HONEY. Arabic ʿasal (عسل). In the Qurʾān it is specially mentioned as the gift of God. [Sūrah xvi. 70]: “Thy Lord inspired the bee. ‘Take to houses in the mountains, and in the trees, and in the hives they build. Then eat from every fruit and walk in the beaten paths of thy Lord.’ There cometh forth from her body a draught varying in hue, in which is a cure for man.”
HORSES. Arabic faras (فرس), k͟hail (خيل), pl. k͟huyūl. Muḥammad’s affection for horses was very great, as was natural to an Arabian. Anas says there was nothing the Prophet was so fond of as women and horses. Abū Qatādah relates that Muḥammad said: “The best horses are black with white foreheads and having a white upper lip.” But Abū Wahhāb says the Prophet considered a bay horse with white forehead, white fore and hind legs the best. An instance of the way in which the traditionists sometimes contradict each other! (Mishkāt, book xvii. c. ii.)
In the Hidāyah (Arabic edition, vol. ii. p. 432) it is said that horses are of four kinds: (1) Birẕaun, Burẕūn, a heavy draught horse brought from foreign countries. (2) ʿAtīq, a first blood horse of Arabia. (3) Hajīn, a half-bred horse whose mother is an Arab and father a foreigner. (4) A half-bred horse whose father is an Arab and whose mother is a foreigner.
In taking a share of plunder, a horseman is entitled to a double share, but he is not entitled to any more if he keep more horses than one.
HOSPITALITY. Arabic ẓiyāfah (ضيافة). It is related that Muḥammad said:—
“Whoever believes in God and in the Day of Resurrection must respect his guest.”
“If a Muslim be the guest of a people and he spends the whole night without being entertained, it shall be lawful for every Muslim present to take money and grain necessary for the entertainment of the man.”
“It is according to my practice that the host shall come out with his guest to the door of his house.” (Mishkāt, book xix. ch. ii.)
Hospitality is enjoined in the Qurʾān. [Sūrah iv. 40]: “Show kindness to your parents, and to your kindred, and to orphans, and to the poor, and to your neighbour who is akin and to your neighbour who is a stranger, and the companion who is strange, and to the son of the road.”
HOUR, The. Arabic as-Sāʿah (الساعة). A term frequently used in the Qurʾān for the Day of Judgment.