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Dictionary of Superstitions

Dictionary of Superstitions from Thomas Hughes' A Dictionary of Islam

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Page number	Dictionary of Superstitions from Thomas Hughes' A Dictionary of Islam	Page No wise reference
133,136, 669	Muhammad was a sincere believer in the existence of good and evil genii, and has left a record of his belief in the LXXIInd chapter of his Quran, entitled the Suratu 'l-Jinn-Page 133 their principal places of resort, or of occasional abode, baths, wells, the latrina, ovens, ruined houses, market places, the junctures of roads, the sea, and rivers. The Arabs, therefore, when they pour water &c on the ground, or enter a bath, or let down a bucket into a well, or visit the latrina, and on various other occasions, say "Permission!" or "Permission, ye blessed!" (Izn, or Izn ya Mubarrakun What the Prophet said of Iblis in the following tradition applies also to the evil Jinn over whom he presides: His chief abode [among men] is the bath; his chief places of resort are the markets and junctures of roads; his food is whatever is killed without the name of God being pronounced over it; his drink, whatever is intoxicating; his Mu'azzin, the mizmar (musical pipe) ie any musical instrument); his Qur'an, poetry; his written character, the marks made in geomancy; his speech, falsehood; his snares are women It has already been mentioned that some of the Jinn are Muslims, and others infidels. The god acquit themselves of the imperative duties of religion, namely, prayers, alms-giving, fasting during the month of Ramazan, and pilgrimage to Makkah and Mount Arafat, but in the performance of these duties they are generally invisible to human beings. The Zaubarah, which is a whirlwind that raises the sand or dust in the form of a pillar of prodigious height, often seen sweeping across the deserts and fields, is believed to be caused by the flight of an evil genii. To defend themselves from a Jinn thus "riding in the whirlwind," the Arabs often exclaim "Iron! Iron!" (Hadid! Hadid!), or "Iron! Thou unlucky!" (Hadid! Ya Mashum!) as the Jinn are supposed to have a great dread of that metal; or they exclaim, "God is most great!" (Allahu akbar!). A similar superstition prevails with respect to the waterspout at sea.Page 136 A special chapter is devoted to the Prophet's sayings with regard to the wind, as it appears that he had a superstition of it.Page 669 The injuries related to have been inflicted upon human beings by evil genii are of various kinds. Genii are said to have often carried off beautiful women, whom they have forcibly kept as their wives or concubines. Malicious or disturbed genii are asserted often to station themselves on the roofs or at the windows ----137 of house, and to throw down bricks and stones on persons passing by. When they take possession of an uninhabited house, they seldom fail to persecute terribly any person who goes to reside in it. They are also very apt to pilfer provisions &c. Many learned and devote persons, to secure their property from such depredations, repeat the words "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!" On locking the doors of their houses, rooms, and on covering the bread-basket, or anything containing food. During the month of Ramazan, the evil genii are believed to be confined in prison; and, therefore, on the last night of that month, with the same view, women sometimes repeat the words above mentioned, and sprinkle salt upon the floors of the apartments of their houses. To complete this sketch of Arabian mythology, an account must be added of several creatures generally believed to be of inferior orders of the Jinn. One of these is the Ghul, which is commonly regarded as a kind of Shaitan, or evil genii, that eats men and is also described by some as a Jinn, or an enchanter, who assumes various forms. The Ghuls are said to appear in the forms of various animals, and of human beings, and in many monstrous shapes; to haunt burial grounds and other sequestered spots; to feed upon dead human bodies; and to kill and devour any human creature who has the misfortune to fall in their way; whence the term "Ghul" is applied to any cannibal. An opinion quoted by a celebrated author respecting the Ghul is that it is a demoniacal animal, which passes a solitary existence in the deserts, resembling both man and brute; that it appears to a person traveling alone in the night and in solitary places, and being supposed by him to be itself a traveller, lures him out of his way. Another opinion state by him is this: that, when the Shaitans attempt to hear words by stealth, [from the confines of the lowest heaven], they are struck by shooting stars, and some are burnt; some falling into a sea, or rather a large river (bahr), become converted into crocodiles; and some, falling upon the land, become Ghuls. The same author adds the following tradition: "The Ghul is any Jinn that is opposed to travels, assuming various forms and appearances; and affirms that several of the Companions of the Prophet saw Ghuls in their travels; and that 'Umar among them saw a Ghul while on a journey to Syria, before Islam, and struck it with his sword." It appears that "Ghul" is, properly speaking, a name that is given to a female demon of the kind above described; the male is called "Qutrud". It is said that these beings, and the Ghaddar, or Gharra, and other similar creatures, which will presently be mentioned, are the offspring of Iblis and of a wife whom God created for him of the fire of the Samum (which here signifies, as in an instance before mentioned, ' a smokeless fire'), and that they sprang from an egg. A female-Page 137
