The Koran (Al-Qur'an) Part 7

Prideaux, misled by Golius, imagines to relate to the prolonging of the year, by adding an intercalary month thereto. It is true, the Arabs, who imitated the Jews in their manner of computing by lunar years, had also learned their method of reducing them to solar years, by intercalating a month sometimes in the third, and sometimes in the second year; by which means they fixed the pilgrimage of Mecca (contrary to the original inst.i.tution) to a certain season of the year, viz., to autumn, as most convenient for the pilgrims, by reason of the temperateness of the weather, and the plenty of provisions; and it is also true that Mohammed forbade such intercalation by a pa.s.sage in the same chapter of the Koran; but then it is not the pa.s.sage above mentioned, which prohibits a different thing, but one a little before it, wherein the number of months in the year, according to the ordinance of G.o.d, is declared to be twelve; whereas, if the intercalation of a month were allowed, every third or second year would consist of thirteen, contrary to G.o.d'S appointment.

The setting apart of one day in the week for the more peculiar attendance on G.o.d'S wors.h.i.+p, so strictly required by the Jewish and Christian religions, appeared to Mohammed to be so proper an inst.i.tution, that he could not but imitate the professors thereof in that particular; though, for the sake of distinction, he might think himself obliged to order his followers to observe a different day form either. Several reasons are given why the sixth day of the week was pitched on for this purpose; but Mohammed seems to have preferred that day chiefly because it was the day on which the people used to be a.s.sembled long before his time, though such a.s.semblies were had, perhaps, rather on a civil than a religious account. However it be, the Mohammedan writers bestow very extraordinary encomiums on this day, calling it the prince of day, and the most excellent day on which the sun rises; pretending also that it will be the day whereon the last judgment will be solemnized; and they esteem it a peculiar honour to Islam, that G.o.d has been pleased to appoint this day to be the feast-day of the Moslems, and granted them the advantage of having first observed it.

Though the Mohammedans do not think themselves bound to keep their day of public wors.h.i.+p so holy as the Jews and Christians are certainly obliged to keep theirs, there being a permission, as is generally supposed, in the Koran, allowing them to return to their employments or diversion after divine service is over; yet the more devout disapprove the applying of any part of that day to worldly affairs, and require it to be wholly dedicated to the business of the life to come.

Since I have mentioned the Mohammedan weekly feast, I beg leave just to take notice of their two Beirams, or princ.i.p.al annual feasts. The first of them is called, in Arabic, Id al fetr, i.e., The feast of breaking the fast, and begins the first of Shawal, immediately succeeding the fast of Ramadan; and the other is called Id al korban, or Id al adha, i.e., The feast of the sacrifice, and begins on the tenth of Dhu'lhajja, when the victims are slain at the pilgrimage of Mecca. The former of these feasts is properly the lesser Beiram, and the latter, the greater Beiram: but the vulgar, and most authors who have written of the Mohammedan affairs, exchange the epithets, and call that which follows Ramadan the greater Beiram, because it is observed in an extraordinary manner, and kept for three days together at Constantinople and in other parts of Turkey, and in Persia for five or six days, by the common people, at least, with great demonstrations of public joy, to make themselves amends, as it were, for the mortification of the preceding month; whereas, the feast of sacrifices, though it be also kept for three days, and the first of them be the most solemn day of the pilgrimage, the princ.i.p.al act of devotion among the Mohammedans is taken much less notice of by the generality of people, who are not struck therewith, because the ceremonies with which the same is observed are performed at Mecca, the only scene of that solemnity.

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SECTION VIII.

OF THE PRINc.i.p.aL SECTS AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS; AND OF THOSE WHO HAVE PRETENDED TO PROPHECY AMONG THE ARABS, IN OR SINCE THE TIME OF MOHAMMED.

BEFORE we take a view of the sects of the Mohammedans, it will be necessary to say something of the two sciences by which all disputed questions among them are determined, viz., their Scholastic and Practical Divinity.

Their scholastic divinity is a mongrel science, consisting of logical, metaphysical, theological, and philosophical disquisitions, and built on principles and methods of reasoning very different from what are used by those who pa.s.s among the Mohammedans themselves for the sounder divines or more able philosophers, and, therefore, in the part.i.tion of the sciences this is generally left out, as unworthy a place among them. The learned Maimonides has laboured to expose the principles and systems of the scholastic divines, as frequently repugnant to the nature of the world and the order of the creation, and intolerably absurd.

This art of handling religious disputes was not known in the infancy of Mohammedism, but was brought in when sects sprang up, and articles of religion began to be called in question, and was at first made use of to defend the truth o those articles against innovators; and while it keeps within those bounds is allowed to be a commendable study, being necessary for the defence of the faith: but when it proceeds farther, out of an itch of disputation, it is judged worthy of censure.

This is the opinion of al Ghazali, who observes a medium between those who have too high a value for this science, and those who absolutely reject it.

Among the latter was al Shafei, who declared that, in his judgment, if any man employed his time that way, he deserved to be fixed to a stake, and carried about through all the Arab tribes, with the following proclamation to be made before him: 'This is the reward of him who, leaving the Koran and the Sonna, applied himself to the study of scholastic divinity." Al Ghazali, on the other hand, thinks that as it was introduced by the invasion of heresies, it is necessary to be retained in order to quell them: but then in the person who studies this science he requires three things, diligence, acuteness of judgment, and probity of manners; and is by no means for suffering the same to be publicly explained. This science, therefore, among the Mohammedans, is the art of controversy, by which they discuss points of faith concerning the essence and attributes of G.o.d, and the conditions of all possible things, either in respect to their creation, or final restoration, according to the rules of the religion of Islam.

The other science is practical divinity or jurisprudence, and is the knowledge of the decisions of the law which regard practice, gathered from distinct proofs.

Al Ghazali declares that he had much the same opinion of this science as of the former, its original being owing to the corruption of religion and morality; and therefore judged both sciences to be necessary, not in themselves, but by accident only, to curb the irregular imaginations and pa.s.sions of mankind (as guards become necessary in the highways by reason of robbers), the end of the first being the suppressing of heresies, and of the other the decision of legal controversies, for the quiet and peaceable living of mankind in this world, and for the preserving the rule by which the magistrate may prevent one man from injuring another, by declaring what is lawful and what is unlawful, by determining the satisfaction to be given, or punishment to be inflicted, and by regulating other outward actions; and not only so, but to decide of religion itself, and its conditions, so far as relates to the profession made by the mouth, it not being the business of the civilian to inquire into the heart: the depravity of men's manners, however, has made this knowledge of the laws so very requisite, that it is usually called the Science, by way of excellence, nor is any man reckoned learned who has not applied himself thereto.

