Thomas Patrick Hughes

“ Henceforth 'Umar remained attached to the person of IMuhammad with the most devoted friendship, and embraced the cause of Islam with all the energies of his strong nature. We find 'Umar, immediately after Muhammad's death, unable at first to grasp the reality of the fact. When the news was imparted to him, he exclaimed wildly before the assembly of the faithful : " The Prophet is not dead ; he has only swooned away." ”

“ You are a young and sensible man, and I do not suspect you of forgetfulness, negligence, or perfidy ; and, verily, you used to write for the Prophet his instructions from above ; then look for the Quran in. every place and collect it." I said, " I swear by God, that if people had ordered me to carry a mountain about from one place to another, it would not be heavier upon me than the order which Abu- Bakr has given for collecting the Quran." I said to Abu-Bakr, " How do you do a thing which the Prophet of God did not ? " He said, " By God, this collecting of the Quran is a good act." ”

“ The increased interest manifested in relation to all matters affecting the East, and the great attention now given to the study of comparative religion, seem to indicate that the time has come when an attempt should be made to place before the English-speaking people of the world a systematic exposition of the doctrines of the Muslim Faith. ”

“ There are those amongst English and Continental writers who regard all dogmatic teaching as antiquated, and who would recommend the Christian Missionary to keep dogma in the back-ground, when dealing with such a religious system as Muhammadanism. But Muslim divines would spurn such teaching as unworthy of theologians, whether of Islam or of Christianity. The trumpet must give no uncertain sound. It is a solemn thing for a Christian Missionary to be engaged day by day in unsettling the religious opinions of immortal beings, unless he feels that he has something good and true ”

“ All Muslim theologians have given a literal in terpretation of the sensual delights, and it is impossible for any candid mind to read the Quran and Traditions and arrive to any other conclusion on the subject. ”

“ Islam is said to be the religion of all the prophets from the time of Abraham, as will appear from the following verses (Surat- ul-Imran, ver. 78, 79) : " We believe in God and in what hath been sent down to Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what was given *to Moses, and Jesus and the Prophets from their Lord. We
ISLAM. 11
make no difference between them, and to him are we resigned (i.e. Muslims) . Whoso desireth any other religion than Islam, that religion shall never be accepted of him, and in the next world he shall be lost." ”

“ This doctrine was asserted by Muhammad (Mishkdt, book i. ch. iii. pt. 1) . The Prophet said. " There is not of the sons of Adam, except Mary and her Son, one born but is touched by the Devil at the time of his birth, and the child makes a loud noise from the touch." ”

“ Muhammad has thus become a witness to the doctrine of the Christian faith that " without shedding of blood, there is no remission." The animal sacrificed must be without blemish, and of full age; but it may be either a goat, a sheep, a cow, or a camel. The religious part of the festival is observed as follows : — The people assemble in the morning for prayer, in the 'Jdgah, or place erected outside the city for these special festival prayers. The whole congregation then standing in the usual order, the Imam takes his place in front of them and leads them in two rak'ahs of prayer. ”

“ PRAYER. 107
of that devotional service which every Mu. is required to render to God at least jive times a day,* and which, undoubtedly, exercises so great an influence upon the character of the followers of Muhammad.
It is absolutely necessary that the service should be performed in Arabic; and that the clothes and body of the worshipper should be clean, and that the praying place should be free from all impurity. It may be said either privately, or in company, or in a Mosque although services in a Mosque are more meri torious than those elsewhere. ”

“ Divided, as the Muslim world is, into numerous sects, it has been found impossible to take into consideration all the minor differences which exist amongst them. The Dictionary is, for the most part, an exposition of the opinions of the Sunni sect, with explanations of the chief points on which the Shiah and Wahhabi schools of thought differ from it. ”

“ For everything in religion, in law, in life, and in thought, has been measured for all time, Muhammadanism admits of no progress in morals, law, or commerce. It fails to re generate the man, and it is equally powerless in regenerating the nation. ”

“ We are not insensible to the beauties of the Quran as a literary production, although they have, without doubt, been overrated ; but as we admire its conceptions of the Divine nature, its deep and fervent trust in the power of God, its frequent deep moral earnestness, and its sen tentious wisdom, we would gladly rid ourselves of our recollections of the Prophet, his licen tious harem, his sanguinary battle-fields, his ambitious schemes; whilst as we peruse the Christian scriptures we find the grand central charm in the divine character of its founder. ”

“ At length, in the second or third year of his Caliphate, Omar determined that the distribution should be regulated on a fixed and systematic scale. The income of the commonwealth was to be divided, as heretofore, amongst the Faithful as their heritage, but upon a rule of precedence befitting the military and theocratic groundwork of Islam. For this end three points only were considered : priority of conversion, afiinity to the Prophet, and military service. ”

“ Still, notwithstanding its numerous and manifest shortcomings, it has been pronounced by an eminent Arabic scholar, as not only " about the best outlines of Muslim faith he had seen"; but as having " the rare merit of Icing accurate." ”