Encyclopedic Para No. 1	According to Thomas Hughes says the Prophet Muhammad sincerely believed in pre-Islamic superstitions of supernatural beings like Jinn, Ghoul, Shaitan, Iblis etc and same superstitions shared by later Muslims too. Some of these supernatural beings beloved to be good or bad, they can be Muslims or non Muslims, their principal places of resort, or of occasional abode are supposed to be baths,latrines, wells, , ovens, ruined houses, market places, the junctures of roads, the sea, and rivers. The Arabs, therefore, when they pour water &c on the ground, or enter a bath, or let down a bucket into a well, or visit the latrines, and on various other occasions, say "Permission!" or "Permission, ye blessed!" (Izn, or Izn ya Mubarrakun What the Prophet said of Iblis in the following tradition applies also to the evil Jinn over whom he presides: His chief abode [among men] is the bath; his chief places of resort are the markets and junctures of roads; his food is whatever is killed without the name of God being pronounced over it; his drink, whatever is intoxicating; his Mu'azzin, the mizmar (musical pipe) ie any musical instrument); his Qur'an, poetry; his written character, the marks made in geomancy; his speech, falsehood; his snares are womenThe injuries related to have been inflicted upon human beings by evil genii are of various kinds. Genii are said to have often carried off beautiful women, whom they have forcibly kept as their wives or concubines. Malicious or disturbed genii are asserted often to station themselves on the roofs or at the windows of house, and to throw down bricks and stones on persons passing by. When they take possession of an uninhabited house, they seldom fail to persecute terribly any person who goes to reside in it. They are also very apt to pilfer provisions &c. Many learned and devote persons, to secure their property from such depredations, repeat the words "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!" On locking the doors of their houses, rooms, and on covering the bread-basket, or anything containing food. During the month of Ramazan, the evil genii are believed to be confined in prison; and, therefore, on the last night of that month, with the same view, women sometimes repeat the words above mentioned, and sprinkle salt upon the floors of the apartments of their houses. Hughes says a special chapter is devoted to the Prophet's sayings with regard to the strong wind, as it appears that he had a superstition of it.The Zaubarah, which is a whirlwind that raises the sand or dust in the form of a pillar of prodigious height, often seen sweeping across the deserts and fields, is believed to be caused by the flight of an evil genii. To defend themselves from a Jinn thus "riding in the whirlwind," the Arabs often exclaim "Iron! Iron!" (Hadid! Hadid!), or "Iron! Thou unlucky!" (Hadid! Ya Mashum!) as the Jinn are supposed to have a great dread of that metal; or they exclaim, "God is most great!" (Allahu akbar!). A similar superstition prevails with respect to the waterspout at sea.
142, 220. 226	The PM having said that whoever calls upon God by this exalted name Ismul Azam, shall obtain all his desires, the various sects of faqirs and mystics spend much time in endevouring to ascertain what the name really is (Dawah), and the person who is able to assert that he has obtained this secret knowledge possesses great influence over the minds of superstitious people. Page 142 Ismul Azam Page 220 Superstitious reverence for unclear exalted name leading to superstitious practices Page 226
Encyclopedic Para no.2	According to Thomas Hughes , The Prophet Muhammad having said that whoever calls upon God by this exalted name Ismul Azam, shall obtain all his desires, the various sects of faqirs and mystics spend much time in endevouring to ascertain what the name really is (Dawah), and the person who is able to assert that he has obtained this secret knowledge possesses great influence over the minds of superstitious people. And so Superstitious reverence for unclear exalted name leading to superstitious practices
