There are two descriptions of magic, one is spiritual, regarded by all but freethinkers as true; the other, natural, and denounced by the more religious and enlightened as deceptive.
I. Spiritual magic, which is termed “er Roohanee” (ar-rūḥānī), chiefly depends upon the virtues of certain names of God, and passages from the Kurán, and the agency of angels, and jinn, or genii. It is of two kinds, Divine and Satanic (“Rahmanee,” i.e. relating to “the Compassionate” [who is God], and “Sheytanee,” relating to the Devil.)
1. Divine magic is regarded as a sublime science, and is studied only by good men, and practised only for good purposes. Perfection in this branch of magic consists in the knowledge of the most great name of God [[ISMU ʾL-AZAM]]; but this knowledge is imparted to none but the peculiar favourites of heaven. By virtue of this name, which was engraved on his seal ring, Solomon subjected to his dominion the jinn and the birds and the winds. By pronouncing it, his minister Asaf (Āṣaf), also, transported in an instant, to the presence of his sovereign, in Jerusalem, the throne of the Queen of Sheba. But this was a small miracle to effect by such means, for, by uttering this name, a man may even raise the dead. Other names of the Deity, commonly known, are believed to have particular efficacies when uttered or written; as also are the names of the Prophet, and angels and good jinn are said to be rendered subservient to the purposes of divine magic by means of certain invocations. Of such names and invocations, together with words unintelligible to the uninitiated in this science, passages from the Kurán, mysterious combinations of numbers, and peculiar diagrams and figures, are chiefly composed written charms employed for good purposes. Enchantment, when used for benevolent purposes, is regarded by the vulgar as a branch of lawful or divine magic; but not so by the learned, and the same remark applies to the science of divination.
2. Satanic magic, as its name implies, is a science depending on the agency of the Devil and the inferior evil jinn, whose services are obtained by means similar to those which propitiate, or render subservient, the good jinn. It is condemned by the Prophet and all good Muslims, and only practised for bad purposes. Es sehr (as-Siḥr), or enchantment, is almost universally acknowledged to be a branch of Satanic magic, but some few persons assert (agreeably with several tales in the Arabian Nights), that it may be, and by some has been, studied with good intentions, and practised by the aid of good jinn; consequently, that there is such a science as good enchantment, which is to be regarded as a branch of divine or lawful magic. The metamorphoses are said to be generally effected by means of spells, or invocations to jinn, accompanied by the sprinkling of water or dust, &c., on the object to be transformed. Persons are said to be enchanted in various ways; some paralyzed, or even deprived of life, others, affected with irresistible passion for certain objects, others, again, rendered demoniacs, and some, transformed into brutes, birds, &c. The evil eye is believed to enchant in a very powerful and distressing manner. This was acknowledged even by the Prophet. Diseases and death are often attributed to its influence. Amulets are worn by many Muslims with the view of counteracting or preserving from enchantment; and for the same purpose many ridiculous ceremonies are practised. Divination, which is termed El-Kihaneh (al-Kihānah), is pronounced on the highest authority to be a branch of Satanic magic; though not believed to be so by all Muslims. According to an assertion of the Prophet, what a fortune-teller says may sometimes be true; because one of the jinn steals away the truth, and carries it to the magician’s ear; for the angels come down to the region next the earth (the lowest heaven), and mention the works that have been pre-ordained in heaven; and the devils (or evil jinn) listen to what the angels say, and hear the orders predestined in heaven, and carry them to the fortune-tellers. It is on such occasions that shooting stars are hurled at the devils. It is said that, “the diviner obtains the services of the Sheytan (Shait̤ān) by magic arts, and by names invoked, and by the burning of perfumes, and he informs him of secret things; for the devils, before the mission of the Apostle of God, it is added, used to ascend to heaven, and hear words by stealth. That the evil jinn are believed still to ascend sufficiently near to the lowest heaven to hear the conversation of the angels, and so to assist magicians, appears from the former quotation, and is asserted by all Muslims. The discovery of hidden treasures is one of the objects for which divination is most studied. The mode of divination called “Darb-el-Mendel” (Ẓarbu ʾl-Mandal), is by some supposed to be effected by the aid of evil jinn; but the more enlightened of the Muslims regard it as a branch of natural magic. Some curious performances of this kind, by means of a fluid mirror of ink, have been described in the Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, and in No. 117 of the Quarterly Review.
There are certain modes of divination which cannot properly be classed under the head of spiritual magic, but require a place between the account of this science and that of natural magic. The most important of these branches of Kihaneh is Astrology, which is called Ilm en Nujoom (ʿIlmu ʾn-Nujūm). This is studied by many Muslims in the present day, and its professors are often employed by the Arabs to determine a fortunate period for laying the foundation of a building, commencing a journey, &c.; but more frequently by the Persians and Turks. The Prophet pronounced Astrology to be a branch of magic. Another branch of Kihaneh is Geomancy, called “Darb er Ramal” (Ẓarbu Raml); a mode of divination from certain marks made on sand (whence its appellation), or on paper; and said to be chiefly founded on astrology. The science called “ez Zijr,” or “el Eyafeh” (al-ʿIyāfah), is a third branch of Kihaneh, being divination or auguration, chiefly from the motions and positions, or postures, of birds, or of gazelles and other beasts of the chase. Thus what was termed a “Saneh” (Sāniḥ), that is, such an animal standing or passing with its right side towards the spectator, was esteemed among the Arabs as of good omen; and a “Bareh” (Bāriḥ), or an animal of this kind, with its left side towards the spectator, was held as inauspicious. “El Kiyafeh” (al-Qiyāfah), under which term are included Chiromancy and its kindred sciences, is a fourth branch of Kihaneh, “El Tefaul” (at-Tafawwul), or the taking an omen, particularly a good one, from a name or words accidentally heard or seen, or chosen from a book belonging to the same science. The taking a “fál,” or omen, from the Kurán, is generally held to be lawful. Various trifling events are considered as ominous. For instance, a Sultan quitting his palace with his troops, a standard happened to strike a “thureiya” (s̤urayyā, a cluster of lamps so called from resembling the Pleiades), and broke them: he drew from this an evil omen, and would have relinquished the expedition; but one of his chief officers said to him, “O our Lord, thy standard has reached the Pleiades,” and being relieved by this remark, he proceeded, and returned victorious.
(See The Thousand and One Nights, a new translation, with copious notes, by Edward W. Lane; new ed. by E. S. Poole, vol. i. p. 60.)
MAGISTRATES. [[QAZI].]
MAGPIE. Arabic ʿaqʿaq (عقعق). According to Abū Ḥanīfah, the flesh of the magpie is mubāḥ, or indifferent; but the Imām Yūsuf held it to be makrūh, or reprobated, because it frequently feeds on dead bodies. (Hidāyah, vol. iv. p. 74.)
AL-MAHDĪ (المهدى). Lit. “The Directed One,” hence, “who is fit to direct others, Guide, Leader.” A ruler who shall in the last days appear upon the earth. According to the Shīʿahs, he has already appeared in the person of Muḥammad Abū ʾl-Qāsim, the twelfth Imām, who is believed to be concealed in some secret place until the day of his manifestation before the end of the world. But the Sunnīs say he has not yet appeared. In the history of Muḥammadanism, there are numerous instances of impostors having assumed the character of this mysterious personage, amongst others, Saiyid Aḥmad, who fought against the Sikhs on the North-West frontier of the Panjāb, A.D. 1826, and still more recently, the Muḥammadan who has claimed to be al-Mahdī in the Sudān in Egypt.
The sayings of the Prophet on the subject, according to al-Buk͟hārī and other traditionists, are as follows:—