Note [4.] The merchant was culpably careless: before throwing aside the date-stone with sufficient force to kill a Jinnee who happened to be near him (though at the time invisible), he should have asked permission by the exclamation "Destoor!" as explained in a note appended to the Introduction.
Note [5.]—On Fate and Destiny. The belief in fate and destiny ("el-ḳaḍà wa-l-ḳadar") exercises a most powerful influence upon the actions and character of the Muslims; and it is therefore highly important that the reader of the present work should be acquainted with the notions which these people entertain respecting such matters of faith. I use two words (perhaps the best that our language affords) to express corresponding Arabic terms, which some persons regard as synonymous, but others distinguish by different shades of meaning. On what I consider the best authority, the word which I render "fate" respects the decrees of God in a general sense; while that which I translate "destiny" relates to the particular applications of those decrees. In such senses these terms are here to be understood when separately employed.
Many Muslims hold that fate is, in some respects, absolute and unchangeable; in others, admitting of alteration; and almost all of them act, in many of the affairs of life, as if this were their belief. In the former case, it is called "el-ḳaḍà el-Moḥkam:" in the latter, "el-ḳaḍà el-Mubram" (which term, without the explanation here given, might be regarded as exactly synonymous with the former). Hence, the Prophet, it is said, prayed to be preserved from the latter, as knowing that it might be changed; and in allusion to this changeable fate, God, we are told, says, "God will cancel what He pleaseth, and confirm;"[111] while, on the contrary, the fate which is termed "Moḥkam" is appointed "destiny" decreed by God.[112]
Many doctors have argued, that destiny respects only the final state of a certain portion of men (believers and unbelievers); and that, in general, man is endowed with free will, which he should exercise according to the laws of God and his own conscience and judgment, praying to God for a blessing on his endeavours, or imploring the intercession of the Prophet, or of any of the saints, in his favour, and propitiating them by offering alms or sacrifices in their names; relying upon God for the result, which he may then, and then only, attribute to fate or destiny. They hold, therefore, that it is criminal to attempt resistance to the will when its dictates are conformable with the laws of God and our natural consciences and prudence, and so passively to await the fulfilment of God's decrees.—The doctrine of the Ḳur-án and the Traditions respecting the decrees of God, or fate and destiny, appears, however, to be, that they are altogether absolute and unchangeable,—written, in the beginning of the creation, on the "Preserved Tablet," in heaven; that God hath predestined every event and action, evil as well as good; at the same time commanding and approving good, and forbidding and hating evil; and that the "cancelling" mentioned in the preceding paragraph relates (as the context seems to shew) to the abrogation of former scriptures, or revelations; not of fate. But still it must be held that He hath not predestined the will; though He sometimes inclines it to good, and the Devil sometimes inclines it to evil. It is asked, then, If we have the power to will, but not the power to perform otherwise than as God hath predetermined, how can we be regarded as responsible beings? The answer to this is, that our actions are judged good or evil according to our intentions, if we have faith: good actions or intentions, it should be added, only increase, and do not cause, our happiness, if we are believers; and evil actions or intentions only increase our misery if we are unbelievers or irreligious: for the Muslim holds that he is to be admitted into heaven only by the mercy of God, on account of his faith; and to be rewarded in proportion to his good works.
The Prophet's assertions on the subject of God's decrees are considered of the highest importance as explanatory of the Ḳur-án.—"Whatever is in the universe," said he, "is by the order of God."—"God hath pre-ordained five things on his servants; the duration of life, their actions, their dwelling-places, their travels, and their portions."—"There is not one among you whose sitting-place is not written by God, whether in the fire or in paradise."[113]—Some of the Companions of the Prophet, on hearing the last-quoted saying, asked him, "O Prophet, since God hath appointed our places, may we confide in this, and abandon our religious and moral duties?" He answered, "No: because the happy will do good works, and those who are of the miserable will do bad works."—The following of his sayings further illustrate this subject.—"When God hath ordered a creature to die in any particular place, He causeth his wants to direct him to that place."—A Companion asked, "O Prophet of God, inform me respecting charms, and the medicines which I swallow, and shields which I make use of for protection, whether they prevent any of the orders of God." Moḥammad answered, "These also are by the order of God."[114] "There is a medicine for every pain: then, when the medicine reaches the pain, it is cured by the order of God."[115]—When a Muslim, therefore, feels an inclination to make use of medicine for the cure of a disease, he should do so, in the hope of its being predestined that he shall be so cured.
