Y.

YADU ʾLLĀH (يد الله‎). “Hand of God.” The expression occurs in the Qurʾan:—

[Sūrah xlviii. 10]: “God’s hand is above their hands.”

[Sūrah v. 69]: “The Jews say, ‘God’s hand is fettered.’”

The expression is a subject of controversy amongst the Muḥammadans. The Wahhābīs maintain that it is wrong to hold that it is merely a figurative expression, but rather that God doth possess a hand in such a manner as it exists, without attempting to explain the manner how. On the other hand, some maintain that it is merely a figurative expression for God’s power.

YAG͟HŪS̤ (يغوث‎). An idol mentioned in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah lxxi. 23]. Professor Palmer says it was in the figure of a lion. Al-Baiẓāwī says it was the name of a hero who lived between the days of Adam and Noah, who was afterwards worshipped in an idol of the name.

YĀ HŪ (يا هو‎). “O He!” that is, “O God.” An exclamation often recited by faqīrs or darveshes in their religious ẕikrs. The third personal pronoun singular, hū (huwa), “He” being a name for God, i.e. “He who exists.” [[ZIKR].]

YAHŪD (يهود‎), the plural of Yahūdī. Heb. ‏יְהוּדִי‎. Jews. The word used in the Qurʾān (together with Banū Isrāʾīl) for the Jews. [[JEWS], [JUDAISM].]

YAḤYĀ (يحيى‎). John the Baptist. The son of Zachariah, whose birth is mentioned in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xix. 1]; [iii. 34]; and who is said in the latter Sūrah to have been sent with glad tidings “to confirm the Word from God (Jesus), a chief and a chaste one and a prophet from the righteous.” And in [Sūrah vi. 85], his name occurs with that of Zachariah, Jesus, and Elias, as one of the “righteous ones.” [[JOHN THE BAPTIST].]

YAʾJŪJ WA MAʾJŪJ (ياجوج و ماجوج‎). [[GOG AND MAGOG].]

YALAMLAM (يلملم‎). The mīqāt or stage where the pilgrims from al-Yaman assume the pilgrim’s garb at the pilgrimage. [[HAJJ].]

YAMĀMAH (يمامة‎). A province in the eastern portion of the Ḥijāz frequently mentioned in the history of Muḥammad.

AL-YAMAN (اليمن‎). The south-western province of Arabia. It is considered the most fertile part of the country, and is called the garden of Arabia.

YAMĪN يمين‎. [[OATH].]

AL-YAQĪN (اليقين‎). “The certainty.” (1) A term which implies belief, sure knowledge, and which occurs in the Qurʾān to express the hour of death.

[Sūrah lxxiv. 43–48]: “They shall say, ‘We were not of those who prayed, we did not feed the poor; but we did plunge into discussion with those who plunged, and we called the Judgment Day a lie until the certainty did come upon us.’ ”

[Sūrah xv. 99]: “Serve the Lord until the certainty come upon thee.”

Muslims say there are three degrees of spiritual knowledge:—

1. ʿIlmu ʾl-Yaqīn (علم اليقين‎), that which a man apprehends with his intellectual faculties.

2. ʿAinu ʾl-Yaqīn (عين اليقين‎), that which he sees with the eye.

3. Ḥaqqu ʾl-Yaqīn (حق اليقين‎), that which he fully embraces with the heart; the highest form of spiritual knowledge, especially of the Unity of God.

YAQT̤ĪN (يقطين‎). Heb. ‏קִיקָיוֹן‎. The gourd tree under which Jonah sheltered after he escaped from the belly of the fish. [Sūrah xxxvii. 145, 146]: “We cast him on a barren shore: and he was sick: and we made to grow over him a gourd tree.”

YAʿQŪB (يعقوب‎). [[JACOB].]

YĀ SĪN (يا سين‎). The two Arabic letters ى‎ and س‎ corresponding to the English y and s. The title of the XXXVIth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, which begins with these two letters, the mystic import of which is said to be unknown. Al-Baiẓāwī says perhaps they mean Yā Insān! (يا انسان‎), “O Man!” Ḥusain suggests that they mean Yā Saiyid! (يا سيد‎), “O Saiyid!” whilst the Jalālān think the meaning is known alone to God. Muḥammad said this chapter was the Qalbu ʾl-Qurʾān, “the heart of the Qurʾān,” and it is consequently held in high estimation. It is usually read to dying persons.