The points of faith, subject to the examination and discussion of the scholastic divines, are reduced to four general heads, which they call the four bases, or great fundamental articles.

The first basis relates to the attributes of G.o.d, and his unity consistent therewith. Under this head are comprehended the questions concerning the eternal attributes, which are a.s.serted by some, and denied by others; and also the explication of the essential attributes, and attributes of action; what is proper for G.o.d to do, and what may be affirmed of him, and what it is impossible for him to do. These things are controverted between the Asharians, the Keramians, the Moja.s.semians or Corporalists, and the Mutazalites.

The second basis regards predestination, and the justice thereof: which comprises the questions concerning G.o.d'S purpose and decree, man's compulsion or necessity to act, and his co-operation in producing actions, by which he may gain to himself good or evil; and also those which concern G.o.d'S willing good and evil, and what things are subject to his power, and what to his knowledge; some maintaining the affirmative, and others the negative. These points are disputed among the Kadarians, the Najarians, the Jabarians, the Asharians, and the Keramians.

The third basis concerns the promises and threats, the precise acceptation of names used in divinity, and the divine decisions; and comprehends questions relating to faith, repentance, promises, threats, forbearance, infidelity, and error. The controversies under this head are on foot between the Morgians, the Waidians, the Mutazalites, the Asharians, and the Keramians.

The fourth basis regards history and reason, that is, the just weight they ought to have in matters belonging to faith and religion; and also the mission of prophets, and the office of Imam, or chief pontiff. Under this head are comprised all casuistical questions relating to the moral beauty or turpitude of actions; inquiring whether things are allowed or forbidden by reason of their own nature, or by the positive law; and also questions concerning the preference of actions, the favour or grace of G.o.d, the innocence which ought to attend the prophetical office, and the conditions requisite in the office of Imam; some a.s.serting it depends on right of succession, others on the consent of the faithful; and also the method of transferring it with the former, and of confirming it with the latter. These matters are the subjects of dispute between the s.h.i.+tes, the Mutazalites, the Keramians, and the Asharians.

The different sects of Mohammedans may be distinguished into two sorts; those generally esteemed orthodox, and those which are esteemed heretical.

The former, by a general name, are called Sonnites or Traditionists; because they acknowledge the authority of the Sonna, or collection of moral traditions of the sayings and actions of their prophet, which is a sort of supplement to the Koran, directing the observance of several things omitted in that book, and in name, as well as design, answering to the Mishna of the Jews.

The Sonnites are subdivided into four chief sects, which, notwithstanding some differences as to legal conclusions in their interpretation of the Koran, and matters of practice, are generally acknowledge to be orthodox in radicals, or matters of faith, and capable of salvation, and have each of them their several stations or oratories in the temple of Mecca. The founders of these sects are looked upon as the great masters of jurisprudence, and are said to have been men of great devotion and self-denial, well versed in the knowledge of those things which belong to the next life and to man's right conduct here, and directing all their knowledge to the glory of G.o.d. This is al Ghazali's encomium of them, who thinks it derogatory to their honour that their names should be used by those who, neglecting to imitate the other virtues which make up their character, apply themselves only to attain their skill, and follow their opinions in matters of legal practice.

The first of the four orthodox sects is that of the Hanefites, so named from their founder, Abu Hanifa al Numan Ebn Thabet, who was born at Cufa, in the 80th year of the Hejra, and died in the 150th, according to the more preferable opinion as to the time. He ended his life in prison at Baghdad, where he had been confined because he refused to be made Kadi or judge; on which account he was very hardly dealt with by his superiors, yet could not be prevailed on, either by threats or ill-treatment, to undertake the charge, "choosing rather to be punished by them than by G.o.d," says Al Ghazali; who adds, that when he excused himself from accepting the office by alleging that he was unfit for it, being asked the reason, he replied, "If I speak the truth, I am unfit; but if I tell a lie, a liar is not fit to be a judge." It is said that he read the Koran in the prison where he died, no less than 7,000 times.

The Hanefites are called by an Arabian writer the followers of reason, and those of the three other sects, followers of tradition; the former being princ.i.p.ally guided by their own judgment in their decisions, and the latter adhering more tenaciously to the traditions of Mohammed.

The sect of Abu Hanifa heretofore obtained chiefly in Irak, but now generally prevails among the Turks and Tartars: his doctrine was brought into great credit by Abu Yusof, chief justice under the Khalifs al Hadi and Harun al Ras.h.i.+d.

The second orthodox sect is that of Malec Ebn Ans, who was born at Medina, in the year of the Hejra 90, 93, 94, or 95, and died there in 177, 178, or 179 (for so much do authors differ). This doctor is said to have paid great regard to the traditions of Mohammed. In his last illness, a friend going to visit him found him in tears, and asking him the reason of it, he answered, "How should I not weep? and who has more reason to weep than I? Would to G.o.d that for every question decided by me according to my own opinion, I had received so many stripes! then would my accounts be easier. Would to G.o.d I had never given any decision of my own!" Al Ghazali thinks it a sufficient proof of Malec's directing his knowledge to the glory of G.o.d, that being once asked his opinion as to forty-eight questions, his answer to thirty-two of them was, that he did not know; it being no easy matter for one who has any other view than G.o.d's glory to make so frank a confession of his ignorance.

The doctrine of Malec is chiefly followed in Barbary and other parts of Africa.

The author of the third orthodox sect was Mohammed Ebn Edris al Shafei, born either at Gaza or Ascalon, in Palestine, in the year of the Hejra 150, the same day (as some will have it) that Abu Hanifa died, and was carried to Mecca at two years of age, and there educated. He died in 204, in Egypt, whither he went about five years before. This doctor is celebrated for his excellency in all parts of learning, and was much esteemed by Ebn Hanbal his contemporary, who used to say that "he was as the sun to the world, and as health to the body." Ebn Hanbal, however, had so ill an opinion of al Shafei at first, that he forbad his scholars to go near him; but some time after one of them, meeting his master trudging on foot after al Shafei, who rode on a mule, asked him how it came about that he forbad them to follow him, and did it himself? to which Ebn Hanbal replied, "Hold thy peace; if thou but attend his mule thou wilt profit thereby."

Al Shafei is said to have been the first who discoursed of jurisprudence, and reduced that science into a method; one wittily saying, that the relators of the traditions of Mohammed were asleep till al Shafei came and waked them.

He was a great enemy to the scholastic divines, as has been already observed.

