bottle of water, it shall be equal to the freeing of a slave.”

The Honourable Syed Ahmed Khan Bahadur, C.S.I., an educated Muḥammadan gentleman, in an Essay on Mohammedan Traditions, gives the following information:—

The Style of Composition employed in the imparting of a Tradition.

For the purpose of expressing how a tradition had been communicated from one person to another, certain introductory verbal forms were selected by duly qualified persons, and it was incumbent upon every one about to narrate a tradition, to commence by that particular form appropriated to the said tradition, and this was done with the view of securing for each tradition the quantum of credit to which it might be justly entitled.

These introductory verbal forms are as follow: (1) حدثنا‎ “He said to me”; (2) سمعته يقول‎ “I heard him saying”; (3) قال لنا‎ “He told me”; (4) ذكر لنا‎ “He related to me”; (5) اخبرنا‎ “He informed me”; (6) انبانا‎ “He informed me”; (7) عن‎ “From.”

The first four introductory forms were to be used only in the case of an original narrator communicating the very words of the tradition to the next one below him. The fifth and sixth introductory verbal forms were used when a narrator inquired of the narrator immediately above him whether such or such a fact, or circumstance, was or was not correct. The last form is not sufficiently explicit, and the consequence is that it cannot be decided to which of the two persons the tradition related belongs, so that unless other facts be brought to bear upon it, it cannot be satisfactorily proved whether there be any other persons, one, or more than one, intermediary between the two narrators. As to any external facts that might prove what was required to be known, the learned are divided in their opinions.

First: If it be known of a certainty that the narrator is not notorious for fraudulently omitting the names of other parties forming links in the chain of narration, and who also lived at such a time and in such a locality that it was possible, although not proved, that they visited each other, then it might be taken for granted that there were no other narrators intermediary between these two.

Secondly: Other learned authorities add that it must be proved that they visited each other, at least once in their life-time.

Thirdly: Others assert that it must be proved that they remained together for such a time as would be sufficient to enable them to learn the tradition, one from the other.

Fourthly: Some hold that it must be proved that one of them really learned the tradition from the other.

Degree of Authenticity of the Narrators as judged by their Acquirements.

The associates of the Prophet, and those persons who lived immediately after them, used to relate, with the exception of the Qurʾān, the sense of the Prophet’s words in their own language, unless they had to use some phrases containing prayers, or when they had to point out to others the very words of the Prophet. It is natural to suppose that deeply-learned persons would themselves understand and deliver, to others, the sense of the sayings better than persons of inferior parts, and therefore narrators have been divided into seven grades.

First: Persons highly conspicuous for their learning and legal acquirements, as well as for their retentive memory. Such persons are distinguished by the title of ايمة الحديث‎ Aʾimmatu ʾl-Ḥadīs̤, that is “Leaders in Ḥadīs̤.”

Second: Persons who, as to their knowledge, take rank after the first, and who but very rarely committed any mistake.

Third: Persons who have made alterations in the pure religion of the Prophet, without carrying them to extremes by prejudice, but respecting whose integrity and honesty there is no doubt.

Fourth: Persons respecting whom nothing is known.

Fifth: Persons who have made alterations in the pure religion of the Prophet, and, actuated by prejudice, have carried them to extremes.

Sixth: Persons who are pertinaciously sceptical, and have not a retentive memory.

Seventh: Persons who are notorious for inventing spurious traditions. Learned divines are of opinion that the traditions related by persons of the first three classes should be accepted as true, according to their respective merits, and also that traditions related by persons coming under the three last classes should be, at once, entirely rejected; and that the traditions related by persons of the fourth class, should be passed over unnoticed so long as the narrator remained unknown.

Causes of Difference among Traditions.

We should not be justified in concluding that, whenever a difference is met with in traditions, these latter are nothing more than so many mere inventions and fabrications of the narrators, since, besides the fabrication of ḥadīs̤, there are also other natural causes which might occasion such differences; and we shall now consider those natural causes which produce such variety among ḥadīs̤.

(1) A misunderstanding of the real sense of the saying of the Prophet.

(2) Difference of the opinions of two narrators in understanding the true sense of the Prophet’s saying.

(3) Inability to enunciate clearly the sense of the Prophet’s saying.

(4) Failure of memory on the part of the narrator—in consequence of which he either left out some portion or portions of the Prophet’s saying, or mixed up together the meanings of two different ḥadīs̤.

(5) Explanation of any portion of the ḥadīs̤ given by the narrator, with the intention of its being easily understood by the party hearing it, but unfortunately mistaken by the latter for an actual portion of the ḥadīs̤ itself.

(6) Quotations of certain of the Prophet’s words by the narrator, for the purpose of supporting his own narration, while the hearers of the narration erroneously took the whole of it as being the Prophet’s own words.

