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ARABIC. Lisānu-ʾl-ʿArab; Lug͟hatu ʾl-ʿArab. The classical language of Arabia is held to be the language of the Qurʾān, and of the Traditions of Muḥammad, and by reason of its incomparable excellence is called اللغة‎ al-lug͟hah, or “the language.” (See Qurʾān, Sūrah xvi. 105, “They say, Surely a person teacheth him [i.e. Muḥammad]. But the tongue of him at whom they hint is foreign, while this [i.e. the Qurʾān] is plain Arabic.”)

This classical language is often termed, by the Arabians themselves, the language of Maʿadd, and the language of Muẓar, and is a compound of many sister dialects, very often differing among themselves, which were spoken throughout the whole of the Peninsula before the religion of Muḥammad incited the nation to spread its conquering armies over foreign countries. Before that period, feuds among the tribes, throughout the whole extent of their territory, had prevented the blending of their dialects into one uniform language; but this effect of disunion was counteracted in a great measure by the institution of the sacred months, in which all acts of hostility were most strictly interdicted, and by the annual pilgrimage, and the yearly fair held at ʿUkāz̤, at which the poets of the various tribes contended for the meed of general admiration.

Qatādah says that the Quraish tribe used to cull what was most excellent in the dialects of Arabia, so that their dialect became the best of all. This assertion, however, is not altogether correct, for many of the children of the tribe of Quraish, in the time of Muḥammad, were sent into the desert to be there nursed, in order to acquire the utmost chasteness of speech. Muḥammad himself was sent to be brought up among the tribe of Saʿd ibn Bakr ibn Hawāzin, descendants of Muẓar, but not in the line of Quraish; and he is said to have urged the facts of his being a Quraish, and having also grown up among the tribe of Saʿd, as the grounds of his claim to be the most chaste in speech of the Arabs. Certain it is that the language of Maʿadd was characterised by the highest degree of perfection, copiousness, and uniformity, in the time of Muḥammad, although it afterwards declined.

The language of the Qurʾān is universally acknowledged to be the most perfect form of Arabic speech. At the same time we must not forget that the acknowledged claims of the Qurʾān to be the direct utterance of the Divinity have made it impossible for any Muslim to criticise the work, and it has become the standard by which other literary compositions have to be judged. (See Lane’s Introduction to his Arabic Dictionary, and Palmer’s Qurʾān.)

ARABIC LEXICONS. The first Arabic lexicon is that which is generally ascribed to al-K͟halīl, and entitled Kitābu ʾl ʿAin. The following are the most celebrated Arabic dictionaries composed after the ʿAin.

The Jamharah, by Ibn Duraid, died A.H. 321.

The Tahẕīb, by al-Azhari, died A.H. 370.

The Muḥīt̤, by the Ṣāḥib Ibn ʿAbbād, died A.H. 385.

The Mujmal, by Ibn Fāris, died A.H. 395.

The Ṣiḥāḥ, by al-Jauharī, died A.H. 398.

The Jāmiʿ, by al-Qazzāz, died A.H. 412.

The Mūʿab, by Abū G͟hālib, died A.H. 436.

The Muḥkam, by Ibn Sīdah, died A.H. 458.

The Asās, by az-Zamak͟hsharī, died A.H. 538.

The Mughrib, by al-Mut̤arrizī, died A.H. 610.

The ʿUbāb, by aṣ-Ṣāghānī, died A.H. 660.

The Lisānu ʾl-ʿArab, by Ibn Mukarram, died A.H. 711.

The Tahẕību ʾt-Tahẕīb, by Maḥmūd at-Tanūk͟hi, died A.H. 723.

The Miṣbāḥ, by Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Faiyūmī, compiled A.H. 734.

The Mughni ʾl-Labīb, by Ibn Hishām, died A.H. 761.

The Qāmūs, by al-Fairūzābādī, died A.H. 816.

The Ṣiḥāḥ (says Mr. Lane in his Preface to his Dictionary), is among the books of lexicology like the Ṣaḥīḥ of Al-Buk͟hārī amongst the books of traditions; for the point on which turns the title to reliance is not the copiousness of the collection, but the condition of genuineness and correctness.

