The formula Bi-ʾsmi ʾllāhi ʾr-raḥmāni ʾr-raḥīm is of Jewish origin. It was in the first instance taught to the Quraish by Umaiyah of T̤āʾif, the poet, who was a contemporary but somewhat older than Muḥammad, and who, during his mercantile journeys into Arabia Petræa and Syria, had made himself acquainted with the sacred books and doctrines of Jews and Christians. (Kitābu ʾl-Aghānī, 16, Delhi; quoted by Rodwell.)
BIẒĀʿAH (بضاعة). A share in a mercantile adventure. Property entrusted to another to be employed in trade.
BLACK STONE. [AL-HAJARU ʾL-ASWAD.]
BLASPHEMY. Arabic كفر kufr. Lit. “to hide” (the truth). It includes a denial of any of the essential principles of Islām.
A Muslim convicted of blasphemy is sentenced to death in Muḥammadan countries. [[APOSTASY].]
BLEEDING. Arabic حجامة ḥijāmah. The two great cures recommended by Muḥammad were blood-letting and drinking honey; and he taught that it was unlucky to be bled on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, the most lucky day being Tuesday, and the most lucky date the seventeenth of the month. (Mishkāt, xxi. c. 1.)
BLIND, The. Arabic أعمى Aʿmā, pl. ʿUmyān. It is not incumbent upon a blind man to engage in Jihād, or a religious war. And, according to the Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, the evidence of a blind person is not admissible, but the Imām Zufar maintains that such evidence is lawful when it affects a matter in which hearsay prevails. Sales and purchases made by a blind person are lawful. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. pp. 141, 402, 682.)
BLOOD. The sale of blood is unlawful. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 428.)
BLOOD, The Avenger of. [[QISAS].]
BLOOD, Issue of. [[ISTIHAZAH].]