158,159, 191, 258, 382, 497, 511, 512	Mr. Stanley Lane Poole (Introduction to Lane's Selections, p. lxxxiv.) remarks:- "This same pilgrimage is often urged as a sign of Mohammad's tendency to superstition and even idolatry. It is asked how the destroyer of idols could have reconciled his conscience to the circuits of the Ka'bah and the veneration of the black stone covered with adoring kisses. The rites of the pilgrimage cannot certainly be defended against the chard of superstition; but it is east to see why Mohammad enjoined them. They were hallowed to him by the memories of his ancestors, who had been guardians of the sacred temple, and by the traditional reverence of all his people; and besides this tie of association, which in itself was enough to make it impossible for him to do away with the rites, Mohammad perceived that the worship in the Ka'bah would prove of real value to his religion. He swept away the more idolatrous and immoral part of the ceremonies, but he retained the pilgrimage to Mekka and the old veneration of the temple for reasons of which it is impossible to dispute the wisdom. He well knew the consolidating effect of forming a centre to which his followers should gather; and hence he reasserted the sanctity of the black stone that 'came down from heaven'; he ordained that everywhere throughout the world the Muslim should pray looking towards the K'bah, and he enjoined him to make the pilgrimage thither. Mekka is to the Muslim what Jerusalem is to the Jew. It bears with it all the influence of centuries of associations. It carries the Muslim back to the cradle of his faith, the childhood of his prophet; it reminds him of the struggle between the old faith and the new, of the overthrow of the idols, and the establishment of the worship of the One God. And, most of all, it bids him remember that all his brother Muslims are worshipping towards the same sacred spot, that he is one of a great company of believers, united by one faith, filled with the same hopes, reverencing the same thing, worshipping the same God. Mohammad showed his knowledge of the religious emotions in man when he preserved the sanctity of the temple of Islam." The Makkan pilgrimage admits of no other explanation than this, that the Prophet of Arabia found it expedient to compromise with Arabian idolatry. And hence we find the superstition and silly customs of the Hajj grafted on to a religion which professes to be both monotheistic in its principle, and iconoclastic in its practices.-Page 158,159 ...The Wahhabis, the Puritans of Islam, regard the circumambulation of the Prophet's tomb as superstition (as shirk, or associating something with God, in fact), but how can they justify the foolish ceremonies of the hajj? If reverence for the Prophet's tomb is shirk, what are runnings at as-Safa and al-Marwah, the stoning of the pillars, and the kissing of the black stone? No Muslim has ever yet attempted to give a spiritual explanation of the ceremonies of the Makkan pilgrimage, for in attempting to do so he would be charged with the heresy of shirk!....-Page 158,159 black stone as object of superstition and Hajj rituals of running and throwing stones - Page 191 These narratives of at-Tabari and the secretary of al-Waqidi are fully borne out in the facts of Muhammad's subsequent compromise with the idolatrous feelings of the people; for whilst he removed the images from the Ka'bah, he at the same time retained the black stone as an object of superstitious reverence, and although he destroyed Isaf and Na'ilah, the deities of as-Sara and al-Marwab, he still retained the "running to and fro," and the "stoning of the pillars," as part of the sacred rites of what was intended to be a purely theistic and iconoclastic system. The most singular feature in the fetishism of Arabia was the adoration paid to unshapen stones, and Muhammad found it impossible to construct his religion without some compromise with the popular form of idolatry. It is a curious circumstance that so much of the zeal and bigotry of the Wahhabi puritans is directed against the shirk, or idolatry, of the popular veneration for tombs and other objects of adoration, and yet they see no objection to the adoration of the black stone, and those other strange and peculiar customs which form part of the rites of the Makkan pilgrimage.-Page 191 alternative selection of Kabah as object of superstition -Page 258 Q reproof of Makkans for their superstition -Page 497 removal of traces of old superstitions from holy place -Page 382 denunciation of pagan arab idolatry and superstition Page 511, 512