Al Ghazali tells us that al Shafei used to divide the night into three parts, one for study, another for prayer, and the third for sleep. It is also related of him that he never so much as once swore by G.o.d, either to confirm a truth, or to affirm a falsehood; and that being once asked his opinion, he remained silent for some time, and when the reason of his silence was demanded, he answered, "I am considering first whether it be better to speak or to hold my tongue." The following saying is also recorded of him, viz., "Whoever pretends to love the world and its Creator at the same time, is a liar." The followers of this doctor are from him called Shafeites, and were formerly spread into Mawara'lnahr and other parts eastward, but are now Ahmed Ebn Hanbal, the founder of the fourth sect, was born in the year of the Hejra 164; but as to the place of his birth there are two traditions: some say he was born at Meru in Khorasan, of which city his parents were, and that his mother brought him from thence to Baghdad at her breast; while others a.s.sure us that she was with child of him when she came to Baghdad, and that he was born there.

Ebn Hanbal in process of time attained a great reputation on account of his virtue and knowledge; being so well versed in the traditions of Mohammed, in particular, that it is said he could repeat no less than a million of them.

He was very intimate with al Shafei, from whom he received most of his traditionary knowledge, being his constant attendant till his departure for Egypt. Refusing to acknowledge the Koran to be created, he was, by order of the Khalif al Mutasem, severely scourged and imprisoned. Ebn Hanbal died at Baghdad, in the year 241, and was followed to his grave by eight hundred thousand men, and sixty thousand women. It is relate, as something very extraordinary, if not miraculous, that on the day of his death no less than twenty thousand Christians, Jews, and Magians, embraced the Mohammedan faith. This sect increased so fast, and became so powerful and bold, that in the year 323, in the Khalifat of al Radi, they raised a great commotion in Baghdad, entering people's houses, and spilling their wine, if they found any, and beating the singing-women they met with, and breaking their instruments; and a severe edict was published against them, before they could be reduced to their duty: but the Hanbalites at present are not very numerous, few of them being to be met with out of the limits of Arabia.

The heretical sects among the Mohammedans are those which hold heterodox opinions in fundamental, or matters of faith.

The first controversies relating to fundamentals began when most of the companions of Mohammed were dead: for in their days was no dispute, unless about things of small moment, if we except only the dissensions concerning the Imams, or rightful successors of their prophet, which were stirred up and fomented by interest and ambition; the Arabs' continual employment in the wars, during that time, allowing them little or no leisure to enter into nice inquiries and subtle distinctions: but no sooner was the ardour of conquest a little abated than they began to examine the Koran more nearly; whereupon differences in opinion became unavoidable, and at length so greatly multiplied, that the number of their sects, according to the common opinion, are seventy-three. For the Mohammedans seem ambitious that their religion should exceed others even in this respect; saying, that the Magians are divided into seventy sects, the Jews into seventy-one, the Christians into seventy-two, and the Moslems into seventy-three, as Mohammed had foretold; of which sects they reckon one to be always orthodox, and ent.i.tled to salvation.

The first heresy was that of the Kharejites, who revolted from Ali in the thirty-seventh year of the Hejra; and not long after, Mabad a. Johni, Ghailan of Damascus, and Jonas al Aswari broached heterodox opinions concerning predestination, and the ascribing of good and evil unto G.o.d; whose opinions were followed by Wasel Ebn Ata. This latter was the scholar of Hasan of Basra, in whose school a question being proposed, whether he who had committed a grievous sin was to be deemed an infidel or not, the Kharejites (who used to come and dispute there) maintaining the affirmative, and the orthodox the negative, Wasel, without waiting his master's decision, withdrew abruptly, and began to publish among his fellow-scholars a new opinion of his own, to wit, that such a sinner was in a middle state; and he was thereupon expelled the school; he and his followers being thenceforth called Mutazalites, or Separatists.

The several sects which have arisen since this time are variously compounded and decompounded of the opinions of four chief sects, the Mutazalites, the Sefatians, the Kharejites, and the s.h.i.+tes.

I. The Mutazalites were the followers of the before-mentioned Wasel Ebn Ata. As to their chief and general tenets, I. They entirely rejected all eternal attributes of G.o.d, to avoid the distinction of persons made by the Christians; saying that eternity is the proper or formal attribute of his essence; that G.o.d knows by his essence, and not by his knowledge; and the same they affirmed of his other attributes (though all the Mutazalites do not understand these words in one sense); and hence this sect were also named Moattatlites, from their divesting G.o.d of his attributes: and they went so far as to say, that to affirm these attributes is the same thing as to make more eternals than one, and that the unity of G.o.d is inconsistent with such an opinion; and this was the true doctrine of Wasel their master, who declared that whoever a.s.serted an eternal attribute, a.s.serted there were two G.o.dS.

This point of speculation concerning the divine attributes was not ripe at first, but was at length brought to maturity by Wasel's followers, after they had read the books of the philosophers. 2. They believed the word of G.o.d to have been created in subjecto (as the schoolmen term it), and to consist of letters and sound; copies thereof being written in books to express or imitate the original. They also went farther, and affirmed that whatever is created in subjecto is also an accident, and liable to perish. 3. They denied absolute predestination, holding that G.o.d was not the author of evil, but of good only; and that man was a free agent: which being properly the opinion of the Kadarians, we defer what may be farther said thereof till we come to speak of that sect. On account of this tenet and the first, the Mutazalites look on themselves as the defenders of the unity and justice of G.o.d. 4. They held that if a professor of the true religion be guilty of a grievous sin, and die without repentance, he will be eternally d.a.m.ned, though his punishment will be lighter than that of the infidels. 5. They denied all vision of G.o.d in paradise by the corporeal eye, and rejected all comparisons or similitudes applied to G.o.d.

This sect are said to have been the first inventors of scholastic divinity, and are subdivided into several inferior sects, amounting, as some reckon, to twenty, which mutually brand one another with infidelity: the most remarkable of them are:-- I. The Hodeilians, or followers of Hamdan Abu Hodeil, a Mutazalite doctor, who differed something from the common form of expression used by this sect, saying that G.o.d knew by his knowledge, but that his knowledge was his essence; and so of the other attributes: which opinion he took from the philosophers, who affirm the essence of G.o.d to be simple and without multiplicity, and that his attributes are not posterior or accessory to his essence, or subsisting therein, but are his essence itself: and this the more orthodox take to be next kin to making distinctions in the deity, which is the thing they so much abhor in the Christians. As to the Koran's being created, he made some distinction; holding the word of G.o.d to be partly not in subjecto (and therefore uncreated), as when he spake the word Kun, i.e., Fiat, at the creation, and partly in subjecto, as the precepts, prohibitions, &c. Marracci mentions an opinion of Abu Hodeil's concerning predestination, from an Arab writer, which being by him expressed in a manner not very intelligible, I choose to omit.