Two well-known dictionaries, compiled in modern times in Hindustān, are the G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hat, by Maulawī G͟hiyās̤u ʾd-dīn of Rāmpūr, and the Muntaha ʾl-ʿArab, by ʿAbdu ʾr-Raḥīm ibn ʿAbdu ʾl-Karīm of Ṣafīpūr. These are both Arabic and Persian lexicons.

The Arabic-Latin dictionary of Jacob Golius, was printed at Leyden, A.D. 1653; that of Freytag at Halle, A.D. 1830–35.

The Arabic-English and English-Arabic dictionaries extant are—

Richardson’s Persian-Arabic-English, A.D. 1777.

Richardson’s English-Persian-Arabic, A.D. 1810.

Francis Johnson’s Persian-Arabic-English, A.D. 1852.

Catafago’s Arabic-English and English-Arabic, new edition, 1873.

Lane’s Arabic-English, A.D. 1863 to 1882, imperfect.

Dr. Badger’s English-Arabic, A.D. 1881.

Dr. Steingass’s English-Arabic, A.D. 1882.

AL-AʿRĀF (الاعراف‎). (1) The partition between heaven and hell, described in the Qurʾān, Sūrah vii. 44, “Betwixt the two (heaven and hell) there is a partition; and on al-Aʿrāf are men who know all by their marks; and they shall cry out to the inhabitants of Paradise, ‘Peace be upon you!’ (but) they have not (yet) entered it, although they so desire. And when their sight is turned towards the dwellers in the Fire, they say, ‘O our Lord, place us not with the unjust people.’” According to Sale, al-Aʿrāf is derived from the verb ʿarafa, which signifies “to distinguish between things, or to part them”; though some commentators give another reason for the imposition of this name, because, say they, those who stand on this partition will know and distinguish the blessed from the damned by their respective marks or characteristics: and others say the word properly intends anything that is elevated, as such a wall of separation must be supposed to be. Some imagine it to be a sort of limbo for the patriarchs and prophets, or for the martyrs and those who have been most eminent for sanctity. Others place here those whose good and evil works are so equal that they exactly counterpoise each other, and therefore deserve neither reward nor punishment; and these, say they, will on the last day be admitted into Paradise, after they shall have performed an act of adoration, which will be imputed to them as a merit, and will make the scale of their good works to preponderate. Others suppose this intermediate space will be a receptacle for those who have gone to war, without their parents’ leave, and therein suffered martyrdom; being excluded from Paradise for their disobedience, and escaping hell because they are martyrs. (2) The title of Sūrah vii. (3) A term used by Ṣūfī mystics to express a condition of the mind and soul when meditating on the existence of God in all things.

ʿARAFAH (عرفة‎). The vigil of the ʿĪdu ʾl-Aẓḥā, or Feast of Sacrifice, when the pilgrims proceed to Mount ʿArafāt. [ʿIDU ʾL-AZHA.]

ʿARAFĀT (عرفات‎), or ʿArafah. The “Mount of Recognition,” situated twelve miles from Makkah; the place where the pilgrims stay on the ninth day of the pilgrimage, and recite the mid-day and afternoon prayers, and hear the K͟hut̤bah or sermon. Hence it is a name given to the ninth day of the month Ẕū ʾl-Ḥijjah. Upon the origin of the name given to this mountain, Burton says, “The Holy Hill owes its name to the following legend:—When our first parents forfeited heaven for eating wheat, which deprived them of their primeval purity, they were cast down upon earth. The serpent descended upon Ispahān, the peacock at Cābul; Satan at Bilbays (others say Semnān or Seistān), Eve upon ʿArafāt, and Adam at Ceylon (Sarandīb). The latter, determining to seek his wife, began a journey, to which the earth owes its present mottled appearance. Wherever our first father placed his foot, which was large, a town afterwards arose; and between the strides will always be country. Wandering for many years, he came to the Mountain of Mercy, where our common mother was continually calling upon his name, and their recognition of each other gave the place the name of ʿArafah.”