Encyclopedic Para No.3	According to Thomas Hughes, while Islam in an attempt to remove traces of old superstition from their holy places denounces pre-Islamic idolatry and superstitions, still practically couldn't remove all of them even in their holiest pilgrimage place and reverence around black stone at Kabah, and Hajj rituals of running and throwing stones etc. virtually became alternate way of continuation of pre-Islamic superstitious practices. Mr. Stanley Lane Poole attempts to reason how the prophet, the destroyer of idols could have reconciled his conscience to the circuits of the Ka'bah and the veneration of the black stone covered with adoring kisses. The rites of the pilgrimage cannot certainly be defended against the charge of superstition at the Hajj grafted on to a religion which professes to be both monotheistic in its principle, and iconoclastic in its practices. Hughes further says that the Wahhabis, the Puritans of Islam, regard the circumambulation of the Prophet's tomb as superstition (as shirk, or associating something with God, in fact), but how could they justify the ceremonies of the hajj? If reverence for the Prophet's tomb is shirk, what are runnings at as-Safa and al-Marwah, the stoning of the pillars, and the kissing of the black stone? No Muslim has ever yet attempted to give a spiritual explanation of the ceremonies of the Makkan pilgrimage, for in attempting to do so he would be charged with the heresy of shirk!..
221	performing Salat al-Istikharah for superstitious purposes "Some persons have recourse to the Qur'an for an answer to their doubts. This they call making an "istikharah", or application for the favor of Heaven, or for direction in the right course. Repeating three times the opening chapter, the 112th chapter, and the fifty-eighth verse of the sixth chapter, they let the book fall open, or open it at random, and, from the seventh line of the right-hand page, draw their answer. "The words often will not convey a direct answer, but are taken as affirmative or negative according as their general tenour is good or bad, promising a blessing, or denouncing a threat, &c. Instead of reading
Encyclopedic Para no 4	According to Thomas Hughes Some persons perform custom of Salat al-Istikharah for superstitious purposes they take recourse to the Qur'an for an answer to their doubts. This they call making an "istikharah", or application for the favor of Heaven, or for direction in the right course. Repeating three times the opening chapter, the 112th chapter, and the fifty-eighth verse of the sixth chapter, they let the book fall open, or open it at random, and, from the seventh line of the right-hand page, draw their answer. "The words often will not convey a direct answer, but are taken as affirmative or negative according as their general tenour is good or bad, promising a blessing, or denouncing a threat, &c. Instead of reading "
297	Superstition of polluted touch of dead and to keep body and soul together in entire study of anatomy and postmortem suffered The superstitious feeling of the Muslim as to the polluted touch of the dead, debarred the orthodox from attempting the study of anatomy. The doctrine that even at death the soul does not depart from the body, and the popular belief that both soul and body must appear entire to undergo the examination by Munkar and Nakir in the grave, were sufficient reasons why the dissection of the dead body should not be attempted.
Encyclopedic para no.5	According to Thomas Hughes the superstitious feeling of the Muslim as to the polluted touch of the dead, debarred the orthodox from attempting the study of anatomy. The doctrine that even at death the soul does not depart from the body, and the popular belief that both soul and body must appear entire to undergo the examination by Munkar and Nakir in the grave, were sufficient reasons why the dissection of the dead body should not be attempted.
303	Although magic is condemned in Q and the traditions, there are still many superstitious practices resembling occult sciences which are clearly permitted according to the sayings of M. MAGIC.. Arabic sihr A belief in the magical art is entertained by almost all Muhammadans, and there is a large number of persons who study it. Although magic (as-sihr) is condemned in the Qur'an (Surah ii. 96) and in the Traditions (Mishkat, book xxi. ch. iii ch. in. pt. 1), there are still many superstitious practices resembling this occult science, which are clearly permitted according to the sayings of Muhammad. Anas says, "The Prophet permitted a spell, (ruqyah) being used to counteract the ill effects of the evil eye; and on those bitten by snakes or scorpions." (Sahihu Muslim p. 238.) Umm Salmah relates "that the Prophet allowed a spell to be used for the removal of yellowness in the eye, which, be said, proceeded from the malignant eye." (Sahihu 'l-Bukhari, p. 854.) 'Auf ibn Malik says "the Prophet said there is nothing wrong in using spells, provided the use of them does not associate anything with God." (Mishkat, book xxi. ch. i.) The terms used to express the magical arts are da'wah, lit. "an invitation of the spirits," exorcism; 'azimah, an incantation; kihanah, divination, or fortune-telling: ruqyah, a spell; and sihr, magic. The term da'wah is held to imply a lawful incantation, in which only the assistance of God is invited by the use of either the Ismir 'l-A'zam, or great and unknown name of God.
