Third, there are purposes which are qurbah with the Muslims, but sinful with the Ẕimmīs. In this, as in the previous case, the bequest is a gift and valid if in favour of a set of particular persons; but it is void, if the persons are not particularised. Hence, if the third of a man’s property is to be expended in sending a set of Muslims on pilgrimage, or building a masjid, and the persons are particularised, the bequest or gift is valid, and considered to be coupled with a counsel to accomplish the stated purpose, leaving them at liberty to perform the pilgrimage, or erect the mosque, or not, as they please.
Fourth and last, there are purposes which are sinful with a Muslim, but qurbah or meritorious with a Ẕimmī; and bequests for these are valid, according to Abū Ḥanīfah, whether the persons be particularised or not; but void, according to Abū Yūsuf and the Imām Muḥammad, when they are not specified. If, for instance, a Kitābī bequeath a third of his property for the erection of a church or synagogue; or bequeath his mansion to be converted into a place of worship of his religion, the bequest, according to the two disciples, is void, as sinful in the eyes of a Muslim, unless it is for a particular class of persons, when it is a gift to them; but, according to Abū Ḥanīfah, it is valid under all circumstances. This, however, subject to the condition stated above, that the erection of such buildings takes place in villages and not in towns, the bequest in the latter case being inoperative. (See Baillie, Hanifeea Code, p. 673.)
If a Jew or a Christian, being in sound health, build a church or a synagogue, and then die, such building is an inheritance, according to all the doctors, and therefore descends to the heirs in the same manner as any other of the founder’s property. From the point of view taken by the two disciples this is evident enough. But with regard to Abū Ḥanīfah’s doctrine, the question may be raised: What is the difference between the building of a church or synagogue in the time of health, and the bequeathing it by will, that Abū Ḥanīfah should hold it inheritable in the former instance, and not in the latter. This “objection” is met in the Hidāyah with the “reply”: “that it is not the mere erecting (of the church, &c.) which extinguishes the builder’s property, but the exclusive dedication of the building to the service of God, as in the case of mosques erected by Mussulmāns; and as an infidel place of worship is not dedicated to God indisputably, it therefore still remains the property of the founder, and is consequently inheritable (in common with his other effects); whereas a bequest, on the contrary, is used for the very purpose of destroying a right of property.” (Hidāyah, Grady’s Translation, p. 696.)
ZINĀʾ (زناء). [[ADULTERY].]
ZINDĪQ (زنديق). A term now used to express a person in a hopeless state of infidelity. Some say the word is derived from the Persian Zan-dīn, i.e. a woman’s religion. Others assert that it is a term of relation to the word Zand or Zend, which means “explanation,” i.e. the explanation of the book of Zardusht or Zoroaster. (See Lane’s Arabic Dictionary, in loco.)
ZIPPORAH. [[SAFURAʾ].]
ZIYĀRAH (زيارة), from the root zaur, “to visit,” visitation, particularly of the tomb of the Prophet, and of the grave of any martyr or saint of the Muḥammadan faith. In India and Central Asia, the word, always pronounced ziyārat, is, by way of abbreviation, used for ziyārat-gāh, i.e. for the place of such visitation, or the shrine connected with it.
Although it is held by Wahhābīs and other Muslim puritans that the Prophet forbade the visitation of graves for the purposes of devotion, the custom has become so common, that it may be considered part of the Muḥammadan religion. And, indeed, it is difficult to believe that a religious teacher of Muḥammad’s cast of mind should have in principle opposed a practice which is so natural to the human heart. However much he may have objected to the clamorous wailings and lamentations over the dead, in which the pagan Arabs of the ignorance, especially the women, indulged, he was not likely to be insensible to the solemn lesson which the resting-place of the departed teaches the living, or to stifle in his followers the pious remembrance of beloved friends and kindred who have gone before. We see, therefore, no reason to doubt the genuineness of the following traditions, which we translate from a manuscript of the Mishkāt, belonging to the Library of the India Office (Arabic MSS., No. 2143, New Catalogue, 154), and which the compiler of that work has taken from such authorities as Muslim, Ibn Mājah, at-Tirmiẕī, &c.
Buraidah related, the Apostle of God said: “(Formerly) I forbade you to visit the graves, but you may visit them now.…” (Muslim.) Abū Hurairah related: the Prophet visited the grave of his mother, and he wept and caused those who were around him to weep also. Then he said: “I begged leave from my Lord to ask forgiveness for her, but it was not granted me; then I begged leave to visit her grave, and it was granted me; visit therefore the graves, for they remind you of death.” (Muslim.)
Buraidah related: The Apostle of God used to instruct them, when they issued forth to the burial-places, to pronounce the words: “Peace be upon you, O ye people of these abodes from amongst the Believers and the Resigned; and we, if God please, are surely overtaking you to ask salvation from God for us and you.” (Muslim.)