ARĀẒĪ (اراضى‎). Lit. “lands”; the sale of lands. Tombs are not included in the sale of lands. A place or station for casting the harvest is not considered to be amongst the rights and advantages of land, and therefore does not enter into the sale of it. (Baillie’s Law of Sale, pages 54, 55.) [LAND.]

ARCHITECTURE. The term Saracenic is usually applied by English writers to Muḥammadan architecture. But though the style may be traced to the Arabians, they cannot themselves be considered the inventors of it. They had, in fact, no distinctive style of their own when they made their rapid conquests, but adapted existing styles of architecture to meet the religious and national feelings of the Muslims.

Muḥammad built a mosque at al-Madīnah, but it was an exceedingly simple structure, and he left no directions in the Qurʾān or in the Traditions on the subject.

The typical varieties of the earlier Muḥammadan architecture are those which appeared in Spain and in Egypt; its later form appeared in Constantinople. The oldest specimen of Saracenic architecture in Spain is the mosque of Cordova, which now serves as the cathedral of the city. It was commenced by the K͟halīfah ʿAbdu ʾr-Raḥmān, 786 A.D., with the avowed intention that it should be the finest mosque in the world, and Byzantine architects are said to have been specially invited to superintend its construction.

IN THE SANCTUARY OF THE CATHEDRAL OF CORDOVA.

The earliest of the Muḥammadan buildings in Egypt, of which any portions still remain, is the Mosque of ʿAmr at old Cairo, begun about A.D. 642, but greatly altered or rebuilt about sixty years later.

On the capture of Constantinople, St. Sophia was converted by the Muslim conquerors into their chief Mosque, and made their architectural model. The older Saracenic style, as seen at Cordova and old Cairo, continued to be the basis of the new, but it was modified throughout by Byzantine influence. In Persia we may clearly trace in Muḥammadan buildings the older Persian type, and in India the Saracenic architects showed the same pliancy in adopting the styles of the various peoples amongst whom they settled. It thus happens (says Fergusson, in his History of Indian Architecture), that we have at least twelve or fifteen different styles of Muḥammadan architecture in Central Asia and in India.

IN S. SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE.

IN THE TAJ MAHALL, AGRA.

IN THE MOTI MASJID, AGRA.

EARLY PATHAN STYLE IN THE QUTB BUILDINGS AT DELHI.

A striking and distinctive feature in early Muḥammadan architecture is the horse-shoe arch, which in time gives way to a cusped or scalloped arch, strictly so termed, the outline being produced by intersecting semi-arches. Another variety of Saracenic arch is the circular-headed and stilted form. The pillars are commonly of exceedingly slender proportions, almost to apparent insecurity; but owing to the style of the embellishment, this lightness of particular forms tends to heighten the general luxuriance. Some have imagined that this element of slenderness in regard to pillars indicates a tent origin of the style. This tent-like character has been further kept up by concave ceilings and cupolas, emblazoned with painting and gilding. Decorations composed of animal and human figures, being interdicted by Muḥammadan law [PICTURES] are not found in Saracenic architecture; but their geometrical patterns exhibit singular beauty and complexity, inexhaustible variety of combinations, and a wonderful degree of harmonious intricacy, arising out of very simple elements. Lattice or open trellis work is another fertile source of embellishment, and is similar to the tracery met with in Gothic buildings. Another characteristic of Saracenic style is that of the dome. For the most part domes occur in mosques and tombs, and are of Byzantine origin. Minarets are also a special feature in Muḥammadan mosques, and contribute much to the picturesqueness of these buildings. They are found in mosques of the later Saracenic style. (See Fergusson’s Indian and Eastern Architecture, Mr. Owen Jones’s Alhambra Palace, Hersemer’s Arabische Bauverzierungen.)

IN A HOUSE IN PESHAWAR.

ʿARĪYAH (عرية‎). A kind of sale permitted in Islām, namely, when a person computes what quantity of fruit there is on a tree and sells it before it is plucked. (Mishkāt, xii. c. v.)

