The first of the Julian family who occurs in history as having obtained the surname of Cæsar is Sex. Julius Cæsar, prætor in B.C. 208. It was first assumed as an imperial title by Augustus as the adopted son of the dictator, and was by Augustus handed down to his adopted son Tiberius. It continued to be used by Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, as members, either by adoption or female descent, of Cæsar’s family; but though the family became extinct with Nero, succeeding emperors still retained it as part of their titles, and it was the practice to prefix it to their own name, as, for instance, Imperator Cæsar Domitianus Augustus. The title was superseded in the Greek Empire under Alexis Commenus by that of Sebastocrator. In the west, it was conferred on Charles the Great, and was borne by those who succeeded him on the imperial throne. Although this dignity came to an end with the resignation of Francis II. in 1806, the title Kaiser is still assumed by the Emperors of Austria and Germany, and more recently by the Queen of England as Qaiṣar-i-Hind, or Empress of India.
CAIN. Arabic قابل Qābil (Qābīl). The account of Cain and Abel as given in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah v. 30], will be found in the article ABEL. The Commentators say that the occasion of making the offering was as follows: Each of them being born with a twin sister, Adam by God’s direction ordered Cain to marry Abel’s twin sister, and Abel to marry Cain’s, but that Cain refused. They were then ordered to submit the question by making a sacrifice, and Cain offered a sheaf of the very worst of his corn, whilst Abel offered the best fatted lamb of his flock. (Tafsīru ʾl-Baiẓāwī, in loco.)
CALEB. Arabic كالب Kālab. The son of Jephunneh (Yūfannah). He is not mentioned in the Qurʾān, but his name occurs in the Tafsīru ʾl-Baiẓāwī, in [Sūrah iv. 13].
CALF, GOLDEN, The, which the Israelites worshipped, is mentioned five times in the Qurʾān. [Sūrahs ii. 48, 88]; [iv. 152]; [vii. 146]; [xx. 90]. In [Sūrah xx. 90], the person who made it is said to be as-Sāmirī. [[MOSES].]
CALIPH. [[KHALIFAH].]
CALUMNY is expressed by the word G͟hībah, which means anything whispered to the detriment of an absent person, although it be true. Buhtān, expressing a false accusation. It is strictly forbidden in both the Qurʾān and Ḥadīs̤. [[GHIBAH].]
CAMEL. Arabic Ibil. In the Qurʾān ([Sūrah lxxxviii. 17]), the institution of camels to ride upon is mentioned as an example of God’s wisdom and kindness: “Do they not look then at the camel how she is created.” As a proof of the great usefulness of the camel to the Arabian, and of the manner in which its very existence has influenced his language, it is remarkable that in almost every page of the Arabic Dictionary Qāmūs (as also in Richardson’s edition), there is some reference to a camel.
Camels are a lawful sacrifice on the great festivals and on other occasions. And although it is lawful to slay a camel by ẕabḥ, or by merely cutting its throat, the most eligible method, according to Muslim law, is to slay a camel by naḥr, or by spearing it in the hollow of the throat near the breast-bone, because, says Abū Ḥanīfah, it is according to the sunnah, or practice of Muḥammad, and also because in that part of the throat three blood-vessels of a camel are combined. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. iv. p. 72.) There is zakāt, or legal alms, on camels. [[ZAKAT].] Muḥammadan law rules that the person who leads a string of camels is responsible for anything any one of the camels may injure or tread down. (Ibid., iv. 379.)
CANAAN. Arabic Kanʿān. According to al-Jalālain and al-Baiẓāwī, the commentators, Canaan was the unbelieving son of Noah, but, according to the Qāmūs dictionary, the grandson, who was drowned in the flood, and whose case is recorded in the Qurʾān ([Sūrah xi. 44]). He is said to be a son of Noah’s wife Wāʿilah, who was an infidel. “And the Ark moved on them amid waves like mountains: and Noah called to his son—for he was apart—‘Embark with us, O my child! and be not with the unbelievers.’ He said, ‘I will betake me to a mountain that shall secure me from the water.’ He said, ‘None shall be secure this day from the decree of God, save him on whom He shall have mercy.’ And a wave passed between them, and he was among the drowned.”