The Faith of Islam

Edward Sell

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781136391767
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

First Published in 2000. This title is Volume 3 in the 8-volume series titled Islam, one of the Trüber's Oriental Series. This edition is the result of another fifteen years' study of Islam, and of further intercourse with Musalmans. It deals with certain phases of modern Muslim thought in India and in Persia which found no place in the first edition. The result is that a considerable amount of fresh matter has been added, though the general form of the book has not been altered. All who are engaged in this enterprise will find help in this volume - it may also throw light on the political questions of the day.

THE FAITH OF ISLÁM

CHAPTER I

THE FOUNDATIONS OF ISLÁM

THE creed of Islám, “ Lá-iláha-il-lal-láhu waMu

ammadu-r-Rasúlulláh ” (There is no deity but God, and Mufcammad is the Apostle of God), is very short, but the system itself is a very dogmatic one. Such statements as : “ The Qurán is an all-embracing and sufficient code, regulating everything ” “ The Qurán contains the entire code of Islám—that is, it is not a book of religious precepts merely, but it governs all that a Muslim does,” “ The Qurán contains the whole religion ofMu

ammad,” “ The Qurán which contains the whole Gospel of Islám,” are not simply misleading, they are erroneous. So far from the Qurán alone being the sole rule of faith and practice to Muslims, there is not one single sect amongst them whose faith and practice is based on it alone. No one among them disputes its authority or casts any doubt upon its genuineness. Its voice is supreme in all that it concerns, but its exegesis, the whole system of legal jurisprudence and of theological science, is largely founded on the Traditions. Amongst the orthodox Musal-máns, the foundations of Islám are considered to be four in number, the Qurán, Sunnat, Ijmá‘, and Qíás. The fact that all the sects do not agree with the orthodox—the Sunnís—in this matter illustrates another important fact in Islám—the want of unity amongst its followers.

A

I. THE QURAN.—The question of the inspiration will be fully discussed, and an account of the laws of the exegesis of the Qurán will be given in the next chapter. It is sufficient now to state that this book is held in the highest veneration by Muslims of every sect. When being read, it is kept on a stand elevated above the floor, and no one must read or touch it without first making a legal ablution.¹ It is not translated unless there is the most urgent necessity, and even then the Arabic text is printed with the translation. The more bigoted Mu

ammacláns say that it should not be taught to any one but Muslims, and that a Moulvie who teaches a Christian to read it becomes thereby a Káfir. In the year 1884 the Sunni Qá

i and a number of Madras Moulvies issued a Fatvá to this effect. This, however, is contrary to the Law, for Qá

i Khán says: “ The

arbi, or the Zimmi, when they desire to read the Qurán, may be taught, and so also with the Fiqh and the A

káms. It may be hoped that they will find the road to the truth. But until they have washed, they must not touch the Qurán; after they have done this, they are not to be hindered.”² It is said that God chose the sacred month of Ramazán in which to give all the revelations which in the form of books have been vouchsafed to mankind. Thus on the first night of that month the books of Abraham came down from heaven; on the sixth, the books of Moses; on the thirteenth, the Inj 11, or Gospel; and on the twenty-seventh, the Qurán.³ On that night, the Laylatul-Qadr, or “ night of power,” the whole Qurán is said to have descended to the lowest of the seven heavens, from whence it was brought piecemeal toMu

ammad as occasion required.⁴ “ Verily we have caused it (the Qurán) to descend on the night of power” (Súrah xcvii. i),¹ “The Qurán,” says Ibn Khaldún, “ was sent from heaven in the Arab tongue, and in a style conformable to that in which the Arabs were wont to express their thoughts. . . . It was revealed phrase by phrase, verse by verse, as it was needed, whether for manifesting the doctrine of the unity of God, or for expounding the obligations to which men ought to submit in this world. In the one case we have the proclamation of the dogmas of faith, in the other the prescriptions which regulate the actions of men.” ² The night on which it descended is called the blessed night, the night better than a thousand months, the night when angels came down by the permission of their Lord, the night which bringeth peace and blessings till the rosy dawn. Twice on that night, in the solitude of the cave of

irá, the voice called; twice, though pressed sore “ as if a fearful weight had been laid upon him,” the Prophet struggled against its influence. The third time he heard the words:—

“ Recite thou, in the name of thy Lord who created— Created man from clots of blood.” (S. xcvi. i.)