Encyclopedic para no. 6	According to Thomas Hughes Although magic is condemned in Quran and the traditions, there are still many superstitious practices resembling occult sciences which are clearly permitted according to the sayings of Muhammad hence beliefs in the magical art are entertained by almost all Muhammadans, and there is a large number of persons who study it. Anas says, "The Prophet permitted a spell, (ruqyah) being used to counteract the ill effects of the evil eye; and on those bitten by snakes or scorpions." (Sahihu Muslim p. 238.) Umm Salmah relates "that the Prophet allowed a spell to be used for the removal of yellowness in the eye, which, be said, proceeded from the malignant eye." (Sahihu 'l-Bukhari, p. 854.) 'Auf ibn Malik says "the Prophet said there is nothing wrong in using spells, provided the use of them does not associate anything with God." (Mishkat, book xxi. ch. i.) The terms used to express the magical arts are da'wah, lit. "an invitation of the spirits," exorcism; 'azimah, an incantation; kihanah, divination, or fortune-telling: ruqyah, a spell; and sihr, magic. The term da'wah is held to imply a lawful incantation, in which only the assistance of God is invited by the use of either the Ismir 'l-A'zam, or great and unknown name of God.
470, 471	"People must not lift up their eyes whilst saving their prayers, or they will become blind." Particulars about spitting directions to be avoided and prayer ritual superstitions-"When you stand up to prayer, spit not in front, because you are then in God's presence; neither spit on your right side, because an angel is there. Spit, therefore either on your left side or under your feet, and then throw earth over it." "When any one of you says his prayers, he must have something in front of him, but if he cannot find anything for that purpose, he must put his walking-stick into the ground; but if the ground be hard, then let him place it lengthways in front of him; but if he has no staff, he must draw a line on the ground, after which there will be no detriment in the prayers from anyone passing in front of it." [SUTRAH.] The form of prayer, or rak'ahs,. Are given above, admit of no variations whether they, are used in private or public, and consequently, notwithstanding the beauty of its devotional language, it is simply a superstitions act, having very little in common with the Christian idea of prayer.
Encyclopedic Para No. 7	According to Thomas Hughes irrespective of beauty of its devotional language, private or public performance, various facets of form of prayer, or rak'ahs, tantamount to superstitious practices for example custom of "When any one says his prayers, he must have something in front of him", "People must not lift up their eyes while saving their prayers, or they will become blind.", "When one stands up to pray, spit not ... spit on your right side, because an angel is there.
643, 644	"...."Such is the result which the lapse of time would naturally have upon the minds and the narratives of the As-hab or 'COMPANIONS' of Mahomet, more especially of those who were young when be died. And then another race sprang up who had never seen the Prophet, who looked up to his contemporaries with a superstitious reverence, and who listened to their stories of his as to the tidings of a messenger from the other world...." "..."As the tale of the Companions was thus taken up by their followers, distance began to invest it with an increasing charm, while the products of living faith and warm imagination were being debased by superstitious credulity.' This, second generation are termed in the language of the patriotic lore of Arabia, Tabiun, or SUCCESSORS'. Here and there a Companion survived till near the end of the first century; but, for all practical purposes, they had. passed off the, stage before the commencement of its last quarter. Their first Successors who were in some measure also their contemporaries, flourished in the latter half of the same century, though some of the oldest may have survived for a time in the second...." Superstitions credulity (?)
Encyclopedic Para 8	Superstitions credulity ...."Such is the result which the lapse of time would naturally have upon the minds and the narratives of the As-hab or 'COMPANIONS' of Mahomet, more especially of those who were young when be died. And then next generations sprang up who had never seen the Prophet, who looked up to his contemporaries with a superstitious reverence, and who listened to their stories of his as to the tidings of a messenger from the other world....As the tale of the Companions was thus taken up by their followers, distance began to invest it with an increasing charm, while the products of living faith and warm imagination were being debased by superstitious credulity.' This, second generation are termed in the language of the patriotic lore of Arabia, Tabiun, or SUCCESSORS'. Here and there a Companion survived till near the end of the first century; but, for all practical purposes, they had. passed off the, stage before the commencement of its last quarter. Their first