Yā Sīn is a title given to Muḥammad with the belief that he is referred to as “O Saiyid,” in the first verse of the Sūrah referred to.

YAS̤RIB (يثرب‎). The ancient name of al-Madīnah, mentioned once in the Qurʾān, viz. [Sūrah xxxiii. 13]. According to the traditionist, the Prophet changed the name from Yas̤rib to Madīnatu ʾn-Nabī, “the City of the Prophet,” because Yas̤rib was a name of shame and reproach. (Majmaʿu ʾl-Biḥār, vol. iii. p. 499.)

YAʿSŪB (يعسوب‎). Lit. “A prince or chief.” The King of the Bees. A title given to ʿAlī. (Majmaʿu ʾl-Biḥār, vol. iii. p. 502.) A name of one of Muḥammad’s horses. (Richardson’s Dictionary.)

YATHRIB. [[YASRIB].]

YATĪM (يتيم‎). [[ORPHAN].]

YAUM (يوم‎). A day of twenty-four hours; pl. aiyām. In contradiction to lail wa nahār, “night and day.”

The seven days of the week are known as:

YAUMU ʾD-DĪN (يوم الدين‎). “Day of Judgment.”

[Sūrah i. 4]: “The King of the Day of Judgment.”

[Sūrah lxxxiii. 17]: “What shall make thee know what the Day of Judgment is?”

AL-YAUMU ʾL-ĀK͟HIR (اليوم الاخر‎). “The Last Day.” A name given in the Qurʾān to the Day of Judgment.

YAUMU ʾL-ʿĀSHŪRAʾ (يــوم العاشوراء‎). The tenth day of the month of Muḥarram. [[ʿASHURAʾ].]

YAUMU ʾL-FAṢL (يوم الفصل‎). “Day of Severing.” The Day of Judgment. [Sūrah lxxvii. 13, 14]: “For the Day of Severing! and who shall teach thee what the Day of Severing is?”

YAUMU ʾL-FIT̤R (يوم الفطر‎). “The Day of breaking the fast.” [[ʿIDU ʾL-FITR].]

YAUMU ʾL-ḤARĀʾ (يوم الحراء‎). “The day of the stony country” mentioned in the Traditions. (Mishkātu ʾl-Maṣābiḥ, book xxiv. ch. ix.) The day on which Yazīd sent an army to al-Madīnah and laid it in ruins. (See Ockley’s Saracens, p. 425.)

YAUMU ʾL-ḤASHR (يوم الحشر‎). “Day of Assembly.” The Day of Judgment.

YAUMU ʾL-ḤISĀB (يوم الحساب‎). “Day of Reckoning.” The Day of Judgment. [Sūrah xl. 28]: “And Moses said, Verily, I will take refuge in my Lord and your Lord from every one who is big with pride, and believes not on the Day of Reckoning.”

YAUMU ʾL-INQIT̤Āʿ (يوم الانقطاع‎). “The Day of Cessation.” The day on which anything terminates. In law, the last day on which anyone who has become possessed of property illegally may restore it, or make compensation to the owner.

YAUMU ʾL-JAMʿ (يوم الجمع‎). “Day of Gathering.” The Day of Judgment. [Sūrah lxiv. 9]: “On the day when He shall gather you to the Day of Gathering.”

YAUMU ʾL-K͟HULŪD (يوم الخلود‎). “Day of Eternity.” [Sūrah l. 34]: “Enter into it in peace: this is the Day of Eternity.”

YAUMU ʾL-K͟HURŪJ (يوم الخروج‎). “The Day of Exodus.” The Day of Judgment. [Sūrah l. 41]: “The day when they shall hear the shout in truth; that is, the Day of Coming Forth.”

YAUMU ʾL-QARR (يوم القر‎). “The Day of Rest.” The day after the sacrifice at the Ḥajj, when the pilgrims rest.