(7) Traditions borrowed from the Jews erroneously taken to be the words of the Prophet, and the difference existing between such Jewish traditions was thus transferred to those of the Muḥammadans. The stories of ancient persons and early prophets, with which our histories and commentaries are filled, are all derived from these sources.

(8) The difference which is naturally caused in the continual transmission of a tradition by oral communication, as it has been in the case of traditions having miracles for their subject-matter.

(9) The various states and circumstances in which the different narrators saw the Prophet.

Apocryphal Ḥadīs̤.

There exists no doubt respecting the circumstance of certain persons having fabricated some ḥadīs̤ in the Prophet’s name. Those who perpetrated so impudent a forgery were men of the following descriptions:—

(1) Persons desirous of introducing some praiseworthy custom among the public, forged ḥadīs̤ in order to secure success. Such fabrication is restricted exclusively to those ḥadīs̤ which treat of the advantages and benefits which reading the Qurʾān and praying procure to any one, both in this world and the next; which show how reciting passages from the Qurʾān cures every disease, etc.: the real object of such frauds being to lead the public into the habit of reading the Qurʾān and of praying. According to our religion, the perpetrators of such frauds, or of any others, stand in the list of sinners.

(2) Preachers, with a view of collecting large congregations around them, and of amusing their hearers, invented many traditions, such traditions being only those which describe the state and condition of paradise and of hell, as well as the state and condition of the soul after death, etc., in order to awaken the fear of God’s wrath and the hope of salvation.

(3) Those persons who made alterations in the religion of the Prophet, and who, urged by their prejudices, carried the same to extremes, and who, for the purpose of successfully confronting their controversial antagonists, forged such traditions in order to favour their own interested views.

(4) Unbelievers who maliciously coined and circulated spurious ḥadīs̤. Learned men, however, have greatly exerted themselves in order to discover such fabricated traditions, and have written many works upon the subject, laying down rules for ascertaining false traditions and for distinguishing them from genuine ones.

The modes of procedure were as follows: Such persons examined the very words employed in such traditions, as well as their style of composition; they compared the contents of each ḥadīs̤ with the commands and injunctions contained in the Qurʾān, with those religious doctrines and dogmas that have been deduced from the Qurʾān, and with those ḥadīs̤ which have been proved to be genuine; they investigated the nature of the import of such traditions, as to whether it was unreasonable, improbable, or impossible.

It will, therefore, be evident that the ḥadīs̤ considered as genuine by Muḥammadans, must indispensably possess the following characters: The narrator must have plainly and distinctly mentioned that such and such a thing was either said or done by the Prophet; the chain of narrators from the last link up to the Prophet, must be unbroken; the subject related must have come under the actual ken of its first narrators; every one of the narrators, from the last up to the Prophet, must have been persons conspicuous for their piety, virtue, and honesty; every narrator must have received more than one ḥadīs̤ from the narrator immediately preceding him; every one of the narrators must be conspicuous for his learning, so that he might be safely presumed to be competent both to understand correctly, and faithfully deliver to others, the sense of the tradition; the import of the tradition must not be contrary to the injunctions contained in the Qurʾān, or to the religious doctrines deduced from that Book, or to the traditions proved to be correct; and the nature of the import of the tradition must not be such as persons might hesitate in accepting.

Any tradition thus proved genuine can be made the basis of any religious doctrine; but notwithstanding this, another objection may be raised against it, which is, that this tradition is the statement of one person only, and therefore, cannot, properly, be believed in implicitly. For obviating this, three grades have been again formed of the ḥadīs̤ proved as genuine. These three grades are the following: متواتر‎ Mutawātir, مشهور‎ Mashhūr, and خبر احد‎ K͟habar-i-Aḥad.

Mutawātir is an appellation given to those ḥadīs̤ only that have always been, from the time of the Prophet, ever afterwards recognised and accepted by every associate of the Prophet, and every learned individual, as authentic and genuine, and to which no one has raised any objection. All learned Muḥammadan divines of every period have declared that the Qurʾān only is the Ḥadīs̤ Mutawātir; but some doctors have declared certain other ḥadīs̤ also to be Mutawātir, the number, however, of such ḥadīs̤ not exceeding five. Such are the traditions that are implicitly believed and ought to be religiously observed.

Mashhūr is a title given to those traditions that, in every age, have been believed to be genuine, by some learned persons. These are the traditions which are found recorded in the best works that treat of them, and, having been generally accepted as genuine, form the nucleus of some of the Muslim doctrines.

K͟habar-i-Aḥad (or ḥadīs̤ related by one person), is an appellation given to traditions that do not possess any of the qualities belonging to the traditions of the first two grades. Opinions of the learned are divided whether or not they can form the basis of any religious doctrine.

Persons who undertook the task of collecting traditions had neither time nor opportunity for examining and investigating all the above particulars, and some of them collected together whatsoever came under their notice, while others collected only those whose narrators were acknowledged to be trustworthy and honest persons, leaving entirely upon their readers the task of investigating and examining all the above-mentioned particulars, as well as of deciding their comparative merits, their genuineness, and the quantum of credit due to them.