2. The Jobbaians, or followers of Abu Ali Mohammed Ebn Abd al Wahhab, surnamed al Jobbai, whose meaning when he made use of the common expression of the Mutazalites, that "G.o.d knows by his essence," &c., was, that G.o.d'S being knowing is not an attribute, the same with knowledge, nor such a state as rendered his being knowing necessary. He held G.o.d'S word to be created in subjecto, as in the preserved table, for example, the memory of Gabriel, Mohammed, &c. This sect, if Marracci has given the true sense of his author, denied that G.o.d could be seen in paradise without the a.s.sistance of corporeal eyes; and held that man produced his acts by a power superadded to health of body and soundness of limbs; that he who was guilty of a mortal sin was neither a believer nor an infidel, but a transgressor (which was the original opinion of Wasel), and if he died in his sins, would be doomed to h.e.l.l for eternity; and that G.o.d conceals nothing of whatever he knows from his servants.

3. The Hashemians, who were so named from their master Abu Hashem Abd al Salam, the son of Abu Ali al Jabbai, and whose tenets nearly agreed with those of the preceding sect. Abu Hashem took the Mutazalite form of expression, that "G.o.d knows by his essence," in a different sense from others, supposing it to mean that G.o.d hath or is endued with a disposition, which is a known property, or quality, posterior or accessory to his existence.

His followers were so much afraid of making G.o.d the author of evil that they would not allow him to be said to create an infidel; because, according to their way of arguing, an infidel is a compound of infidelity and man, and G.o.d is not the creator of infidelity. Abu Hashem, and his father Abu Ali al Jobbai, were both celebrated for their skill in scholastic divinity.

4. The Nodhamians, or followers of Ibrahim al Nodham, who having read books of philosophy, set up a new sect, and imagining he could not sufficiently remove G.o.d from being the author of evil, without divesting him of his power in respect thereto, taught that no power ought to be ascribed to G.o.d concerning evil and rebellious actions: but this he affirmed against the opinion of his own disciples, who allowed that G.o.d could do evil, but did not, because of its turpitude. Of his opinion as to the Koran's being created we have spoken elsewhere.

5. The Hayetians, so named from Ahmed Ebn Hayet, who had been of the sect of the Nodhamians, but broached some new notions on reading the philosophers. His peculiar opinions were--I. That Christ was the eternal Word incarnate, and took a true and real body, and will judge all creatures in the life to come: he also farther a.s.serted that there are two G.o.dS or Creators--the one eternal, viz., the most high G.o.d, and the other not eternal, viz., Christ-- which opinion, though Dr. Poc.o.c.k urges the same as an argument that he did not rightly understand the Christian mysteries is not much different from that of the Arians and Socinians. 2. That there is successive transmigration of the soul from one body into another; and that the last body will enjoy the reward or suffer the punishment due to each soul: and, 3. That G.o.d will be seen at the resurrection, not with the bodily eyes, but those of the understanding.

6. The Jahedhians, or followers of Amru Ebn Bahr, surnamed al Jahedh, a great doctor of the Mutazalites, and very much admired for the elegance of his composures; who differed from his brethren in that he imagined the d.a.m.ned would not be eternally tormented in h.e.l.l, but would be changed into the nature of fire, and that the fire would of itself attract them, without any necessity of their going into it. He also taught that if a man believed G.o.d to be his Lord, and Mohammed the apostle of G.o.d, he became one of the faithful, and was obliged to nothing farther. His peculiar opinion as to the Koran has been taken notice of before.

7. The Mozdarians, who embraced the opinions of Isa Ebn Sobeih al Mozdar, and those very absurd ones: for, besides his notions relating to the Koran, he went so directly counter to the opinion of those who abridged G.o.d of the power to do evil, that he affirmed it possible for G.o.d to be a liar and unjust.

He also p.r.o.nounced him to be an infidel who thrust himself into the supreme government: nay, he went so far as to a.s.sert men to be infidels while they said "There is no G.o.d but G.o.d," and even condemned all the rest of mankind as guilty of infidelity; upon which Ibrahim Ebn al Sendi asked him whether paradise, whose breadth equals that of heaven and earth, was created only for him and two or three more who thought as he did? to which it is said he could return no answer.

8. The Basharians, who maintained the tenets of Bashar Ebn Mutamer, the master of al Mozdar, and a princ.i.p.al man among the Mutazalites. He differed in some things from the general opinion of that sect, carrying man's free agency to a great excess, making it even independent: and yet he thought G.o.d might doom an infant to eternal punishment, but granted he would be unjust in so doing. He taught that G.o.d is not always obliged to do that which is best, for, if he pleased, he could make all men true believers. These sectaries also held that if a man repent of a mortal sin, and afterwards return to it, he will be liable to suffer the punishment due to the former transgression.

9. The Thamamians, who follow Thamama Ebn Bashar, a chief Mutazalite.

Their peculiar opinions were--I. That sinners should remain in h.e.l.l for ever.

2. That free actions have no producing author. 3. That at the resurrection all infidels, idolaters, atheists, Jews, Christians, Magians, and heretics shall be reduced to dust.

10. The Kadarians, which is really a more ancient name than that of Mutazalites, Mabad al Johni and his adherents being so called, who disputed the doctrine of predestination before Wasel quitted his master: for which reason some use the denomination of Kadarians as more extensive than the other, and comprehend all the Mutazalites under it. This sect deny absolute predestination, saying that evil and injustice ought not to be attributed to G.o.d, but to man, who is a free agent, and may therefore be rewarded or punished for his actions, which G.o.d has granted him power either to do or to be let alone. And hence it is said they are called Kadarians, because they deny al Kadr, or G.o.d'S absolute decree; though others, thinking it not so proper to come from Kadr, or Kodrat, i.e., power, because they a.s.sert man's power to act freely. Those, however, who give the name of Kadarians to the Mutazalites are their enemies, for they disclaim it, and give it to their antagonists the Jabarians, who likewise refuse it as an infamous appellation, because Mohammed is said to have declared the Kadarians to be the Magians of his followers. But what the opinion of these Kadarians in Mohammed's time was, is very uncertain: the Mutazalites say the name belongs to those who a.s.sert predestination, and make G.o.d the author of good and evil, viz., the Jabarians; but all the other Mohammedan sects agree to fix it on the Mutazalites, who, they say, are like the Magians in establis.h.i.+ng two principles, light, or G.o.d, the author of good; and darkness, or the devil, the author of evil: but this cannot absolutely be said of the Mutazalites, for they (at least the generality of them) ascribe men's good deeds to G.o.d, but their evil deeds to themselves; meaning thereby that man has a free liberty and power to do either good or evil, and is master of his actions; and for this reason it is that the other Mohammedans call them Magians, because they a.s.sert another author of actions besides G.o.d. And, indeed, it is a difficult matter to say what Mohammed's own opinion was in this matter; for on the one side the Koran itself is pretty plain for absolute predestination, and many sayings of Mohammed are recorded to that purpose, and one in particular, wherein he introduces Adam and Moses disputing before G.o.d in this manner: "Thou," says Moses, "art Adam; whom G.o.d created, and animated with the breath of life, and caused to be wors.h.i.+pped by the angels, and placed in paradise, from whence mankind have been expelled for thy fault:" whereto Adam answered, "Thou art Moses; whom G.o.d chose for his apostle, and entrusted with his word, by giving thee the tables of the law, and whom he vouchsafed to admit to discourse with himself: how many years dost thou find the law was written before I was created?" Says Moses, "Forty." "And dost thou not find," replied Adam, "these words therein: 'And Adam rebelled against his Lord and transgressed'?" which Moses confessing, "Dost thou therefore blame me," continued he, "for doing that which G.o.d wrote of me that I should do forty years before I was created? nay, for what was decreed concerning me fifty thousand years before the creation of heaven and earth?"