Successors who were in some measure also their contemporaries, flourished in the latter half of the same century, .... New and unforeseen circumstances were continually arising, for which the Coran contained, no provision. It no longer sufficed for its original object. How then were its deficiencies to be supplied?" The difficulty was resolved by adopting the CUSTOM or SUNNAT of Mahomet, that is, his sayings and his practice, as. a supplement to the Coran. The recitals regarding the life of the Prophet now acquired an unlooked for value. He had never held himself to be infallible, except when directly inspired of God; but this new doctrine assumed that a heavenly and unerring guidance' pervaded every word and action of his prophetic life. Tradition was thus invested with the force of law, and with some of the authority of inspiration. It was in great measure owing to the rise of this theory, that, during the first century of Islam, the cumbrous recitals of tradition so far outstripped the dimensions of reality. The prerogative now claimed for Tradition stimulated the growth of fabricated evidence, and led to the preservation of every kind of story, spurious or real, touching the Prophet.
578, 579, 580	Shia superstitions "It will be readily understood that, with such an organization and with such tendencies to deductive reasoning, a wide basis is given for divergence of opinion among the Shiites, and that while the more highly educated of their mullahs occasionally preach absolute pantheism, others consult the grosser inclinations .... and indulge their hearers with the most extravagant tales of miracle and superstition. Those are a constant source of mockery to the Sunites..." "..Shirku 'l-'adah is the keeping up of superstitious customs, such as the Istikharah, seeking guidanee from beads, &c., trusting to omens, good or bad, believing in lucky and unlucky days, adopting such names as 'Abdu 'n-Nabi (slave of the Prophet), and so on. In fact, the denouncing of such practices and calling them Shirk brings Wahhabism into daily contact with the other sects, for scarcely any people in the world are such profound believers in the virtue of charms and the power of astrologers as Muslmans. The difference between the first and fourth Shirk, the Shirk 'l-'ilm and the Shirku'l-adah, seems to be that the first is the belief say in the knowledge of a sooth-sayer, and the second the habit of consulting him. To swear by the name of the Prophet, of 'Ali, of the Imams, or of Pirs (Leaders) is to give them the honour due to God alone. It is Ishrak fi l-adab, "Shirk in association." [WAHHABI.]"
Encyclopedic Para 9	Shia superstitions According to Thomas Hughes organization of Shia belief system and it's tendencies to deductive reasoning, creates a wide scope for divergence of opinions among the Shiites, and that while the more highly educated of their mullahs occasionally preach absolute pantheism, others consult the alternate inclinations and indulge their audience and followers with the most extravagant tales of miracle and superstition. These Shia superstitions are a constant source of mockery by more conservative Sunni sect, Which considers Shia superstitions as Shirku 'l-'adah, that is, the keeping up of superstitious customs, such as the Istikharah, seeking guidanee from beads, &c., trusting to omens, good or bad, believing in lucky and unlucky days, adopting such names as 'Abdu 'n-Nabi (slave of the Prophet), and so on. In fact, the denouncing of such practices and calling them Shirk brings Wahhabism into daily contact with the other sects, for scarcely any people in the world are such profound believers in the virtue of charms and the power of astrologers as Muslmans. The difference between the first and fourth Shirk, the Shirk 'l-'ilm and the Shirku'l-adah, seems to be that the first is the belief say in the knowledge of a sooth-sayer, and the second the habit of consulting him. To swear by the name of the Prophet, of 'Ali, of the Imams, or of Pirs (Leaders) is to give them the honour due to God alone. It is Ishrak fi l-adab, "Shirk in association as per more conservative Wahabi thought.
704	* Zikra- Chishtiyah order "...As a curious instance of the superstitious character of this devotional exercise, the Chishtiyah order believe that if a man sits cross-legged and seizes the vein called kuimas, which is under the leg, with his toes, that it will give peace to his heart, when accompanied by a zikr of the "nafi wa isbat," which is a term used for the Kalimah, namely:- La ilaha illa 'llahu, "There is no deity but God...."
Encyclopedic para 10	"...For example of the superstitious character of Sufi devotional exercise, the Chishtiyah order believes that if a man sits cross-legged and seizes the vein called kuimas, which is under the leg, with his toes, that it will give peace to his heart, when accompanied by a zikr of the "nafi wa isbat," which is a term used for the Kalimah, namely:- La ilaha illa 'llahu, "There is no deity but God...."