There is some difference of opinion as to who first attempted to collect the traditions, and to compile them in a book. Some say ʿAbdu ʾl-Malik ibn Juraij of Makkah, who died A.H. 150, whilst others assert that the collection, which is still extant, by the Imām Mālik, who died A.H. 179, was the first collection. The work by Imām Mālik is still held in very great esteem, and although not generally included among the standard six, it is believed by many to be the source from whence a great portion of their materials are derived.

The following are the Ṣiḥāḥu ʾs-Sittah, or “six correct” books, received by Sunnī Muslims:—

(1) Muḥammad Ismāʿīl al-Buk͟hārī, A.H. 256.

(2) Muslim ibnu ʾl-Ḥajjāj, A.H. 261.

(3) Abū ʿĪsā Muḥammad, at-Tirmiẕī, A.H. 279.

(4) Abū Daʾūd as-Sajistānī, A.H. 275.

(5) Abū ʿAbdi ʾr-Raḥmān an-Nasāʾī, A.H. 303.

(6) Abū ʿAbdi ʾllāh Muḥammad Ibn Mājah, A.H. 273.

According to the Itḥāfu ʾn-Nubalāʾ, there are as many as 1,465 collections of traditions in existence, although the six already recorded are the more generally used amongst the Sunnīs.

It is often stated by European writers that the Shīʿahs reject the Traditions. This is not correct. The Sunnīs arrogate to themselves the title of Traditionists; but the Shīʿahs, although they do not accept the collections of traditions as made by the Sunnīs, receive five collections of Aḥādīs̤, upon which their system of law, both civil and religious, is founded.

(1) The Kāfī, by Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb, A.H. 329.

(2) The Man-lā-yastaḥẓirahu ʾl-Faqīh, by Shaik͟h ʿAlī, A.H. 381.

(3) The Tahẕīb, by Shaik͟h Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥusain, A.H. 466.

(4) The Istibṣār, by the same author.

(5) The Nahju ʾl-Balāg͟hah, by Saiyid ar-Raẓī, A.H. 406.

There are many stories which illustrate the importance the Companions of the Prophet attached to Sunnah. The K͟halīfah ʿUmar looked towards the black stone at Makkah, and said, “By God, I know that thou art only a stone, and canst grant no benefit, canst do no harm. If I had not known that the Prophet kissed thee, I would not have done so, but on account of that I do it.” ʿAbdu ʾllāh ibn ʿUmar was seen riding his camel round and round a certain place. In answer to an inquiry as to his reason for so doing, he said: “I know not, only I have seen the Prophet do so here.” Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal is said to have been appointed on account of the care with which he observed the Sunnah. One day when sitting in an assembly, he alone of all present observed some formal custom authorised by the practice of the Prophet. Gabriel at once appeared and informed him that now, and on account of his act, he was appointed an Imām. And on another occasion it is said this great traditionist would not even eat water-melons, because, although he knew the Prophet ate them, he could not learn whether he ate them with or without the rind, or whether he broke, bit or cut them: and he forbade a woman, who questioned him as to the propriety of the act, to spin by the light of torches passing in the streets by night, because the Prophet had not mentioned that it was lawful to do so.

The modern Wahhābīs being, for the most part, followers of Ibn Ḥanbal, attach great importance to the teaching of the Traditions, and have therefore caused a revival of this branch of Muslim literature. [[WAHHABI].]

We are indebted to Sir William Muir’s Introduction to the Life of Mahomet, for the following:—

“Mahometan tradition consists of the sayings of the friends and followers of the Prophet, handed down by a real or supposed chain of narrators to the period when they were collected, recorded, and classified. The process of transmission was for the most part oral. It may be sketched as follows.

“After the death of Mahomet, the main employment of his followers was arms. The pursuit of pleasure, and the formal round of religious observances, filled up the interstices of active life, but afforded scanty exercise for the higher faculties of the mind. The tedium of long and irksome marches, and the lazy intervals from one campaign to another, fell listlessly upon a simple and semi-barbarous race. These intervals were occupied, and that tedium beguiled, chiefly by calling up the past in familiar conversation or more formal discourse. On what topic, then, would the early Moslems more enthusiastically descant than on the acts and sayings of that wonderful man who had called them into existence as a conquering nation, and had placed in their hands ‘the keys both of this world and of Paradise’?

“Thus the converse of Mahomet’s followers would be much about him. The majesty of his character gained greatness by contemplation; and, as time removed him farther and farther from them, the lineaments of the mysterious mortal who was wont to hold familiar intercourse with the messengers of heaven, rose in dimmer, but in more gigantic proportions. The mind was unconsciously led on to think of him as endowed with supernatural power, and ever surrounded by supernatural agency. Here was the material out of which Tradition grew luxuriantly. Whenever there was at hand no standard of fact whereby these recitals may be tested, the memory was aided by the unchecked efforts of the imagination; and as days rolled on, the latter element gained complete ascendancy.