“ The situation of hell is a matter of dispute.
Baghawi s distribution of the different sections of hell is a proof of the utter recklessness of Muslim Commentators, for in neither case are Lazwd and Hutama apportioned to Christians or Jews in the Quran. ”

“ But although the traditions of Muhammad are shrouded with a degree of uncertainty which is perplexing, not to say vexatious, to the student of history, still there can .be no doubt as to the place they were intended to, and still do occupy in the theological structure of Islam. The example of Muhammad is just as binding upon the Muslim as that of our Divine Lord and Saviour is upon the Christian. And everything Muhammad said with reference to religious dogmas and morals is believed to have been inspired by God ”

“ If the Imam forgets to recite, let not the worshipper forget. Know, believers, that every free man who is a Sahib-i-Nisab should ofi'er sacrifice on this day, provided that this sum is exclusive of his horse, his clothes, his tools, and his household goods and slaves. It is wajib for everyone to ofTer sacrifice for himself, but it is not a wiijib order that he should do it for his children. A goat, a ram, or a cow. should be offered in sacrifice for every seven persons. The victim must not be one-eyed. ”

“ The whole structure of the work is intended to be such as will make it available to English scholars unacquainted with the Arabic language; and, consequently, most of the information given will be found under English words rather than under their Arabic equivalents. For example, for information regarding the attributes of the Divine Being, the reader must refer to the English God, and not to the Arabic allah; for all the ritual and laws regarding the liturgical service, to the English prayer, and not to the Arabic salat ”

“ THERE is a general impression amongst European students of Islam, that it is a simple system of Deism unfettered by numerous dogmas and creeds, which are supposed to be such an insuperable hindrance to an acceptance of Christianity. ”

“ Out of forty thousand persons who have been instrumental in handing down traditions of " the Prophet," Bokhari only acknowledged two thousand as reliable authorities. It will, therefore, be seen how unreliable are the traditions of Islam although they are part of the rule of faith. Such being the case, it is not surprising that Hm-i-Hadis, or the Science of Tradition, has become a most important branch of Muslim Divinity, and that the following canons have been framed for the reception or rejection of traditions. ”

“ Faith in the decrees of God, is that we believe in our heart and con fess with our tongue that the most High God hath decreed all things so that nothing can happen in the world, whether it respects the conditions and operations of things, or good and evil, or obedience and disobedience, or faith and infidelity, or sickness and health, or riches and poverty, or life and death, that is not contained in the written tablet of the decrees of God. ”

“ This is the crucial test, established by the Prophet himself. He claims to be weighed in the balance with the Divine Jesus. Having done so, we find him wanting.
Objection has often been made to the manner in which Christian divines have attacked the private character of Muhammad. Why reject the prophetic mission of Muhammad on account of his private vices, when yon receive as inspired the sayings of a Balaam, a David, or a Solomon ? We do not, as a rule, attack the character of Muhammad in dealing with Islam ; it rouses opposition, and is an offensive line of argument. ”

“ But God hath so decreed good works, obedience, and faith, that He ordains and wills them, and that they may be under His decree, His salutary direction, His good pleasure and command. On the contrary, God hath decreed, and does ordain and determine evil, disobedience, and infidelity ”

“ Muhammad and his followers did not participate in the Jewish fast, for the Prophet now instituted the 'Idu 'l-Azha. The idolatrous Arabs had been in the habit of making an annual pilgrimage to Makkah at this season of the year. The offering of animals in sacritice formed a part of the concluding ceremony of that pilgrimage. That portion — the sacrifice of animals — Muhammad adopted in the feast which now, at al-Madinah. ”

“ ANGELS. 83
angels respecting the decrees of God, which they sometimes impart to men by means of talismans and invocations.
The good genii are Muslims, and perform all the religious duties of the faithful.
King Solomon is said to have had great power over the genii by means of his magic ring.*
Students of Islam must bear in mind that most of the absurd stories of the genii are related in the Quran, and have, therefore, received from Muhammad all the authority of a divine revelation. ”

“ In studying the Muhammadan religious sys tem it must be well understood that Islam is not simply the religion of the Quran, but that all Muhammadans, whether Sunni, Shia h, or Wahhabi, receive the Traditions as an authority in matters of faith and practice. The Sunni Muhammadans arrogate to themselves the title of traditionists ; but the Shia hs also receive the Hadis as binding upon them, although they do not acknowledge the same collection of traditions as those received by their opponents. ”

“ Islam, true to its an ti- Christian character, preaches a sensual abode of bliss in opposition to the express teaching of our blessed Lord, who said, " They neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of heaven " (St. Matt. xxii. 30) .
It is remarkable that with the exception of one passage (Sura iii. 25) , Muhammad s de scriptions of the sensual paradise belong to the later period of his mission, and after he had become a polygamist. ”

“ Hadis-i-Mauzu , an invented tradition, is one the untruth of which is beyond dispute.
It is an universal canon that no* tradition can be received which is contrary to the Quran, and it is related that when Ayeshah heard Omar say that Muhammad had taught that the dead could hear, she rejected the tradition as spurious, because it was contrary to the teaching of the Quran. ”