“ When the voice had ceased to speak, telling how from minutest beginnings man had been called into existence, and lifted up by understanding and knowledge of the Lord, who is most beneficent, and who by the pen had revealed that which man did not know, Mu

ammad woke up from his trance and felt as if ‘ a book had been written in his heart.’” He was much alarmed. Tradition records that he went hastily to his wife and said, “ 0 Khadija! what has happened to me?” He lay down and she watched by him. When he recovered from his paroxysm, he said, “ O Khadija ! he of whom one would not have believed (i.e., himself) has become either a soothsayer (káhin) or mad.” She replied, “ God is my protection, O AbúT-kásim. He will surely not let such a thing happen unto thee, for thou speakest the truth, dost not return evil for evil, keepest faith, art of a good life, and art kind to thy relatives and friends, and neither art thou a talker abroad in the bazaars. What has befallen thee ? Hast thou seen aught terrible ? “Mu

ammad replied, “ Yes.” And he told her what he had seen. Whereupon she answered and said, “ Eejoice, O dear husband, and be of good cheer. He in whose hands stands Khadija’s life is my witness that thou wilt be the Prophet of this people.”¹ After this there seems to have been an intermission, called the Fatrah. It is generally acknowledged to have lasted about three years, and it was at this time that the Prophet gained some knowledge of the Jewish and the Christian histories. “The accounts, however,” says Muir, “ are throughout confused, if not contradictory ; and we can only gather with certainty that there was a time during which his mind hung in suspense and doubted the divine mission.” It is not absolutely certain when the Fatrah commenced. Most commentators acknowledge that the first five verses of the Súratu’l~‘Âlaq (xcvi.) form the first revelation; but according to Ali, the Súratul-Fáti

ah is the first, and Jábir, a Companion, maintains that the Suratu’l-Mudassir (Ixxiv.) preceded all others. These varying statements are thus reconciled: the Siiratu’l-Alaq was the first real revelation ; the Súratul-Fátihah was the first one revealed for purposes of worship; the Suratu’l-Mudassir was the first of a continued series. Henceforth there was no intermission.² It is said that after the descent of the Siiratu’l-Alaq (xcvi.), called also the Súràtu’1-Iqra, the Prophet longed for a further revelation, but the Wahl (inspiration) came not. This Fatrah was a cause of much grief to him. Indeed one day he started from his home with the intention of committing suicide ; but when staggering along, borne down with sorrow, a voice from heaven sounded in his ears. Then, as Bukhárí relates it, he looked up and saw the angel who had appeared to him on a former occasion. The angel sat on a throne suspended midway between heaven and earth.Mu

ammad, much agitated, hastened home and said, “ Cover me with a cloth.” Then God revealed to him the Súratul-Mudassir, which commences thus : “ O thou, enwrapped in thy mantle! arise and warn.” ¹ Bukhárí also adds that the steady and regular flow of the revelation of the Qurán then commenced, or, as he puts it, “ inspiration became warm “ (Fahamiya-al-wahi).²

Gabriel is believed to have been the medium of communication. This fact, however, is only once stated in the Qurán :—” Say, whoso is the enemy of Gabriel—For he it is who by God’s leave hath caused the Qurán to descend on thy heart” (S. ii. 91). This Surah was revealed some years after the Prophet’s flight to Madina. The other references to the revelation of the Qurán are:—”Verily from the Lord of the worlds hath this book come down; the Faithful Spirit (Rú

u’1-Ámin) hath come down with it” (S. xxvi. 192). “The Qurán is no other than a re...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter I
• Chapter II
• Chapter III
• Chapter IV
• Chapter V
• Chapter VI
• Appendix A.—‘Ilm-i-Tajwid
• Appendix B.—The Law of Jihád
• Index