In the conclusion of which dispute Mohammed declared that Adam had the better of Moses. On the other side, it is urged in the behalf of the Mutazalites, that Mohammed declaring that the Kadarians and Morgians had been cursed by the tongues of seventy prophets, and being asked who the Kadarians were, answered, "Those who a.s.sert that G.o.d predestinated them to be guilty of rebellion, and yet punishes them for it:" al Hasan is also said to have declared, that G.o.d sent Mohammed to the Arabs while they were Kadarians, or Jabarians, and laid their sins upon G.o.d: and to confirm the matter, this sentence of the Koran is quoted: "When they commit a filthy action, they say, We found our fathers practising the same, and G.o.d hath commanded us so to do: Say, Verily G.o.d commandeth not filthy actions."

11. The Sefatians held the opposite opinion to the Mutazalites in respect to the eternal attributes of G.o.d, which they affirmed; making no distinction between the essential attributes and those of operation: and hence they were named Sefatians, or Attributists. Their doctrine was that of the first Mohammedans, who were not yet acquainted with these nice distinctions: but this sect afterwards introduced another species of declarative attributes, or such as were necessarily used in historical narration, as hands, face, eyes, &c., which they did not offer to explain, but contented themselves with saying they were in the law, and that they called them declarative attributes.

However, at length, by giving various explications and interpretations of these attributes they divided into many different opinions: some, by taking the words in the literal sense, fell into the notion of a likeness or similitude between G.o.d and created beings; to which it is said the karaites among the Jews, who are for the literal interpretation of Moses's law, had shown them the way: others explained them in another manner, saying that no creature was like G.o.d, but that they neither understood nor thought it necessary to explain the precise signification of the words which seem to affirm the same of both; it being sufficient to believe that G.o.d hath no companion or similitude.

Of this opinion was Malec Ebn Ans, who declared as to the expression of G.o.d'S sitting on his throne, in particular, that though the meaning is known, yet the manner is unknown; and that it is necessary to believe it, but heresy to make any questions about it.

The sects of the Sefatians are: I. The Asharians, the followers of Abu'l Hasan al Ashari, who was first a Mutazalite, and the scholar of Abu Ali al Jobbai, but disagreeing from his master in opinion as to G.o.d'S being bound (as the Mutazalites a.s.sert) to do always that which is best or most expedient, left him, and set up a new sect of himself. The occasion of this difference was the putting a case concerning three brothers, the first of whom lived in obedience to G.o.d, the second in rebellion against him, and the third died an infant. Al Jobbai being asked what he thought would become of them, answered, that the first would be rewarded in paradise, the second punished in h.e.l.l, and the third neither rewarded nor punished: "But what," objected al Ashari, "if the third say, O LORD, if thou hadst given me longer life, that I might have entered paradise with my believing brother, it would have been better for me?" to which al Jobbai replied, "That G.o.d would answer, I knew that if thou hadst lived longer, thou wouldst have been a wicked person, and therefore cast into h.e.l.l."

"Then," retorted al Ashari, "the second will say, O LORD, why didst thou not take me away while I was an infant, as thou didst my brother, that I might not have deserved to be punished for my sins, nor to be cast into h.e.l.l?" To which al Jobbai could return no other answer than that G.o.d prolonged his life to give him an opportunity of obtaining the highest degree of perfection, which was best for him: but al Ashari demanding farther, why he did not for the same reason grant the other a longer life, to whom it would have been equally advantageous, al Jobbai was so put to it, that he asked whether the devil possessed him? "No," says al Ashari, "but the master's a.s.s will not pa.s.s the bridge;" i.e., he is posed.

The opinions of the Asharians were--I. That they allowed the attributes of G.o.d to be distinct from his essence, yet so as to forbid any comparison to be made between G.o.d and his creatures. This was also the opinion of Ahmed Ebn Hanbal, and David al Ispahani, and others, who herein followed Malec Ebn Ans, and were so cautious of any a.s.similation of G.o.d to created beings, that they declared whoever moved his hand while he read these words, "I have created with my hand," or "stretched forth his finger," in repeating this saying of Mohammed, "The heart of the believer is between two fingers of the Merciful," ought to have his hand and finger cut off; and the reasons they gave for not explaining any such words were, that it is forbidden in the Koran, and that such explications were necessarily founded on conjecture and opinion, from which no man ought to speak of the attributes of G.o.d, because the words of the Koran might by that means come to be understood differently form the author's meaning: nay, some have been so superst.i.tiously scrupulous in this matter as not to allow the words hand, face, and the like, when they occur in the Koran, to be rendered into Persian or any other language, but require them to be read in the very original words, and this they call the safe way. 2. As to predestination, they held that G.o.d hath one eternal will which is applied to whatsoever he willeth, both of his own actions and, those of men, so far as they are created by him, but not as they are acquired or gained by them; that he willeth both their good and their evil, their profit and their hurt, and as he willeth and knoweth, he willeth concerning men that which he knoweth, and hath commanded the pen to write the same in the preserved table: and this is his decree, and eternal immutable counsel and purpose. They also went so far as to say, that it may be agreeable to the way of G.o.d that man should be commanded what he is not able to perform. But while they allow man some power, they seem to restrain it to such a power as cannot produce anything new; only G.o.d, say they, so orders his providence that he creates, after, or under, and together with every created or new power, an action which is ready whenever a man will sit, and sets about it: and this action is called Casb, i.e., Acquisition, being in respect to its creation, from G.o.d, but in respect to its being produced, employed, and acquired, from man. And this being generally esteemed the orthodox opinion, it may not be improper farther to explain the same in the words of some other writers. The elective actions of men, says one, fall under the power of G.o.d alone; nor is their own power effectual thereto; but G.o.d causeth to exist in man power and choice; and if there be no impediment, he causeth his action to exist also, subject to his power, and joined with that and his choice; which action, as created, is to be ascribed to G.o.d, but as produced, employed, or acquired, to man. So that by the acquisition of an action is properly meant a man's joining or connecting the same with his power and will, yet allowing herein no impression or influence on the existence thereof, save only that it is subject to his power.