ʿĀRĪYAH (عارية‎) (1) A loan for the use of anything of which Qarẓ cannot be made: e.g. the loan of a horse is ʿĀrīyah; the loan of money is Qarẓ. (2) A gift, of which the following is an example:—A person makes a gift to another of the dates of a palm-tree in his garden; but having afterwards some doubt of the propriety of that person coming daily to his garden where his family usually are, and being at the same time unwilling to depart from his promise, or to retract his gift, he gives some of the dates that have already been pulled in lieu of those upon the tree. (Baillie’s Law of Sale, p. 300.)

ARK, NOAH’S (فلك نوح‎). It is mentioned in the history of the Deluge, as recorded in the Qurʾān, in two places—Sūrah xi. 39, “Build the ark under our eye and after our revelation,” and Sūrah xxiii. 27. There is also supposed to be an allusion to the ark in Sūrah xxxvi. 41, “And a sign to them is that we bare their offspring in the laden ship.”

Al-Baiẓāwī says that Noah was two years building the ark, which was 300 cubits long, 50 wide, and 30 broad, and which was made of Indian plane-tree; that it consisted of three storeys, the lowest for beasts, the middle for men and women (who were separated from each other), and the highest for birds.

The ark is said to have rested on the mountain al-Jūdī. [NOAH.]

ARK OF THE COVENANT. The Hebrew word for “Ark” is ‏תֵּבָה‎ (i.e. a chest, a coffer), Chald. ‏תֵּיבוּתָא‎, Arabic تابوت‎, تابوة‎. See Qurʾān, Sūrah ii. 249, “The sign of his (Saul’s) kingdom is that there shall come unto you the ark (Tābūt); in it shall be security (or the Shechinah, sakīnah, Heb. ‏שְׁכִינָה‎) from your Lord, and the relics of what the family of Moses and the family of Aaron left; the angels shall bear it.” Jalālu ʾd-dīn says this ark contained the images of the prophets, and was sent down from heaven to Adam, and at length came to the Israelites, who put great confidence therein, and continually carried it in front of their army, till it was taken by the Amalekites. But on this occasion the angels brought it back in the sight of all the people, and placed it at the feet of Saul (T̤ālūt), who was thereupon unanimously received as king.

ARMS, The Sale of. The sale of armour or warlike stores to rebels, or in their camp, is forbidden, because selling arms into the hands of rebels is an assistance to defection. But it is not forbidden to sell the materials for making arms to such persons. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. 225.)

ARSH (ارش‎). (1.) A legal term for compensation. (2.) A mulct; a fine; particularly that which is paid for shedding of blood. (3.) A gift for conciliating the favour of a judge; a bribe. (4.) Whatever a purchaser receives from a seller after discovering a fault in the article bought.

ʿARSH (عرش‎). The term used in the Qurʾān for the throne of God. Sūrah ix. 131, “He is the Lord of the mighty throne.” Husainī, the commentator, says the throne has 8,000 pillars, and the distance between each pillar is 3,000,000 miles.

ʿAṢABAH (عصبة‎). A legal term for male relatives by the father’s side, agnates.

ĀṢAF (اصف‎). The wazīr or prime minister of Solomon. Alluded to in the Qurʾān, Sūrah xxvii. 40, as “He with whom was knowledge of the scripture.” Muḥammadan commentators say he was the son of Bark͟hīya.

AS̤AR (اثر‎). Relating; handing down by tradition. Generally used for a Ḥadīs̤ related by one of the Companions, as distinguished from one of the Prophet’s own.

AL-AS̤ARU ʾSH-SHARĪF (الاثر الشريف‎). The sacred relic. A hair of either the beard or mustachios of Muḥammad, or a foot-print of the Prophet. One of these sacred relics (a hair of his beard) is exhibited in the great mosque at Delhi, another in a mosque in Cashmere.