“Such is the result which the lapse of time would naturally have upon the minds and the narratives of the As-háb or ‘Companions’ of Mahomet, more especially of those who were young when he died. And then another race sprang up who had never seen the Prophet, who looked up to his contemporaries with a superstitious reverence, and who listened to their stories of him as to the tidings of a messenger from the other world. ‘Is it possible, father of Abdallah! that thou hast been with Mahomet?’ was the question addressed by a pious Moslem to Hodzeifa, in the mosque of Kufâ; ‘didst thou really see the Prophet, and wert thou on familiar terms with him?’—‘Son of my uncle! it is indeed as thou sayest.’—‘And how wert thou wont to behave towards the Prophet?’—‘Verily, we used to labour hard to please him.’—‘Well, by the Lord!’ exclaimed the ardent listener, ‘had I been but alive in his time, I would not have allowed him to put his blessed foot upon the earth, but would have borne him on my shoulders wherever he listed.’ (Hishâmi, p. 295.) Upon another occasion, the youthful Obeida listened to a Companion who was reciting before an assembly how the Prophet’s head was shaved at the Pilgrimage, and the hair distributed amongst his followers; the eyes of the young man glistened as the speaker proceeded, and he interrupted him with the impatient exclamation,—‘Would that I had even a single one of those blessed hairs! I would cherish it for ever, and prize it beyond all the gold and silver in the world.’ (Kâtib al Wâckidi, p. 279.) Such were the natural feelings of fond devotion with which the Prophet came to be regarded by the followers of the ‘Companions.’

“As the tale of the Companions was thus taken up by their followers, distance began to invest it with an increasing charm, while the products of living faith and warm imagination were being fast debased by superstitious credulity. This second generation are termed in the language of the patriotic lore of Arabia, Tâbiûn, or ‘Successors.’ Here and there a Companion survived till near the end of the first century; but, for all practical purposes, they had passed off the stage before the commencement of its last quarter. Their first Successors, who were in some measure also their contemporaries, flourished in the latter half of the same century, though some of the oldest may have survived for a time in the second.

“Meanwhile a new cause was at work, which gave to the tales of Mahomet’s companions a fresh and an adventitious importance.

“The Arabs, a simple and unsophisticated race, found in the Coran ample provisions for the regulation of all their affairs, religious, social, and political. But the aspect of Islam soon underwent a mighty change. Scarcely was the Prophet dead when his followers issued forth from their barren peninsula, armed with the warrant of the Coran to impose the faith of Mahomet upon all the nations of the earth. Within a century they had, as a first step to this universal subjugation, conquered every land that intervened between the banks of the Oxus and the farthest shores of Northern Africa and of Spain; and had enrolled the great majority of their peoples under the standard of the Coran. This vast empire differed widely indeed from the Arabia of Mahomet’s time; and that which well sufficed for the patriarchal simplicity and limited social system of the early Arabs, became utterly inadequate for the hourly multiplying wants of their descendants. Crowded cities, like Fostât, Kufâ, and Damascus, required an elaborate compilation of laws for the guidance of their courts of justice: new political relations demanded a system of international equity: the speculations of a people before whom literature was preparing to throw open her arena, and the controversies of eager factions upon nice points of Mahometan faith, were impatient of the narrow limits which confined them:—all called loudly for the enlargement of the scanty and naked dogmas of the Coran, and for the development of its defective code of ethics.

“And yet it was the cardinal principle of early Islam, that the standard of Law, of Theology, and of Politics, was the Coran and the Coran alone. By it Mahomet himself ruled; to it in his teaching he always referred; from it he professed to derive his opinions, and upon it to ground his decisions. If he, the Messenger of the Lord, and the Founder of the faith, was thus bound by the Coran, much more were the Caliphs, his uninspired substitutes. New and unforeseen circumstances were continually arising, for which the Coran contained no provision. It no longer sufficed for its original object. How then were its deficiencies to be supplied?

“The difficulty was resolved by adopting the Custom or ‘Sunnat’ of Mahomet, that is, his sayings and his practice, as a supplement to the Coran. The recitals regarding the life of the Prophet now acquired an unlooked-for value. He had never held himself to be infallible, except when directly inspired of God; but this new doctrine assumed that a heavenly and unerring guidance pervaded every word and action of his prophetic life. Tradition was thus invested with the force of law, and with some of the authority of inspiration. It was in great measure owing to the rise of this theory, that, during the first century of Islam, the cumbrous recitals of tradition so far outstripped the dimensions of reality. The prerogative now claimed for Tradition stimulated the growth of fabricated evidence, and led to the preservation of every kind of story, spurious or real, touching the Prophet. Before the close of the century it had imparted an almost incredible impulse to the search for traditions, and had in fact given birth to the new profession of Collectors. Men devoted their lives to the business. They travelled from city to city, and from tribe to tribe, over the whole Mahometan world; sought out by personal inquiry every vestige of Mahomet’s biography yet lingering among the Companions, the Successors, and their descendants; and committed to writing the tales and reminiscences with which they used to edify their wondering and admiring auditors.