YAUMU ʾL-QIYĀMAH (يــوم القيامة‎). “Day of Standing up.” The Day of Resurrection. [[RESURRECTION].]

YAUMU ʾL-WAʿĪD (يوم الوعيد‎). “The Day of Threatenings.” The Day of Judgment. [Sūrah l. 19]: “And the trumpet shall be blown!—that is the threatened day.”

YAUMUN MAʿLŪMUN (يوم معلوم‎). “A Known Day,” i.e. known to God. The Day of Judgment. [Sūrah lvi. 50]: “Gathered shall they surely be for the tryst of a known day.”

YAUMU ʾN-NAḤR (يوم النحر‎). “Day of Sacrifice.” A term used for the Feast of Sacrifice. [[ʿIDU ʾL-AZHA].]

YAUMU ʾS-SABUʿ (يوم السبع‎). The “Day of Sabuʿ,” mentioned in the following tradition (Mishkātu ʾl-Maṣābiḥ, book xxiv. ch.16):—

“Abū Hurairah says, ‘Whilst a man was with his goats, behold a wolf came in amongst them, and took a goat; and the man released it. And the wolf said to the man, “Who is to guard these goats on the day of Sabuʿ, when there will be no shepherd but me.” And the people said, “The wolf speaks.” And the Prophet said, “I believe that the wolf did speak.” Abū Bakr and ʿUmar also said so.’ ”

ʿAbdu ʾl-Ḥaqq says there is a difference of opinion as to what the Day of Sabuʿ is, either it is a day of insurrection, or a festival amongst the ancient Arabs, when the flocks were left to themselves.

YAUMU ʾT-TAG͟HĀBUN (يوم التغابن‎). “Day of Mutual Deceit.” The Day of Judgment. [Sūrah lxiv. 9]: “On that day when he shall gather you to the Day of Gathering, that is the Day of Mutual Deceit.”

Al-Baiẓāwī says: “Both the righteous and the wicked will disappoint each other by reversing their positions, the wicked being punished, while the righteous are in bliss.”

YAUMU ʾT-TALĀQ (يوم التلاق‎). “Day of Meeting.” The Day of Judgment. [Sūrah xl. 15]: “He throws the Spirit by his bidding upon whom He will of His servants, to give warning of the Day of Meeting.”

YAUMU ʾT-TANĀD (يوم التناد‎). “A Day of Mutual Outcry.” A name given to the Day of Judgment in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xl. 34]: “O my people! verily I fear for you the day of crying out to one another.”

YAʿŪQ (يعوق‎). An idol mentioned in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah lxxi. 23]. Professor Palmer says it was in the figure of a horse. Al-Baiẓāwī says it is the name of a certain hero who lived between the days of Adam and Noah, and was afterwards worshipped in an idol of the name.

YAWNING. Arabic tas̤āwub (تثاوب‎). From the Traditions it appears yawning is regarded as an evil; for Abū Hurairah relates that Muḥammad said, “God loves sneezing and hates yawning. As for yawning, it is of the devil. Therefore, if any of you yawn, let him suppress it as much as possible. If he cannot stop it, let him put the back of his left hand upon his mouth; for, verily, when anyone yawns and opens his mouth, the devil laughs.” (Mishkāt, book xxii. ch. vi.)

YAZĪD (يزيد‎). The son of Muʿāwiyah. The second K͟halīfah of the house of Umaiyah (Ommiyah), who reigned from A.D. 679 to A.D. 683 (A.H. 60–64). He is celebrated in Muslim history as the opponent of al-Ḥusain. (See Ockley’s Hist. Saracens, p. 393.)

YEAR. Arabic sanah (سنة‎), pl. sanūn, sanawāt; ʿām (عام‎), pl. aʿwām; ḥaul (حول‎), pl. aḥwāl; Persian sāl (سال‎), pl. sālhā.