AṢḤĀB (اصحاب‎), pl. of Ṣāḥib. The Companions or Associates of Muḥammad. The term used for a single companion is ṣaḥābī. Concerning the title of “Companion,” there is considerable controversy as to the persons to whom it can be applied. Saʿīd ibn al-Musaiyab reckoned none a “Companion,” but those who had been a year or more with Muḥammad, and had gone on a warlike expedition with him. Some say that everyone who had attained puberty, had embraced Islām, and had seen the Prophet, was a “Companion,” even though he had attended Muḥammad but an hour. Others, however, affirm that none could be a “Companion” unless Muḥammad chose him and he chose Muḥammad, and he adhered to the Prophet at all times. The general opinion is that every one who embraced Islām, saw the Prophet, and accompanied him, even for a short time, was a “Companion.”

It is related that the Prophet marched to Makkah with 10,000 Muslims, to Ḥunain with 12,000, and that 40,000 accompanied him on the farewell pilgrimage. The number of the “Companions” at his death is said to have been 144,000.

In point of merit, the refugees (Muhājirūn) are more worthy than the auxiliaries (Anṣār); but by way of precedence, the auxiliaries are more worthy than the later refugees.

The “Companions” have been arranged in thirteen classes, which are given by Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ as follows:—I. Those who first embraced Islām, such as K͟hadījah, ʿAlī, Zaid, and Abū Bakr, and those who did not delay till he had established his mission. II. The Companions who believed in him after his mission had been fully established, amongst whom was ʿUmar. III. Those who fled to Abyssinia. IV. The first Companions of ʿAqabah, who preceded the Auxiliaries. V. The second Companions of ʿAqabah. VI. The third Companions of ʿAqabah, who were seventy. VII. The refugees who went to the Prophet after his flight, when he was at Qubā, before the erection of the temple. VIII. The soldiers of the great battle of Badr. IX. Those who joined Islām between Badr and Hudaibiyah. X. Those who took the oath of fealty under the acacia tree at Hudaibiyah. XI. Those who joined after the treaty of Hudaibiyah, but before the conquest. XII. Those that embraced Islām on the day of conquest. XIII. Those who were children in the time of the Prophet, and had seen him.

Muḥammad frequently commended the “Companions,” and spoke of their excellences and virtues, a chapter in the Traditions being devoted to this subject. (Mishkāt, xxiv. c. xiii.) He is related to have said, “My companions are like stars by which roads are found, for which ever companion you follow you will find the right road.”

AL-AṢḤĀBU ʾL-FĪL (اصحاب الفيل‎). “The Companions of the Elephant.” A term used in the Chapter of the Elephant, or the CVth Sūrah:—“Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant? Did He not cause their stratagem to miscarry? And He sent against them birds in flocks, small stones did they hurl down upon them, and he made them like stubble eaten down!”

This refers to the army of Abrahah, the Christian king of Abyssinia and Arabia Felix, said to have been lost, in the year of Muḥammad’s birth, in an expedition against Makkah for the purpose of destroying the Kaʿbah. This army was cut off by small-pox, and there is no doubt, as the Arabic word for small-pox also means “small stones,” in reference to the hard gravelly feeling of the pustules, what is the true interpretation of the fourth verse of this Sūrah, which, like many other poetical passages in the Qurʾān, has formed the starting point for the most puerile and extravagant legends.

AṢḤĀBU ʾL-KAHF (اصحاب الكهف‎). “The Companions of the Cave,” i.e. the Seven Sleepers, mentioned in the Sūratu ʾl-kahf, or Chapter xviii. of the Qurʾān. The story, as told by early Christian writers, is given by Gibbon (Rise and Fall, Chapter xxxi.). When the Emperor Decius persecuted the Christians, seven noble youths of Ephesus are said to have concealed themselves in a cave in the side of a mountain, where they were doomed to perish by the tyrant, who gave orders that the entrance should be firmly secured with a pile of huge stones. They immediately fell into a deep slumber, which was miraculously prolonged, without injuring the powers of life, during a period of 187 years. This popular tale, which Muḥammad must have heard when he drove his camels to the fairs of Syria, is introduced into the Qurʾān as a divine revelation.