“The work, however, too closely affected the public interests, and the political aspect of the empire, to be left entirely to private and individual zeal. About a hundred years after Mahomet, the Caliph Omar II. issued circular orders for the formal collection of all extant traditions. [He committed to Abu Bacr ibn Muhammad the task of compiling all the traditions he could meet with. This traditionist died A.H. 120, aged 84. Sprenger’s Mohammed, p. 67.] The task thus begun continued to be vigorously prosecuted, but we possess no authentic remains of any compilation of an earlier date than the middle or end of the second century. Then, indeed, ample materials had been amassed, and they have been handed down to us both in the shape of Biographies and of general Collections, which bear upon every imaginable point of Mahomet’s character, and detail the minutest incidents of his life.

“It thus appears that the traditions we now possess remained generally in an unrecorded form for at least the greater part of a century. It is not indeed denied that some of Mahomet’s sayings may possibly have been noted down in writing during his life-time, and from that source copied and propagated afterwards. We say possibly, for the evidence in favour of any such record is meagre, suspicious, and contradictory. The few and uncertain statements of this nature may have owed their origin to the authority which a habit of the kind would impart to the name of a Companion, supposed to have practised it.… It is hardly possible that, if the custom had prevailed of writing down Mahomet’s sayings during his life, we should not have had frequent intimation of the fact, with notices of the writers, and special references to the nature, contents, and peculiar authority of their records. But no such references or quotations are anywhere to be found. It cannot be objected that the Arabs trusted so implicitly to their memory that they regarded oral to be as authoritative as recorded narratives, and therefore would take no note of the latter; for we see that Omar was afraid lest even the Coran, believed by him to be divine and itself the subject of heavenly care, should become defective if left to the memory of man. Just as little weight, on the other hand, should be allowed to the tradition that Mahomet prohibited his followers from noting down his words; though it is not easy to see how that tradition could have gained currency at all, had it been the regular and constant practice of any persons to record his sayings. The truth appears to be that there was in reality no such practice; and that the story of the prohibition, though spurious, embodies the after-thought of serious Mahometans as to what Mahomet would have said, had he foreseen the loose and fabricated stories that sprang up, and the real danger his people would fall into of allowing Tradition to supersede the Coran. The evils of Tradition were, in truth, as little thought of as its value was perceived, till many years after Mahomet’s death.

“But even were we to admit all that has been advanced, it would prove no more than that some of the Companions used to keep memoranda of the Prophet’s sayings. Now, unless it be possible to connect such memoranda with extant Tradition, the concession would be useless. But it is not, as far as I know, demonstrable of any single tradition or class of traditions now in existence, that they were copied from such memoranda, or have been derived in any way from them. To prove, therefore, that some traditions were at first recorded, will not help us to a knowledge of whether any of these still exist, or to a discrimination of them from others resting on a purely oral basis. The very most that could be urged from the premises is, that our present collections may contain some traditions founded upon a recorded original, and handed down in writing; but we are unable to single out any individual tradition and make such affirmation regarding it. The entire mass of extant tradition rests in this respect on the same uncertain ground, and the uncertainty of any one portion (apart from internal evidence of probability) attaches equally to the whole. We cannot with confidence, or even with the least show of likelihood, affirm of any tradition that it was recorded till nearly the end of the first century of the Hegira.

“We see, then, how entirely tradition, as now possessed by us, rests its authority on the memory of those who handed it down; and how dependent therefore it must have been upon their convictions and their prejudices. For, in addition to the common frailty of human recollection which renders traditional evidence notoriously infirm, and to the errors or exaggerations which always distort a narrative transmitted orally through many witnesses, there exist throughout Mahometan Tradition abundant indications of actual fabrication; and there may everywhere be traced the indirect but not less powerful and dangerous influence of a silently working bias, which insensibly gave its colour and its shape to all the stories of their Prophet treasured up in the memories of the believers.

* * *

“That the Collectors of Tradition rendered an important service to Islam, and even to history, cannot be doubted. The vast flood of tradition, poured forth from every quarter of the Moslem empire, and daily gathering volume from innumerable tributaries, was composed of the most heterogeneous elements; without the labours of the traditionists it must soon have formed a chaotic sea, in which truth and error, fact and fable, would have mingled together in undistinguishable confusion. It is a legitimate inference from the foregoing sketch, that Tradition, in the second century, embraced a large element of truth. That even respectably derived traditions often contained much that was exaggerated and fabulous, is an equally fair conclusion. It is proved by the testimony of the Collectors themselves, that thousands and tens of thousands were current in their times, which possessed not even a shadow of authority. The mass may be likened to the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, formed by the unnatural union of gold, of silver, of the baser metals, and of clay; and here the more valuable parts were fast commingling hopelessly with the bad.” (Muir’s Life of Mahomet, vol. i., Intro. p. xxviii.)

TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS. [[TANASUKH].]

TREATY. Arabic ʿAhd (عهد‎). The observance of treaties is enjoined in the Qurʾān ([Sūrah viii. 58]; [ix. 4]); but if peace be made with aliens for a specified term (e.g. ten years), and afterwards the Muslim leader shall perceive that it is most advantageous for the Muslim interest to break it, he may in that case lawfully renew the war, after giving the enemy due notice. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 151; Arabic edition, vol. ii. p. 423.)

The negotiations with John the Christian prince of Ailah, are an interesting incident in the life of Muḥammad, as indicating the spirit of Islām, in its early history, towards Christianity. In the first place, Muḥammad addressed to John the following letter:—

“To John (Yaḥyā), the son of Rūbah, and the chiefs of the tribe of Ailah. Peace be unto you! Praise be to God, besides whom there is no God. I will not fight against you until I receive an answer to this letter. Believe, or else pay tribute (jizyah). Be obedient unto God and to His Apostle. Receive the embassy of God’s Apostle, and honour them, and clothe them with excellent vestments, and not with inferior raiment. Specially honour Ḥāris̤ ibn Zaid, for as long as my messengers are pleased, so am I likewise. Ye know the tribute. If ye desire security by sea and by land, obey God and His Apostle, and you will be defended from every attack, whether by Arab or by foreigner. But if you oppose God and His Apostle, I will not accept a single thing from you until I have fought against you, and have slain your men, and have taken captive your women and children. For, in truth, I am God’s Apostle. Believe in God and in His Apostle, as you do in the Messiah the son of Mary; for truly he is the Word of God, and I believe in him as an apostle of God. Submit, then, before trouble reaches you. I commend this embassy to you. Give to Harmalah three measures of barley, for Harmalah hath indeed interceded for you. As for me, if it were not for the Lord and for this intercession, I would not have sent any embassy to you, until you had been brought face to face with my army. But now submit to my embassy, and God will be your protector, as well as Muḥammad and all his followers. This embassy doth consist of Shuraḥbīl, and Ubaiy, and Harmalah, and Ḥāris̤ ibn Zaid. Unto you is the protection of God and of his Apostle. If you submit, then peace be unto you, and convey the people of Maqnah back to their land.”

Upon receipt of this message, John hastened to Muḥammad’s camp, where he was received with kindness; and having made submission and having agreed to pay tribute of 300 dīnārs a year, the following treaty was ratified:—

“In the name of God, the Merciful, the Gracious. A treaty of Peace from God, and from Muḥammad the Apostle of God, granted unto Yaḥyā ibn Rūbah and unto the tribe of Ailah. For them who stay at home and for those who travel abroad, there is the security of God and the security of Muḥammad the Apostle of God, and for all who are with them, whether they belong to Syria, or to al-Yaman, or to the sea-coast. Whoso breaketh this treaty, his wealth shall not save him; it shall be the fair prize of whosoever shall capture him. It shall not be lawful to hinder the men of Ailah from going to the springs which they have hitherto used, nor from any journey they may desire to make, whether by land or by sea. This is the writing of Juhaim and Shuraḥbīl by the command of the Apostle of God.” [[TOLERATION].]

TRIBUTE. [[JIHAD], [JIZYAH], [TAXATION], [TREATY].]

TRINITY. Arabic Tas̤līs̤ (تثليث‎), “Holy Trinity,” as̤-S̤ālūs̤u ʾl-Aqdas (الثالوث الاقدس‎). The references to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in the Qurʾān occur in two Sūrahs, both of them composed by Muḥammad towards the close of his career at al-Madīnah.

[Sūrah iv. 169]: “Believe, therefore, in God and His apostles, and say not ‘Three.’ ”

[Sūrah v. 77]: “They misbelieve who say, ‘Verily God is the third of three.’… The Messiah, the Son of Mary, is only a prophet, … and his mother was a confessor; they both ate food.”

[Sūrah v. 116]: “And when God shall say, ‘O Jesus son of Mary, hast thou said unto mankind: Take me and my mother as two Gods besides God?’”

Al-Baiẓāwī, in his remarks on [Sūrah iv. 169], says, the Christians made the Trinity consist of Allāh, al-Masīh, and Maryam; and Jalālu ʾd-dīn takes the same view. Al-Baiẓāwī, however, refers to a view taken of the Trinity, by some Christians in his day, who explained it to be, Ab, Father, or the Essence of God; Ibn, Son, or the Knowledge of God; and Rūḥu ʾl-Quds, the Life of God.