The ancient Arabian year is supposed to have consisted of twelve lunar months, as now observed by the Muḥammadans; but about the year A.D. 412, the Arabians introduced a system of intercalation, whereby one month was intercalated into every three years. (See M. de Perceval, vol. i. p. 242). This system of intercalation existed in the time of Muḥammad; but it is related that, at the farewell pilgrimage, the Prophet recited the k͟hut̤bah on the Day of Sacrifice, and said: “A year is twelve months only, as at the time of the creation,” and thus again introduced the lunar year. (See Mishkāt, book xi. ch. xi.) The Muḥammadan year, therefore, consists of twelve lunar months, without any intercalation to make it correspond with the course of the sun, and amounts very nearly to 354 days and 9 hours. Hence the Muḥammadan New Year’s Day, Nau Roz, will happen every year about eleven days earlier than in the preceding year.

There also existed amongst the Arabians a system of commutation whereby the Muḥarram, the last of the three continuous sacred months [[MONTHS]], became secular, and Ṣafar sacred. Some traditions say that the power also existed of commuting the isolated sacred month Rajab, for the one succeeding it, Shaʿbān. When this was done, it became lawful to war in the sacred months of Muḥarram and Rajab; and Ṣafar and Shaʿbān acquired the sacredness of the months for which they had been substituted. It is with reference to this custom that Muḥammad says in the Qurʾān ([Sūrah ix. 36, 37]):—

“Verily, twelve months is the number of months with God, according to God’s Book, ever since the day when He created the Heavens and the Earth; of these, four are sacred: this is the right usage. Therefore, wrong not yourselves therein, and attack those who join gods with God, one and all, as they attack you one and all; and know that God is with those who fear Him. To carry over a sacred month to another is only an increase of unbelief. They who do not believe are led in error by it. They allow it one year and forbid it another, that they may make good the number of months which God hath hallowed, and they allow that which God hath prohibited.”

This system of commutation is said to have been introduced by Quṣaiy, who wished, by abridging the long three months’ cessation of hostilities, to humour the warlike Arabs, as well as to obtain the power of making a sacred month secular when it might best suit his purpose; but Sir William Muir is inclined to think that this system of commutation was an ancient one, and merely restored by Quṣaiy. (Muir’s Mahomet, vol. i. p. ccviii.)

Both in India and in Egypt, in the present day, the Muḥammadans use the lunar year for their religious observances and the ordinary affairs of life; but for the purposes of agriculture and other calculations, for which the lunar year is inconvenient, they employ the Julian calendar.

To find the number of solar years elapsed since any given Muḥammadan date, subtract the given year of the Hijrah from the current year of the Hijrah, and from the remainder deduct three per cent.; the remainder will be the number of solar years which have elapsed. Thus, suppose we see a manuscript written A.H. 681, and wish to know its real age in Christian or solar years, we subtract, in the first place, the number 681 from the current year of the Hijrah, say 1256, and there remains 575; from this last we deduct three per cent., or 17, and there remains 558, which at that period is the real age of the manuscript in solar years.

If the object, however, be to find the precise Christian date corresponding to any given year of the Hijrah, apply the following rule:—From the given number of Musalmān years, deduct three per cent., and to the remainder add the number 621·54; the sum is the period of the Christian era at which the given current Musalmān year ends. For example: from A.H. 942, deduct three per cent., or 28·26, and the remainder is 913·74. To this last add 621·54, and the sum is 1535·28, which shows that A.H. 942 ended in the spring of A.D. 1536. This simple rule is founded on the fact that 100 lunar years are very nearly equal to 97 solar years, there being only eight days of excess in the former period; hence to the result found, as just stated, it will be requisite to add 8 days, as a correction for every century.

The following is a more accurate rule. Express the Muḥammadan date in years and decimals of a year; multiply by ·970225; to the product add 621·54, and the sum will be the precise period of the Christian era. (Dr. Forbes.)

If it is desired to find the year of the Hijrah which comes in in a given year of the Christian era, it is sufficient to subtract 621 from the year given, and to multiply the remainder by 10,307. (Murray.)

YŪḤANNĀ (يوحنا‎). The Arabic Christian name for John the Baptist, and John the Apostle, the corresponding Muslim name being Yaḥyā. [[YAHYA].]

YŪNUS (يونس‎). [[JONAH].]

YŪSHAʿ (يوشع‎). [[JOSHUA].]

YŪSUF (يوسف‎). [[JOSEPH].]