On the predestination of diseases, I find the following curious quotation and remark in a manuscript work, by Es-Suyooṭee, in my possession.—"El-Ḥaleemee says, 'Communicable or contagious diseases are six: small-pox, measles, itch or scab, foul breath or putridity, melancholy, and pestilential maladies; and diseases engendered are also six: leprosy, hectic, epilepsy, gout, elephantiasis, and phthisis.' But this does not contradict the saying of the Prophet, 'There is no transition of diseases by contagion or infection, nor any omen that brings evil:' for the transition here meant is one occasioned by the disease itself; whereas the effect is of God, who causes pestilence to spread when there is intercourse with the diseased."[116]—A Bedawee asked the Prophet, "What is the condition of camels which stay in the deserts? verily, you might say, they are deer, in health and in cleanness of skin; then they mix with mangy camels, and they become mangy also." Moḥammad said, "What made the first camel mangy?"[117]
Notwithstanding, however, the arguments which have been here adduced, and many others that might be added, declaring or implying the unchangeable nature of all God's decrees, I have found it to be the opinion of my own Muslim friends, that God may be induced, by supplication, to change certain of his decrees; at least, those regarding degrees of happiness or misery in this world and the next; and that such is the general opinion, appears from a form of prayer which is repeated in the mosques on the eve of the middle (or fifteenth day) of the month of Shaạbán; when it is believed that such portions of God's decrees as constitute the destinies of all living creatures for the ensuing year, are confirmed and fixed. In this prayer it is said, "O God, if Thou hast recorded me in thine abode, upon 'the Original of the Book' [the Preserved Tablet], miserable, or unfortunate, or scanted in my sustenance, cancel, O God, of thy goodness, my misery, and misfortune, and scanty allowance of sustenance, and confirm me, in thine abode, upon the Original of the Book, as happy, and provided for, and directed to good," &c.[118]
The Arabs in general constantly have recourse both to charms and medicines, not only for the cure, but also for the prevention of diseases. They have, indeed, a strange passion for medicine, which shows that they do not consider fate as altogether unconditional. Nothing can exceed the earnestness with which they often press a European traveller for a dose; and the more violent the remedy, the better are they pleased. The following case will serve as an example:—Three donkey-drivers, conveying the luggage of two British travellers from Booláḳ to Cairo, opened a bottle which they observed in a basket, and finding it to contain, as they had suspected, brandy, emptied it down their throats: but he who had the last, on turning up the bottle, got the tail of a scorpion into his mouth; and, looking through the bottle, to his great horror, saw that it contained a number of these reptiles, with tarantulas, vipers, and beetles. Thinking that they had poisoned themselves, but not liking to rely upon fate, they persuaded a man to come to me for medicine. He introduced the subject by saying, "O Efendee, do an act of kindness: there are three men poisoned; in your mercy give them medicine, and save their lives:" and then he related the whole affair, without concealing the theft. I replied, that they did not deserve medicine; but he urged that, by giving it, I should obtain an immense reward. "Yes," said I; "'he who saveth a soul alive shall be as if he had saved the lives of all mankind.'"[119] I said this to try the feeling of the applicant, who, expressing admiration of my knowledge, urged me to be quick, lest the men should die; thus showing himself to be no unconditional fatalist. I gave him three strong doses of tartar emetic; and he soon came back to thank me, saying that the medicine was most admirable, for the men had hardly swallowed it, when they almost vomited their hearts and livers, and everything else in their bodies.
From a distrust in faith, some Muslims even shut themselves up during the prevalence of plague; but this practice is generally condemned. A Syrian friend of mine, who did so, nearly had his door broken open by his neighbours. Another of my friends, one of the most distinguished of the 'Ulamà, confessed to me his conviction of the lawfulness of quarantine, and argued well in favour of it; but said that he dared not openly avow such an opinion. "The Apostle of God," said he, "God bless and save him! hath commanded that we should not enter a city where there is pestilence, nor go out from it. Why did he say, 'Enter it not?'—because, by so doing, we should expose ourselves to the disease. Why did he say, 'Go not out from it?'—because, by so doing, we should carry the disease to others. The Prophet was tenderly considerate of our welfare: but the present Muslims in general are like bulls [brute beasts]; and they hold the meaning of this command to be, Go not into a city where there is pestilence, because this would be rashness; and go not out from it, because this would be distrusting God's power to save you from it."
Many of the vulgar and ignorant among modern Muslims, believe that the unchangeable destinies of every man are written upon his head, in what are termed the sutures of the skull.