AṢḤĀBU ʾṢ-ṢUFFAH (اصحاب الصفة‎). “The sitters on the bench” of the temple at Makkah. They are thus described by Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ: “They were poor strangers, without friends or place of abode, who claimed the promises of the Apostle of God and implored his protection. Thus the porch of the temple became their mansion, and thence they obtained their name. When Muḥammad went to meals, he used to call some of them to partake with him; and he selected others to eat with his companions.”

ʾASHARAH MUBASHSHARAH (عشرة مبشرة‎). “The ten who received glad tidings.” Ten of the most distinguished of Muḥammad’s followers, whose certain entrance into Paradise he is said to have foretold. They are Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, Us̤mān, ʿAlī, T̤alḥah, az-Zubair, ʿAbdu ʾr-Raḥmān, Saʿd-ibn-Abū-Waqqāṣ, Saʿīd ibn Zaid, Abū ʿUbaidah ibn al-Jarrāḥ. (Mishkāt, book xxiv. c. xx., part ii.) Muḥammad declared it presumption for anyone to count upon an entrance into heaven with absolute certainty, but he made an exception in favour of these ten distinguished persons.

AL-ASHʿARĪYAH (الاشعرية‎). A sect formed by Abū ʾl-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl al-Ashʿarī, born A.H. 260 (A.D. 873–4).

They hold that the attributes of God are distinct from His essence, yet in such a way as to forbid any comparison being made between God and His creatures. They say they are not “ʿain nor g͟hair:” not of His essence, nor distinct from it: i.e. they cannot be compared with any other things. They also hold that God has one eternal will, from which proceed all things, the good and the evil, the useful and the hurtful. The destiny of man was written on the eternal table before the world was created. So far they go with the Ṣifātīs, but in order to preserve the moral responsibility of man, they say that he has power to convert will into action. But this power cannot create anything new, for then God’s sovereignty would be impaired; so they say that God in His providence so orders matters that whenever “a man desires to do a certain thing, good or bad, the action corresponding to the desire is, there and then, created by God, and, as it were, fitted on to the desire.” Thus it seems as if it came naturally from the will of the man, whereas it does not. This action is called Kasb (acquisition), because it is acquired by a special creative act of God. It is an act directed to the obtaining of profit or the removing of injury: the term is therefore inapplicable to the Deity. Abū Bakr al-Bakil­lānī, a disciple of al-Ashʿarī, says: “The essence or substance of the action is the effect of the power of God, but its being a action of obedience, such as prayer, or an action of disobedience, such as fornication, are qualities of the action, which proceed from the power of man.” The Imām Al-Ḥaramain (A.H. 419–478) held “that the actions of men were effected by the power which God has created in man.” Abū Isḥaq al-Isfarāyinī says: “That which maketh impression, or hath influence on action, is a compound of the power of God and the power of man.” They also believe that the word of God is eternal, though they acknowledge that the vocal sounds used in the Qurʾān, which are the manifestation of that word, are created. They say, in short, that the Qurʾān contains (1) the eternal word which existed in the essence of God before time was; and (2) the word which consists of sounds and combinations of letters. This last they call the created word.

Thus Al-Ashʿarī traversed the main positions of the Mutazilites, denying that man can, by the aid of his reason alone, rise to the knowledge of good and evil. He must exercise no judgment, but accept all that is revealed. He has no right to apply the moral laws which affect men to the actions of God. It cannot be asserted by the human reason that the good will be rewarded or the bad punished in a future world. Man must always approach God as a slave, in whom there is no light or knowledge to judge of the actions of the Supreme. Whether God will accept the penitent sinner or not cannot be asserted, for He is an absolute Sovereign, above all law. (Sale, from Ibn K͟haldun; Die Muʿtaziliten oder die Freidenker in Islām, von H. Steiner, 1865; Zur Geschichte Abu ʾl-Ḥasan al-ashʿarīsh, von W. Spitta, 1876; De Strijd over het Dogma in den Islām tot op El-ashʿarī, door Dr. M. Th. Houtsma, Leiden, 1875; and Exposé de la Réforme de l’Islamisme, by M.A.F. Mehren, Leiden, 1878.)

