It is related in the Traditions that the Prophet visited his mother’s grave, and wept in such a way as to cause those who were standing around him to weep also. And the Prophet said, “I have asked my benefactor permission to ask pardon for my mother, which was not granted then. I asked my Lord’s permission to visit her grave and it was granted, therefore do ye visit graves, because they remind you of death.”
PREACHER. Preaching. There are four words generally used for a preacher: k͟hat̤īb (خطيب), muẕakkir (مذكر), wāʿiz̤ (واعظ), and nāṣiḥ (ناصح).
K͟hat̤īb is always applied to the official who recites the k͟hut̤bah, or oration, in the Friday service. The other three terms are applied generally to preachers.
In the present day, preaching seldom takes place in a mosque except on Fridays, when the k͟hut̤bah is recited, although it is not forbidden, and Muḥammad was frequently in the habit of addressing his people after the prayers were over.
No Maulawī of reputation preaches in the street, but paid preachers sometimes undertake the office.
PREDESTINATION. Arabic qadar (قدر), the word generally used in the Ḥadīs̤; taqdīr (تقدير), the word usually employed in theological works. Expressions which mean “measuring out,” or “preordering.”
Taqdīr, or the absolute decree of good and evil, is the sixth article of the Muḥammadan creed, and the orthodox believe that whatever has, or shall come to pass in this world, whether it be good or bad, proceeds entirely from the Divine Will, and has been irrevocably fixed and recorded on a preserved tablet by the pen of fate. The doctrine, which forms a very important feature in the Muslim system, is thus taught in the Qurʾān:—
[Sūrah liv. 49]: “All things have been created after fixed decree” (qadar).
[Sūrah iii. 139]: “No one can die except by God’s permission according to the book that fixeth the term of life.”
[Sūrah lxxxvii. 2]: “The Lord hath created and balanced all things and hath fixed their destinies and guided them.”