Others, however, who are also on the side of al Ashari, and reputed orthodox, explain the matter in a different manner, and grant the impression or influence of the created power of man on his action, and that this power is what is called Acquisition. But the point will be still clearer if we hear a third author, who rehea.r.s.es the various opinions, or explications of the opinion of this sect, in the following words, viz.: Abu'l Hasan al Ashari a.s.serts all the actions of men to be subject to the power of G.o.d, being created by him, and that the power of man hath no influence at all on that which he is empowered to do; but that both the power, and what is subject thereto, fall under the power of G.o.d:al Kadi Abu Becr says that the essence or substance of the action is the effect of the power of G.o.d, but its being either an action of obedience, as prayer, or an action of disobedience, as fornication, are qualities of the action, which proceed from the power of man: Abd'almalec, known by the t.i.tle of Imam al Haramein, Abu'l Hosein of Basra, and other learned men, held that the actions of men are effected by the power which G.o.d hath created in man, and that G.o.d causeth to exist in man both power and will, and that this power and will do necessarily produce that which man is empowered to do: and Abu Ishak al Isfarayeni taught that that which maketh impression, or hath influence on an action, is a compound of the power of G.o.d and the power of man. The same author observes that their ancestors, perceiving a manifest difference between those things which are the effects of the election of man and those things which are the necessary effects of inanimate agents, dest.i.tute both of knowledge and choice, and being at the same time pressed by the arguments which prove that G.o.d is the Creator of all things, and consequently of those things which are done by men, to conciliate the matter, chose the middle way, a.s.serting actions to proceed from the power of G.o.d, and the acquisition of man; G.o.d'S way of dealing with his servants being, that when man intendeth obedience, G.o.d createth in him an action of obedience, and when he intendeth disobedience, he createth in him an action of disobedience; so that man seemeth to be the effective producer of his action, though he really be not. But this, proceeds the same writer, is again pressed with its difficulties, because the very intention of the mind is the work of G.o.d, so that no oman hath any share in the production of his own actions; for which reason the ancients disapproved of too nice an inquiry into this point, the end of the dispute concerning the same being, for the most part, either the taking away of all precepts positive as well as negative, or else the a.s.sociating of a companion with G.o.d, by introducing some other independent agent besides him. Those, therefore, who would speak more accurately, use this form: there is neither compulsion nor free liberty, but the way lies between the two; the power and will in man being both created by G.o.d, though the merit or guilt be imputed unto man. Yet, after all, it is judged the safest way to follow the steps of the primitive Moslems, and, avoiding subtle disputations and too curious inquiries, to leave the knowledge of this matter wholly unto G.o.d. 3. As to mortal sin, the Asharians taught, that if a believer guilty of such sin die without repentance, his sentence is to be left with G.o.d, whether he pardon him out of mercy, or whether the prophet intercede for him (according to that saying recorded of him, "My intercession shall be employed for those among my people who shall have been guilty of grievous crimes"), or whether he punish him in proportion to his demerit, and afterwards, through his mercy, admit him into paradise: but that it is not to be supposed he will remain for ever in h.e.l.l with the infidels, seeing it is declared that whoever shall have faith in his heart but of the weight of an ant, shall be delivered from h.e.l.l fire. And this is generally received for the orthodox doctrine in this point, and is diametrically opposite to that of the Mutazalites.

These were the more rational Sefatians, but the ignorant part of them, not knowing how otherwise to explain the expressions of the Koran relating to the declarative attributes, fell into most gross and absurd opinions, making G.o.d corporeal, and like created beings. Such were-- 2. The Moshabbehites, or a.s.similators; who allowed a resemblance between G.o.d and his creatures, supposing him to be a figure composed of members or parts, either spiritual or corporeal, and capable of local motion, of ascent and descent, &c. Some of this sect inclined to the opinion of the Holulians, who believed that the divine nature might be united with the human in the same person; for they granted it possible that G.o.d might appear in a human form, as Gabriel did: and to confirm their opinion they allege Mohammed's words, that he saw his LORD in a most beautiful form, and Moses talking with G.o.d face to face. And-- 3. The Keramians, or followers of Mohammed Ebn Keram, called also Moja.s.semians, or Corporalists; who not only admitted a resemblance between G.o.d and created beings, but declared G.o.d to be corporeal. The more sober among them, indeed, when they applied the word body to G.o.d, would be understood to mean, that he is a self-subsisting being, which with them is the definition of body: but yet some of them affirmed him to be finite, and circ.u.mscribed, either on all sides, or on some only (as beneath, for example), according to different opinions; and others allowed that he might be felt by the hand, and seen by the eye. Nay, one David al Jawari went so far as to say, that his deity was body composed of flesh and blood, and that he had members, as hands, feet, a head, a tongue, eyes, and ears; but that he was a body, however, not like other bodies, neither was he like to any created being: he is also said farther to have affirmed that from the crown of the head to the breast he was hollow, and from the breast downward solid, and that he had black curled hair. These most blasphemous and monstrous notions were the consequence of the literal acceptation of those pa.s.sages in the Koran which figuratively attribute corporeal actions to G.o.d, and of the words of Mohammed, when he said, that G.o.d created man in his own image, and that himself had felt the fingers of G.o.d, which he laid on his back, to be cold: besides which, this sect are charged with fathering on their prophet a great number of spurious and forged traditions to support their opinion, the greater part whereof they borrowed from the Jews, who are accused as naturally p.r.o.ne to a.s.similate G.o.d to men, so that they describe him as weeping for Noah's flood till his eyes were sore. And, indeed, though we grant the Jews may have imposed on Mohammed and his followers in many instances, and told them as solemn truths things which themselves believed not or had invented, yet many expressions of this kind are to be found in their writings; as when they introduce G.o.d roaring like a lion at every watch of the night, and crying, "Alas! that I have laid waste my house, and suffered my temple to be burnt, and sent my children into banishment among the heathen," &c.