ʿĀSHŪRĀʾ (عاشوراء‎). Lit. “the tenth.” A voluntary fast day, observed on the tenth of the month of Muḥarram. It is related that Muḥammad observed it, and said it was a day respected by Jews and Christians. (Mishkāt, vii. c. vii. 1.)

It is the only day of Muḥarram observed by the Sunnī Muslims, being the day on which it is said God created Adam and Eve, heaven and hell, the tablet of decree, the pen, life, and death. It is kept by the Sunnīs as a fast. [MUHARRAM.]

ĀSIYAH (آسية‎). The wife of Pharaoh. One of the four perfect women (the Virgin Mary, K͟hadījah, and Fāt̤imah, being the other three). See Mishkātu ʾl-Masābīḥ, xxiv. c. 22. She is mentioned in the Qurʾān (Sūrah lxvi. 11): “And God striketh out a parable for those who believe: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, ‘My Lord, build for me a house with Thee in Paradise, and save me from Pharaoh and his works, and save me from the unjust people.’”

AṢL (اصل‎). Cause, first principle, foundation. Aṣl-wafarʿ, “cause and effect,” “fundamental and derivative principle.”

ASMĀʾU ʾLLĀH (آسماء الله‎). [GOD, NAMES OF.]

ʿASR (عصر‎). The afternoon prayer. [PRAYERS.] The title of the CIIIrd Sūrah of the Qurʾān.

ASS. According to the Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, the ass is an unclean animal, and its flesh and milk are unlawful; nor is zakāt to be given on an ass. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. i. 16, iv. 74, 86.)

ASSISTANTS. [ANSAR.]

ASTROLOGY. Arabic ʿIlmu ʾn-nujūm. Qatādah says, referring to the Qurʾān, that God has created stars for three uses: (1) as an ornament to the heavens (Sūrah lxvii. 5); (2) to stone the Devil with (Sūrah lxvii. 5); and (3) to direct travellers through the forests and on the sea (Sūrah xv. 16). Muḥammad condemns those who study the stars for any other purpose (Mishkāt, xxi. c. iii. pt. iii.), and consequently the science of Astrology is not considered lawful in Islām.

ASWAD (الاسود‎). An impostor who, in the time of Muḥammad, claimed the prophetic office. His name was ʿAbhalah ibn Kaʿb, and he belonged to the tribe of ʿAus, of which he was an influential chief. He was surnamed Ẕū ʾl-Ḥimār, or “The Master of the Ass,”1 because he used frequently to say, “The master of the ass is coming unto me,” and pretended to receive his revelations from two angels, named Suhaik and Shuraik. Being a good hand at legerdemain, and having a smooth tongue, he gained mightily on the multitude by the strange feats which he shewed them, and the eloquence of his discourse. By these means he greatly increased his power, and having made himself master of Najrān and the territory of T̤āʾif, on the death of Bādhān, the governor of Yaman for Muḥammad, he seized that province also, killing Shahr, the son of Bādhān, and taking to wife his widow Āzād, whose father he had also slain. The news being brought to Muḥammad, he sent to his friends and to the tribe of Hamdān, a party of whom conspiring with Qais ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth, who bore Aswad a grudge, and with Fīrūz and Aswad’s wife, broke by night into his house, where Fīrūz surprised him and cut off his head. While dying, it is said that he roared like a bull, at which his guards came to the chamber door, but were sent away by his wife, who told them that the prophet was only agitated by the divine inspiration. This was done the very night before Muḥammad died. The next morning the conspirators caused the following proclamation to be made, viz. “I bear witness that Muḥammad is the Apostle of God, and that ʿAbhalah is a liar”; and letters were immediately sent away to Muḥammad, with an account of what had been done; but a messenger from heaven outstripped them, and acquainted the prophet with the news, which he imparted to his Companions a little before his death, the letters themselves not arriving till Abū Bakr was chosen Khalif. It is said that Muḥammad on this occasion told those who attended him that before the Day of Judgment thirty more impostors, besides Musailimah and Aswad, should appear. The whole time from the beginning of Aswad’s rebellion to his death was four months.

ATHEIST. [DAHRI.]