In a work quoted in the Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn, entitled al-Insānu ʾl-Kāmil (written by the Shaik͟h ʿAbdu ʾl-Karīm ibn Ibrahīm al-Jīlī, lived A.H. 767–811) it is said that when the Christians found that there was at the commencement of the Injīl the superscription باسم الاب و الابن‎, i.e. ‘In the name of the Father and Son,’ they took the words in their natural meaning, and [thinking it ought to be Ab, father, Umm, mother, and Ibn, son] understood by Ab, the Spirit, by Umm, Mary, and by Ibn, Jesus; and on this account they said, S̤ālis̤u S̤alās̤atin, i.e. ‘(God is) the third of three.’ ([Sūrah v. 77].) But they did not understand that by Ab is meant God Most High, by Umm, the Māhīyatu ʾl-Ḥaqāʾiq, or ‘Essence of Truth’ (Quidditas veritatum), and by Ibn, the Book of God, which is called the Wujūdu ʾl-Mut̤laq, or ‘Absolute Existence,’ being an emanation of the Essence of Truth, as it is implied in the words of the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xiii. 9]: ‘And with him is the Ummu ʾl-Kitāb, or the Mother of the Book.’

In the G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hāt, in loco, it is said the Nazarenes (Naṣārā) say there are three aqānīm, or principles, namely, wujūd (entity), ḥayāt (life), and ʿilm (knowledge); and also Ab (Father), Ibn (Son), and Rūḥu ʾl-Quds (Holy Spirit). [[INJIL], [JESUS], [SPIRIT].]

It is evident neither Muḥammad nor his followers (either immediate or remote), had any true conception of the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity, but the elimination of the Holy Spirit from the Trinity is not strange, when we remember that Muḥammad was under the impression that the angel Gabriel was the Holy Ghost.

As the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is one of several stumbling-blocks to the Muslim’s reception of Christianity, we cannot refrain from quoting Charles Kingsley’s words addressed to Thomas Cooper on the subject (vol. i. p. 311):—

“They will say ‘Three in one’ is contrary to sense and experience. Answer, ‘That is your ignorance.’ Every comparative anatomist will tell you the exact contrary, that among the most common, though the most puzzling phenomena, is multiplicity in unity—divided life in the same individual of every extraordinary variety of case. That distinction of persons with unity of individuality (what the old schoolmen properly called substance) is to be met with in some thousand species of animals, e.g. all the compound polypes, and that the soundest physiologists, like Huxley, are compelled to talk of these animals in metaphysic terms, just as paradoxical as, and almost identical with, those of the theologian. Ask them then, whether granting one primordial Being who has conceived and made all other beings, it is absurd to suppose in Him, some law of multiplicity in unity, analogous to that on which He has constructed so many millions of His creatures.

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“But my heart demands the Trinity, as much as my reason. I want to be sure that God cares for us, that God is our Father, that God has interfered, stooped, sacrificed Himself for us. I do not merely want to love Christ—a Christ, some creation or emanation of God’s—whose will and character, for aught I know, may be different from God’s. I want to love and honour the absolute, abysmal God Himself, and none other will satisfy me; and in the doctrine of Christ being co-equal and co-eternal, sent by, sacrificed by, His Father, that He might do His Father’s will, I find it; and no puzzling texts, like those you quote, shall rob me of that rest for my heart, that Christ is the exact counterpart of Him in whom we live, and move, and have our being.”

TROVES, Arabic luqt̤ah (لقطة‎), signifies property which a person finds on the ground, and takes away for the purpose of preserving it in the manner of a trust. A trove under ten dirhams must be advertised for some days, or as long as he may deem expedient; but if it exceed ten dirhams in value, he must advertise it for a year. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 266.)

TRUMPET. Arabic ṣūr (صور‎). According to the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xxxix. 68], the trumpet at the Day of Resurrection shall be blown twice. “The trumpet shall be blown (first), and those who are in the heavens and in the earth shall swoon (or die), save whom God pleases. Then it shall be blown again, and, lo! they shall rise again and look on.”

Al-Baiẓāwī says there will only be these two blasts, but Traditionists assert there will be three. The blast of consternation, the blast of examination, and the blast of resurrection, for an account of which, see the article on [RESURRECTION].

TUBBAʿ (تبع‎). A tribe of Ḥimyarite Arabs, whose kings were called Tubbaʿ, or “Successors,” and who are mentioned in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xliv. 35]: “Are they better than the people of Tubbaʿ and those before them? Verily, they were sinners, and we destroyed them.”

T̤UHR (طهر‎). The period of purity in a woman. [[DIVORCE], [PURIFICATION].]

T̤ULAIḤAH (طليحة‎). A chief of the Banū Asad, a warrior of note and influence in Najd, who claimed to have a divine commission in the days of Muḥammad, but who was afterwards subdued by K͟hālid under the K͟halīfate of Abū Bakr, and embraced Islām. (Muir’s Life of Mahomet, vol. iv. p. 246.)

