The mimbars in the mosques of Cairo are elevated structures, but in Asia they are of a more primitive character.
Burton says: “In the beginning the Prophet leaned, when fatigued, against a post, whilst preaching the k͟hut̤bah or Friday sermon. The mimbar, or pulpit, was an invention of a Madīnah man of the Banū Najjār. It was a wooden frame, two cubits long by one broad, with three steps, each one span high; on the topmost of these the Prophet sat when he required rest. The pulpit assumed its present form about A.H. 90, during the artistic reign of El Walid.”
A MIMBAR IN MOSQUES AT PESHAWAR.
MINES. Arabic maʿdin (معدن), pl. maʿādin. In Zakāt, mines are subject to a payment of one fifth. (Hidāyah, vol. i. 39.)
MINḤAH (منحة). A legal term for a portion of camel’s or sheep’s milk which another is allowed to draw, but afterwards to restore the animal to its original owner.
MINORITY. [[PUBERTY].]
MĪQĀT (ميقات). Lit. “A stated time, or place.” The stations at which Makkan pilgrims assume the iḥrām or “pilgrim’s garment.” Five of these stations were established by Muḥammad (Mishkāt, book xi. ch. i. pt. 1), and the sixth has been added since to suit the convenience of travellers from the East. They are as follows: (1) Ẕū ʾl-Ḥulafāʾ, for the pilgrims from al-Madīnah; (2) Juḥfah, for Syria; (3) Qarnu ʾl-Manāzil, for Najd; (4) Yaulamlam, for Yaman; (5) Ẕāt-i-ʿIrāq, for ʿIrāq; (6) Ibrahīm Mursīa, for those who arrive by sea from India and the east.
The putting on of the iḥrām at Jerusalem is highly meritorious, according to a tradition, which says, “The Prophet said, Whoever wears the iḥrām for ḥajj or ʿumrah, from the Masjidu ʾl-Aqṣā (i.e. the Temple at Jerusalem) to the Masjidu ʾl-Ḥarām, shall be forgiven for all his past and future sins.” (Mishkāt, book xi. ch. i. pt. 2.)
MĪR (مير). A title of respect used for the descendants of celebrated Muḥammadan saints. More generally used for Saiyids, or descendants of Fāt̤imah, the Prophet’s daughter.