ʿATĪRAH (عتيرة‎). The sacrifice offered by the idolatrous Arabs in the month of Rajab. It was allowed by the Prophet at the commencement of his mission, but was afterwards abolished. Mishkāt, book iv. c. 50, “Let there be no Faraʿ nor ʿAtīrah.”

AT-TAḤĪYĀT (التحيات‎). Lit. “the greetings.” A part of the stated prayers, recited after the Takbīru ʾl-Quʿūd, after every two rakʿahs. It is recited whilst the worshipper kneels upon the ground. His left foot bent under him, he sits upon it, and places his hands upon his knees, and says:—“The adorations (i.e. at-taḥīyātu) of the tongue are for God, and also of the body and of alms-giving. Peace be on thee, O Prophet, with the mercy of God and His blessing. Peace be upon us, and upon God’s righteous servants.” (Mishkāt, iv., c. xvi.) [PRAYER.]

AUGURY. [FAʾL.]

AULĪYĀʾ (اولياء‎), pl. of walī. “Favourites of God.” The expression occurs in the Qurʾān in the following verse, “Are not the favourites of God those on whom no fear shall come, nor shall they be put to grief?” (Sūrah x. 63).

AUTĀD (اوتاد‎). Lit. “props or pillars.” A term used by the Ṣūfīs for the four saints, by whom the four corners of the world are said to be supported.

AʿŪẔU BILLĀH (اعوذ بالله‎). Another name for the Taʿauwuẕ, or the prayer in the daily liturgy: “I seek refuge with God from the cursed Satan.” [PRAYER.]

AVENGER OF BLOOD. In the Muḥammadan law, as in the Jewish, the punishment for wilful murder is left to the next of kin; but in the Jewish code the avenger of blood was compelled to take the life of the murderer, whilst in the Muslim code he may accept compensation, vide Qurʾān, Sūrah ii. 173, “O believers! retaliation (Qiṣāṣ) for blood-shedding is prescribed to you: the free man for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the woman for the woman; but he to whom his brother shall make any remission is to be dealt with equitably; and a payment should be made to him with liberality. This is a relaxation (i.e. of the stricter lex talionis) from your Lord, and a mercy.” [QISAS.]

ĀYAH (آية‎). Lit. “a sign, or miracle.” The term used for one of the smaller portions of the chapters of the Qurʾān, which we call verses. The number of verses is often set down after the title of the chapter, but the verses are not marked in the text as they are in our English Bibles. The number of verses in the Qurʾān is variously estimated, but they are generally said to be about six thousand two hundred. [QURʾAN.]

AL-AʿYĀNU ʾS̤-S̤ĀBITAH (الاعيان الثابتة‎), pl. of ʿayn, in the sense of “the essence” of a thing. The established essences. A term used by the Ṣūfī mystics to express figures emblematic of the names of God. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dictionary of Technical Terms of the Ṣūfīs. Sprenger’s edition.)

ĀYATU ʾL-FATḤ (اية الفتح‎). Lit. “The verse of victory.” The fifty-ninth verse of the Sūratu ʾl-Anʿām (vi.) of the Qurʾān. The powers of this verse are said to be so great, that if a person constantly recite it he will obtain his desires. It is generally recited with this object forty times after each season of prayer. It is as follows:—“And with Him are the keys of the secret things; none knoweth them but He; and He knoweth whatever is on the land and in the sea; and no leaf falleth but He knoweth it; neither is there a grain in the darknesses of the earth, nor a green thing nor a dry thing, but it is noted in a clear book.”

ĀYĀTU ʾL-ḤIFZ̤ (ايات الحفظ‎). “The verses of protection.” Certain verses of the Qurʾān which are usually inscribed on amulets. They are:—Sūrah ii. 256, “And the preservation of both (heaven and earth) is no burden unto Him.” Sūrah xii. 64, “God is the best protector.” Sūrah xiii. 12, “They guard him by the command of God.” Sūrah xv. 17, “We guard him from every devil driven away by stones.” Sūrah xxxvii. 7, “A protection against every rebellious devil.”