T̤ŪR (طور‎). Chaldee ‏טוּר‎. (1) A mount. At̤-T̤ūr, the mountain mentioned in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah ii. 60]: “When we took a covenant (mīs̤āq) with you, and held the mountain (ready to fall) over you.” This is generally understood to mean T̤ūru Saināʾ, or Mount Sinai, but al-Baiẓāwī says it was Jabal Zubail. In Persian, the mountain is called Koh-i-T̤ūr, or the Mount of T̤ūr. In Arabia, the name is given to the Mount Sinai of Scripture.

(2) The title of the LIInd Sūrah of the Qurʾān.

TURBAN. Arabic ʿimāmah (عمامة‎), Persian dastār (دستار‎), Hindūstānī pagṛī (پگڑى‎). The turban, which consists of a stiff round cap, occasionally rising to a considerable height, and a long piece of muslin, often as much as twenty-four yards in length, wound round it, is amongst all Muḥammadan nations a sign of authority and honour, and it is held to be disrespectful to stand in the presence of a person of respectability, or to worship God, with the head uncovered. Shaik͟hs and persons of religious pretensions wear green turbans. The Coptic Christians in Egypt wear a blue turban, having been compelled to do so by an edict published in A.D. 1301. In some parts of Islām, it is usual to set apart a Maulawī, or to appoint a chief or ruler, by placing a turban on his head.

The mitre, bonnet, hood, and diadem of the Old Testament are but varieties of the head-dress known in the East as the turban. Canon Cook, in the Speaker’s Commentary, on [Exodus xxviii. 4], [37], says the mitznepheth, or “mitre” of the Hebrew Bible, “according to the derivation of the word, and from the statement in verse 39, was a twisted band of linen coiled into a cap, to which the name mitre in its original sense closely answers, but which in modern usage would rather be called a turban.”

The term used in the Hebrew Bible for putting on the tzaniph or the peer, “bonnet,” in [Ex. xxix. 9], [Lev. viii. 13], is ‏חָבַשׁ‎ k͟hāvash, “to bind round,” and would therefore indicate that even in the earliest periods of Jewish history the head-dress was similar in character to that now seen amongst the different Muslim tribes of the world.

Josephus’ account of the high priest’s mitre is peculiar; he says (Antiquities, book iii. ch. vii. p. 3): “Its make is such that it seems to be a crown, being made of thick swathes, but the contexture is of linen, and it is doubled many times, and sewn together; besides which, a piece of fine linen covers the whole cap from the upper part, and reaches down to the forehead and the seams of the swathes, which would otherwise appear indecently; this adheres closely upon the solid part of the head, and is thereto so firmly fixed that it may not fall off during the sacred service about the sacrifices.”

The varieties of turban worn in the East are very great, and their peculiarities are best illustrated by the accompanying drawing, giving seventeen different styles of tying up the turban. In books written upon the subject in Eastern languages, it is said that there are not fewer than a thousand methods of binding the turban. It is in the peculiar method of tying on, and of arranging this head-dress, that not only tribal and religious distinctions are seen, but even peculiarities of disposition. The humility or pride, the virtue or vice, as well as the social standing of the individual, is supposed to be indicated in his method of binding the turban upon his head. And travellers in the East can at once distinguish the different races by their turbans. [[DRESS].]

MUSLIM TURBANS. (A. F. Hole.)

TURK. Arabic tark or turk (ترك‎), pl. atrāk. (1) A term applied by European writers to express Muḥammadans of all nationalities. (See Book of Common Prayer, Collect for Good Friday.)

(2) An inhabitant of Turkomania, Turkistān or Transoxania, so named from Tur, eldest son of Farīdūn, to whom his father gave it for an inheritance. Also of those numerous races of Tartars who claim to be descended from Turk, a son of Japhet. Turki chin, a Chinese Tartar.

(3) A native of European or Asiatic Turkey. Halaku, the Turk, a grandson of Jengiz K͟hān, took Bag͟hdād A.D. 1258, and about forty years afterwards ʿUs̤mān (Othman) founded the ʿUs̤mānī or Turk dynasty at Constantinople, A.D. 1299. Hence Muḥammadans were known to the European Christians as Turks.

The word Turk is also frequently used by Sikh writers to express Muḥammadans in general. The terms Turk and Musulmān are employed interchangeably. [[KHALIFAH].]

T̤UWĀ (طوى‎). A sacred valley mentioned in the Qurʾān:—

[Sūrah xx. 12]: “O Moses! verily I am thy Lord, so take off thy sandals; thou art in the sacred valley of T̤uwā, and I have chosen thee.”

[Sūrah lxxix. 16]: “Has the story of Moses reached you? when his Lord addressed him in the holy valley of T̤uwā.”