4. The Jabarians--who are the direct opponents of the Kadarians--denying free agency in man, and ascribing his actions wholly unto G.o.d. They take their denomination from al Jabr, which signifies necessity, or compulsion; because they hold man to be necessarily and inevitably constrained to act as he does, by force of G.o.d'S eternal and immutable decree. This sect is distinguished into several species; some being more rigid and extreme in their opinion, who are thence called pure Jabarians, and others more moderate, who are therefore called middle Jabarians. The former will not allow men to be said either to act, or to have any power at all, either operative or acquiring; a.s.serting that man can do nothing, but produces all his actions by necessity, having neither power, nor will, nor choice, any more than an inanimate agent: they also declare that rewarding and punis.h.i.+ng are also the effects of necessity; and the same they say of the imposing of commands. This was the doctrine of the Jahmians, the followers of Jahm Ebn Safwan, who likewise held that paradise and h.e.l.l will vanish, or be annihilated, after those who are destined thereto respectively shall have entered them, so that at last there will remain no existing being besides G.o.d; supposing those words of the Koran which declare that the inhabitants of paradise and of h.e.l.l shall remain therein for ever, to be hyperbolical only, and intended for corroboration, and not to denote an eternal duration in reality. The moderate Jabarians are those who ascribe some power to man, but such a power as hath no influence on the action: for as to those who grant the power of man to have a certain influence on the action, which influence is called Acquisition, some will not admit them to be called Jabarians; though others reckon those also to be called middle Jabarians, and to contend for the middle opinion between absolute necessity and absolute liberty, who attribute to man acquisition, or concurrence in producing the action, whereby he gaineth commendation or blame (yet without admitting it to have any influence on the action), and, therefore, make the Asharians a branch of this sect. Having again mentioned the term Acquisition, we may, perhaps, have a clearer idea of what the Mohammedans mean thereby, when told, that it is defined to be an action directed to the obtaining of profit, or the removing of hurt, and for that reason never applied to any action of G.o.d, who acquireth to himself neither profit nor hurt. Of the middle or moderate Jabarians were the Najarians and the Derarians. The Najarians were the adherents of al Hasan Ebn Mohammed al Najar, who taught that G.o.d was he who created the actions of men, both good and bad, and that man acquired them, and also that man's power had an influence on the action, or a certain co-operation, which he called acquisition; and herein he agreed with al Ashari. The Derarians were the disciples of Derar Ebn Amru, who held also that men's actions are really created by G.o.d, and that man really acquired them. The Jabarians also say, that G.o.d is absolute Lord of his creatures, and may deal with them according to his own pleasure, without rendering account to any, and that if he should admit all men, without distinction, into paradise, it would be no impartiality, or if he should cast them all into h.e.l.l it would be no injustice. And in this particular, likewise, they agree with the Asharians, who a.s.sert the same, and say that reward is a favour from G.o.d, and punishment a piece of justice; obedience being by them considered as a sign only of future reward, and transgression as a sign of future punishment.

5. The Morgians; who are said to be derived from the Jabarians. These teach that the judgment of every true believer, who hath been guilty of a grievous sin, will be deferred till the resurrection; for which reason they pa.s.s no sentence on him in this world, either of absolution or condemnation.

They also hold that disobedience with faith hurteth not; and that, on the other hand, obedience with infidelity profiteth not. As to the reason of their name the learned differ, because of the different significations of its root, each of which they accommodate to some opinion of the sect. Some think them so called because they postpone works to intention, that is, esteem works to be inferior in degree to intention and profession of the faith; others, because they allow hope, by a.s.serting that disobedience with faith hurteth not, &c.; others take the reason of the name to be, their deferring the sentence of the heinous sinner till the resurrection; and others, their degrading of Ali, or removing him from the first degree to the fourth: for the Morgians, in some points relating to the office of Imam, agree with the Kharejites, the Kadarians, or the Jabarians, are distinguished as Morgians of those sects, and the fourth is that of the pure Morgians; which last species is again subdivided into five others. The opinions of Mokatel and Bashar, both of a sect of the Morgians called Thaubanians, should not be omitted.

The former a.s.serted that disobedience hurts not him who professes the unity of G.o.d, and is endued with faith; and that no true believer shall be cast into h.e.l.l: he also taught that G.o.d will surely forgive all crimes besides infidelity; and that a disobedient believer will be punished, at the day of resurrection, on the bridge laid over the midst of h.e.l.l, where the flames of h.e.l.l fire shall catch hold on him, and torment him in proportion to his disobedience, and that he shall then be admitted into paradise. The latter held that if G.o.d do cast the believers guilty of grievous sins into h.e.l.l, yet they will be delivered thence after they shall have been sufficiently punished; but that it is neither possible nor consistent with justice that they should remain therein for ever; which, as has been observed, was the opinion of al Ashari.

III. The Kharejites are they who depart or revolt from the lawful prince established by public consent; and thence comes their name, which signifies revolters or rebels. The first who were so called were twelve thousand men who revolted from Ali, after they had fought under him at the battle of Seffein, taking offence at his submitting the decision of his right to the Khalifat, which Moawiyah disputed with him, to arbitration, though they themselves had first obliged him to it. These were also called Mohakkemites, or Judiciarians; because the reason which they gave for their revolt was, that Ali had referred a matter concerning the religion of G.o.d to the judgment of men, whereas the judgment, in such case, belonged only unto G.o.d. The heresy of the Kharejites consisted chiefly in two things. I. In that they affirmed a man might be promoted to the dignity of the Imam, or prince, though he was not of the tribe of Koreish, nor even a freeman, provided he was a just and pious person, and endued with the other requisite qualifications; and also held that if the Imam turned aside from the truth, he might be put to death or deposed; and that there was no absolute necessity for any Imam at all in the world. 2. In that they charged Ali with sin, for having left an affair to the judgment of men, which ought to have been determined by G.o.d alone; and went so far as to declare him guilty of infidelity, and to curse him on that account. In the 38th year of the Hejra, which was the year following the revolt, all these Kharejites who persisted in their rebellion, to the number of four thousand, were cut to pieces by Ali, and, as several historians write, even to a man: but others say nine of them escaped, and that two fled into Oman, two into Kerman, two into Sejestan, two into Mesopotamia, and one to Tel Mawrun; and that these propagated their heresy in those places, the same remaining there to this day. The princ.i.p.al sects of the Kharejites, besides the Mohakkemites above mentioned, are six; which, though they greatly differ among themselves in other matters, yet agree in these, viz., that they absolutely reject Othman and Ali, preferring the doing of this to the greatest obedience, and allowing marriages to be contracted on no other terms; that they account those who are guilty of grievous sins to be infidels; and that they hold it necessary to resist the Imam when he transgresses the law. One sect of them deserves more particular notice, viz.-- The Waidians, so called from al Waid, which signifies the threats denounced by G.o.d against the wicked. These are the antagonists of the Morgians, and a.s.sert that he who is guilty of a grievous sin ought to be declared an infidel or apostate, and will be eternally punished in h.e.l.l, though he were a true believer: which opinion of theirs, as has been observed, occasioned the first rise of the Mutazalites. One Jaafar Ebn Mobashshar, of the sect of the Nodhamians, was yet more severe than the Waidians, p.r.o.nouncing him to be a reprobate and an apostate who steals but a grain of corn.