A Critique by Thomas Hughes

Critique by Thomas Hughes

"As the tale of the Companions was thus taken up by their followers, distance began to invest it with an increasing charm, while the products of living faith and warm imagination were being debased by superstitious credulity.' This, second generation are termed in the language of the patriotic lore of Arabia, Tabiun, or SUCCESSORS'. Here and there a Companion survived till near the end of the first century; but, for all practical purposes, they had. passed off the, stage before the commencement of its last quarter. Their first Successors who were in some measure also their contemporaries, flourished in the latter half of the same century, though some of the oldest may have survived for a time in the second.

"Meanwhile a new cause was at work, which gave to the tales of Mahomet's companions a fresh and an adventitious importance.

"The Arabs, a simple and unsophisticated race, found in the Coran ample provisions for the regulation of all their affairs, religions, social, and political. But the. aspect of Islam soon underwent a mighty change. Scarcely was the Prophet dead when his followers issued forth from their barren peninsula, armed with the warrant of the Coran to impose the faith of Mahomet upon all the nations of the earth. Within a century they had, as a first step to this universal subjugation, conquered every land that intervened between the banks of the Oxus and the furthest shores of Northern Africa and. of Spain; and had enrolled the great majority of their peoples under the standard of the Coran. This vast empire differed widely indeed from the Arabia of Mahomet's time; and that which well sufficed for the patriarchal simplicity and limited social system of the early Arabs, became utterly inadequate for the hourly multiplying wants of their descendants. Crowded cities, like Fostat, Kufa, and Damascus, required an elaborate compilation of laws for the guidance of their courts of justice; new political relations demanded a system of international equity: the speculations of a people before whom literature was preparing to throw open her arena, and the controversies of eager factions upon nice points of Mahometan faith, were impatient of the narrow limits which confined them all called loudly for the enlargement of the scanty and naked dogmas of the Coran, and for the development of its defective code of ethics.

"'And yet it was the cardinal principle of early Islam, that the standard of Law, of Theology, and of Politics was the Coran and the Coran alone.' By it Mahomet himself ruled; to it in his teaching he always referred; from it he professed to derive big opinions, and upon it to ground his decisions. If he, the Messenger of the Lord, and the Founder of the faith, was thus bound by the Coran, much more were the Caliphs, his un-inspired substitutes. New and unforeseen circumstances were continually arising, for which the Coran contained, no provision. It no longer sufficed for its original object. How then were its deficiencies to be supplied?

"The difficulty was resolved by adopting the CUSTOM or SUNNAT of Mahomet, that is, his sayings and his practice, as. a supplement to the Coran. The recitals regarding the life of the Prophet now acquired an unlooked for value. He had never held himself to be infallible, except when directly inspired of God; but this new doctrine assumed that a heavenly and unerring guidance' pervaded every word and action of his prophetic life. Tradition was thus invested with the force of law, and with some of the authority of inspiration. It was in great measure owing to the rise of this theory, that, during the first century of Islam, the cumbrous recitals of tradition so far outstripped the dimensions of reality. The prerogative now claimed for Tradition stimulated the growth of fabricated evidence, and led to the preservation of every kind of story, spurious or real, touching the Prophet. Before the close of the century it had imparted an almost incredible impulse to the search for traditions, and had in fact, given birth to the new profession of Collectors. Men devoted their lives to the business. They travelled from city to city, and from tribe to tribe, over the whole Mahometan world; sought out by personal inquiry every vestige of Mahomet's biography yet lingering among the Companions, the Successors, and their descendants; and committed to writing the, tales and reminiscences with which they used to edify their wondering and admiring auditors.

"The work, however, too closely affected the public interests, and the political aspect of the empire, to be left entirely to private and individual zeal. About a hundred years after Mahomet, the Caliph Omar II, issued circular orders for the formal collection of all extant traditions. [He committed to Abu

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Bacr ibn Muhammad the task of compiling all the traditions he could meet with. This traditionist died A.H. 120, aged 84. Sprenger's Mohammed, p. 67.] The task thus begun continued to be rigorously prosecuted, but we possess no authentic remains of any compilation earlier date than the middle or end of the second century. Then, indeed, ample materials had been amassed, and they have been handed down to us both in the Shape of Biographies and of genera1 Collections, which bear upon every imaginable point of Mahomet's character, and detail the minutest incidents of his life.