“ God would make the fast an ease and not a diffi culty," for notwithstanding its rigour in the day-time, it must be an easier observance than the strict fast observed during Lent by the Eastern Christians of Muhammad s day. ”

“ Christianity or Sabeanism, for it is simply Talmudic Judaism adapted to Arabia, plus the Apostleship of Jesus and Muhammad. Wherever Muhammad departs from the mono theistic principles of Judaism, as in the idola trous practices of the Pilgrimage to the K aba, it is evident that it is done as a necessary concession to the national feelings and sym pathies of the people of Arabia, and it is ab solutely impossible for Muhammadan divines to reconcile the idolatrous rites of the K aba with that simple monotheism which it was evidently Muhammad s intention to establish in Arabia. ”

“ In dealing with serious minded Muhamnia- dans, we should, as far as possible, abstain from attacking any real or apparent contradic tions which may exist in the Quran, and insist more upon a general comparison between the two systems : the teaching of Jesus and the teaching of Muhammad, the position of man under the Gospel and the position of man under the Quran, the sonship of the Christian and the servitude of the Muslim, the covenant of Grace and the covenant of Works ”

“ Sirdt is a bridge which all must pass over on the day of judgment. It is said to extend over the midst of -hell, and to be sharper than the edge of a sword. In passing it the feet of the infidel will slip, and he will fall into hell fire ; but the feet of the Muslim will be firm, and carry him safely to Paradise.
XIV. HEAVEN.
THE Muhammadan Paradise is called Jannat (garden) in Arabic, and Bahisht in Persian ; the word Fir dam, from which -we get our Eng lish word Paradise, being restricted to one region in the celestial abodes of bliss. ”

“ THE QURAN.
nological sequence. If, therefore, we arrange them according to the order which is given in Syuty s Itqan,* we shall not fail to mark the gradual development of Muhammad s mind from that of a mere moral teacher and re former, to that of a prophet and warrior chief. The contrast between the earlier, mid dle, and later Suras is very striking. He who at Mecca is the admonisher and persuader, at Medina is the legislator and the warrior, who dictates obedience, and uses other weapons than the pen of the poet and the scribe. When business pressed, as at Medina, poetry makes way for prose ”

“ What God is not.} He, glorified be his name, is not a body endued with form, nor a substance circumscribed with limits or deter mined by measure ; neither does he resemble bodies, as they are capable of being measured or divided. ”

“ His is the dominion, and the excellency, and the creation, and the com mand thereof. The heavens are folded up in his right hand, and all creatures are couched within his grasp. His excellency consists in his creating and producing, and his unity in communicating existence and a beginning of being. He created men and their works, and measured out their maintenance and their de termined times. Nothing that is possible can escape his grasp, nor can the vicissitudes of things elude his power. ”

“ But he is above the throne, and above all things, even to the utmost ends of the earth ; but so above as at the same time not to be a whit nearer the throne and the heaven ; since he is exalted by (infinite) degrees above the throne no less- than he is exalted above the earth, and at the same time is near to everything that hath a being ; nay, * nearer to man than their jugular veins, and is witness to everything : J though
Vide Quran.
ALLAH OR GOD. 71
his nearness is not like the nearness of bodies, as neither is his essence like the essence of bodies. ”

“ THE QURAN. 25
tribes to have a Quran in their own dialect; for Abdul Haqq* says, "The Quran was first revealed in the dialect of the Quraish, which was the Prophet s native tongue; but when the Prophet saw that the people of other tribes recited it with difficulty then he obtained per mission from God to extend its currency by allowing it to be recited in all the chief dialects of Arabia, which were seven : Quaraish, Tai, Hawazin, Ahl-i-Yaman, Saqif, Huzail, and Bani-Tamln. ”

“ He sees without pupil or eyelids, and hears without any passage or ear, even as he knoweth without a heart, and performs his actions without the assistance of any corporeal limb, and creates without any instrument, for his attributes (or properties) are not like those of men, any more than his essence is like theirs. ”

“ The Muhammadan belief in the existence of God is expressed in the first part of the well known confession of faith, La-ildha Il-lal- Idho, " There is no deity but God," the in terpretation of which occupies so prominent a place in all treatises of divinity. ”

“ Though men, genii, angels and devils, should conspire together either to put one single atom in motion, or cause it to cease its motion, with out his will and approbation they would not be able to do it. ”

“ For a man may be supposed to act unjustly by invading the possession of another ; but no injustice can be conceived of God, inasmuch as there is nothing that belongs to any other besides himself, so that wrong is not imputable to him as meddling with things not appertain ing to him. ”

“ His will subsists in his essence amongst the rest of his attributes, and was from eternity one of his eternal attributes, by which he willed from eternity the existence of those things that he had decreed, which were produced in their proper seasons accord ing to his eternal will, without any before or after, and in agreement both with his know ledge and will, and not by methodising of thoughts, nor waiting for a proper time, for which reason no one thing is in him a hind rance from another. ”