IV. The s.h.i.+tes are the opponents of the Kharejites: their name properly signifies sectaries or adherents in general, but is peculiarly used to denote those of Ali Ebn Taleb; who maintain him to be lawful Khalif and Imam, and that the supreme authority, both in spirituals and temporals, of right belongs to his descendants, notwithstanding they may be deprived of it by the injustice of others, or their own fear. They also teach that the office of Imam is not a common thing, depending on the will of the vulgar, so that they may set up whom they please; but a fundamental affair of religion, and an article which the prophet could not have neglected, or left to the fancy of the common people: nay, some, thence called Imamians, go so far as to a.s.sert, that religion consists solely in the knowledge of the true Imam. The princ.i.p.al sects of the s.h.i.+tes are five, which are subdivided into an almost innumerable number; so that some understand Mohammed's prophecy of the seventy odd sects, of the s.h.i.+tes only. Their general opinions are--I. That the peculiar designation of the Imam, and the testimonies of the Koran and Mohammed concerning him, are necessary points. 2. That the Imams ought necessarily to keep themselves free from light sins as well as more grievous.

3. That every one ought publicly to declare who it is that he adheres to, and from whom he separates himself, by word, deed, and engagement; and that herein there should be no dissimulation. But in this last point some of the Zeidians, a sect so named from Zeid, the son of Ali surnamed Zein al abedin, and great-grandson of Ali, dissented from the rest of the s.h.i.+tes. As to other articles, wherein they agreed not, some of them came pretty near to the notions of the Mutazalites, others to those of the Moshabbehites, and others to those of the Sonnites. Among the latter of these Mohammed al Baker, another son of Zein al abedin's, seems to claim a place: for his opinion as to the will of G.o.d was, that G.o.d willeth something in us, and something from us, and that what he willeth from us he hath revealed to us; for which reason he thought it preposterous that we should employ our thoughts about those things which G.o.d willeth in us, and neglect those which he willeth from us: and as to G.o.d'S decree, he held that the way lay in the middle, and that there was neither compulsion nor free liberty. A tenet of the Khattabians, or disciples of one Abu'l Khattab, is too peculiar to be omitted. These maintained paradise to be no other than the pleasures of this world, and h.e.l.l fire to be the pains thereof, and that the world will never decay: which proposition being first laid down, it is no wonder they went farther, and declared it lawful to indulge themselves in drinking wine and whoring, and to do other things forbidden by the law, and also to omit doing the things commanded by the law.

Many of the s.h.i.+tes carried their veneration for Ali and his descendants so far, that they transgressed all bounds of reason and decency; though some of them were less extravagant than others. The Gholaites, who had their name from their excessive zeal for their Imams, were so highly transported therewith, that they raised them above the degree of created beings, and attributed divine properties to them; transgressing on either hand, by deifying of mortal men, and by making G.o.d corporeal: for one while they liken one of their Imams to G.o.d, and another while they liken G.o.d to a creature. The sects of these are various, and have various appellations in different countries.

Abd'allah Ebn Saba (who had been a Jew, and had a.s.serted the same thing of Joshua the son of Nun) was the ringleader of one of them. This man gave the following salutation to Ali, viz., "Thou art Thou," i.e., Thou art G.o.d: and hereupon the Gholaites became divided into several species; some maintaining the same thing, or something like it, of Ali, and others of some of one of his descendants; affirming that he was not dead, but would return again in the clouds, and fill the earth with justice. But howmuchsoever they disagreed in other things, they unanimously held a metempsychosis, and what they call al Holul, or the descent of G.o.d on his creatures; meaning thereby that G.o.d is present in every place, and speaks with every tongue, and appears in some individual person: and hence some of them a.s.serted their Imams to be prophets, and at length G.o.ds. The Nosairians and the Ishakians taught that spiritual substances appear in grosser bodies; and that the angels and the devil have appeared in this manner. They also a.s.sert that G.o.d hath appeared in this manner. They also a.s.sert that G.o.d hath appeared in the form of certain men; and since, after Mohammed, there hath been no man more excellent than Ali, and, after him, his sons have excelled all other men, that G.o.d hath appeared in their form, spoken with their tongue, and made use of their hands; for which reason, say they, we attribute divinity to them. And to support these blasphemies, they tell several miraculous things of Ali, as his moving the gates of Khaibar, which they urge as a plain proof that he was endued with a particle of divinity and with sovereign power, and that he was the person in whose form G.o.d appeared, with whose hands he created all things, and with whose tongue he published his commands; and therefore they say he was in being before the creation of heaven and earth. In so impious a manner do they seem to wrest those things which are said in scripture of CHRIST by applying them to Ali. These extravagant fancies of the s.h.i.+tes, however, in making their Imams in laying claim thereto, are so far from being peculiar to this sect, that most of the other Mohammedan sects are tainted with the same madness; there being many found among them, and among the Sufis especially, who pretend to be nearly related to heaven, and who boast of strange revelations before the credulous people.

It may not be amiss to hear what al Ghazali has written on this occasion.

"Matters are come to that pa.s.s," says he, "that some boast of an union with G.o.d, and of discoursing familiarly with him, without the interposition of a veil, saying, 'It hath been thus said to us,' and 'We have thus spoken;' affecting to imitate Hosein al Hallaj, who was put to death for some words of this kind uttered by him, he having said (as was proved by credible witnesses), 'I am the Truth,' or Abu Yazid al Bastami, of whom it is related that he often used the expression, 'Sobhani,' i.e., 'Praise be unto me!' But this way of talking is the cause of great mischief among the common people; insomuch that husbandmen, neglecting the tillage of their land, have pretended to the like privileges; nature being tickled with discourses of this kind, which furnish men with an excuse for leaving their occupations, under pretence of purifying their souls, and attaining I know not what degrees and conditions. Nor is there anything to hinder the most stupid fellows from forming the like pretensions and catching at such vain expressions: for whenever what they say is denied to be true, they fail not to reply that our unbelief proceeds from learning and logic; affirming learning to be a veil, and logic the work of the mind; wherein what they tell us appears only within, being discovered by the light of truth. But this is that truth the sparks whereof have flown into several countries and occasioned great mischiefs; so that it is more for the advantage of G.o.d'S true religion to put to death one of those who utter such things than to bestow life on ten others."

Thus far have we treated of the chief sects among the Mohammedans of the first ages, omitting to say anything of the more modern sects, because the same are taken little or no notice of by their own writers, and would be of no use to our present design. It may be proper, however, to mention a word or two of the great schism at this day subsisting between the Sonnites and the s.h.i.+tes, or partisans of Ali, and maintained on either side with implacable hatred and furious zeal. Though the difference arose at first on a political occasion, it has, notwithstanding, been so well improved by additional circ.u.mstances and the spirit of