"It thus appears that the traditions we now possess remained generally in an unrecorded form for at least the greater part of a century. It is not indeed denied that some of Mahomet's sayings may possibly have been noted down in writing during his life-time, and from that source copied and propagated afterwards We say possibly, for the evidence in favour of any such record is meagre, suspicious, and contradictory. The few and uncertain statements of this nature may have owed their origin to the authority which a habit of the kind would impart to the name of a Companion, supposed to have practiced it…. It is hardly possible that, if the custom had prevailed of writing down Mahomet's sayings during his life, we should not have had frequent intimation of the fact with notices of the writers, and special references to the nature contents, and peculiar authority of their records. But no such references or quotations are anywhere to be found. It cannot be, objected that the Arabs trusted so implicitly to their memory that they regarded oral to be as authoritative as recorded narratives, and therefore would take no note of the latter; for we see that Omar was afraid lest even the Coran, believed by him to be divine and itself the subject of heavenly care, should become defective if left to the memory of man. Just as little weight, on the other hand, should be allowed to the tradition that Mahomet prohibited his followers from noting down his words, though it is not easy to see how that tradition could have gained currency at all, had it been the regular and constant practice of any persons to record his sayings The truth appears to be that there was in reality no such practice; and that the story of the prohibition, though spurious, embodies the after-thought of serious Mahometans as to what Mahomet would have said, had he foreseen the loose and fabricated stories that sprang up, and the real danger his people would fall into of allowing Tradition to supersede the Coran. The evils of Tradition wore, in truth, as little thought of its value was perceived, till many years after Mahomet's death.

"But even were we to admit all that has been advanced, it would prove no more than the some of the Companions used to keep memoranda of the Prophet's sayings. Now unless it be possible to connect such memoranda with extant Tradition, the concession would be useless. But it is not, as far as I know demonstrable of any single tradition or class of traditions now in existence, that they were copied from such memoranda, or have been derived in any way from them. To prove, therefore, that some traditions were at first recorded will not help us to a knowledge of whether any of those still exist, or to a discrimination of them from others resting on a purely oral basis. The very most that could be urged from the premises is, that our present collections may contain some traditions founded upon a recorded original, and handed down in writing; but we are unable to single out any individual tradition and make such affirmation regarding it. The entire mass of extant tradition rests in this respect on the same uncertain ground, and the uncertainty of any one portion (apart from internal evidence of probability) attaches equally to the whole. We cannot with confidence, or even with the least show of likelihood, affirm of any tradition that it was recorded till nearly the end of the first century of the Hegira.

"We see, then, now entirely tradition, as now possessed by us, rests its authority on the memory of, those who handed it down; and how dependent therefore it must have been upon their convictions and their prejudices. For, in addition to the common frailty of human recollection which renders traditional evidence notoriously infirm, and to the errors or exaggerations which always distort a narrative transmitted orally through many witnesses, there exist throughout Mahometan Tradition abundant indications of actual fabrication; and there may everywhere be traced t he indirect but not less powerful and dangerous influence of a silently working bias, which insensibly save its colour and its shape to all the stories of their Prophet treasured up in the memories of the believers.

* * * * * * *

"That the Collectors' of Tradition rendered an important service to Islam, and even 'to history, cannot be doubted. The vast flood of tradition, poured forth from every quarter of the Moslem empire, and daily gathering volume from innumerable tributaries, was composed of the most heterogeneous elements; without the labours of the traditioniats it must soon have formed a chaotic sea, in which truth and error, fact and fable, would have mingled together in undistinguishable confusion. It is a legitimate inference from the foregoing sketch, that, Tradition, in the second century, embraced a large element of truth. That even respectably derived traditions often contained much that was exaggerated and fabulous, is an equally fair conclusion. It is proved by the testimony of the Collectors themselves, that thousands and tens of thousands were current in their times, which possessed not even a shadow of authority. The mass may be likened to the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, formed by the unnatural union of gold, silver, of the based metals, and of clay; and here the more valuable parts were

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fast commingling hopelessly with the bad," (Muir's Life of Mahomet, vol. i., Intro. p. xxviii.)