ẔIKR (ذكر‎). Lit. “Remembering.” Heb. ‏זָכַר‎ zākhar. The religious ceremony, or act of devotion, which is practised by the various religious orders of Faqīrs, or Darweshes. Almost every religious Muḥammadan is a member of some order of Faqīrs, and, consequently, the performance of ẕikr is very common in all Muḥammadan countries; but it does not appear that any one method of performing the religious service of ẕikr is peculiar to any order.

Ẕikrs, are of two kinds: ẕikr jalī, that which is recited aloud, and ẕikr k͟hafī, that which is performed either with a low voice or mentally.

The Naqshbandīyah order of Faqīrs usually perform the latter, whilst the Chishtīyah and Qādirīyah orders celebrate the former. There are various ways of going through the exercise, but the main features of each are similar in character. The following is a ẕikr jalī, as given in the book Qaulu ʾl-Jamīl, by Maulawī Shāh Walīyu ʾllāh, of Delhi:—

The worshipper sits in the usual sitting posture and shouts the word Allāh (God), drawing his voice from his left side and then from his throat.

Sitting as at prayers he repeats the word Allāh still louder than before, first from his right knee, and then from his left side.

Folding his legs under him he repeats the word Allāh first from his right knee and then from his left side, still louder!

Still remaining in the same position, he shouts the word Allāh, first from the left knee, then from the right knee, then from the left side, and lastly in front, still louder!

Sitting as at prayer, with his face towards Makkah, he closes his eyes, says “Lā”—drawing the sound as from his navel up to his left shoulder; then he says ilāha, drawing out the sound as from his brain; and lastly “illā ʾllāhu,” repeated from his left side with great energy.

Each of these stages is called a ẓarb. They are, of course, recited many hundreds of times over, and the changes we have described account for the variations of sound and motion of the body described by Eastern travellers who have witnessed the performance of a ẕikr.

The following is a ẕikr k͟hafī, or that which is performed in either a low voice or mentally.

Closing his eyes and lips, he says, “with the tongue of the heart,”

Allāhu Samīʿun, “God the Hearer.”

Allāhu Baṣīrun, “God the Seer.”

Allāhu ʿĀlimun, “God the Knower.”

The first being drawn, as it were, from the navel to the breast; the second, from the breast to the brain; the third, from the brain up the heavens; and then again repeated stage by stage backwards and forwards.

He says in a low voice, “Allāh,” from the right knee, and then from the left side.

With each exhalation of his breath, he says, “lā ilāha,” and with each inhalation, “illā ʾllāhu.”

This third ẓarb is a most exhausting act of devotion, performed, as it is, hundreds or even thousands of times, and is, therefore, considered the most meritorious.

It is related that Maulawī Ḥabību ʾllāh, living in the village of Gabāsanri, in the Gadūn country, on the Peshawur frontier, became such an adept in the performance of this ẓarb, that he recited the first part of the ẕikr lā ilāha with the exhalation of his breath after the mid-day prayer; and the second part, illā ʾllāhu, with the inhalation of his breath before the next time of prayer, thus sustaining his breath for the period of about three hours!

Another act of devotion, which usually accompanies the ẕikr, is that of Murāqabah, or meditation.

The worshipper first performs ẕikr of the following:—

Allāho hāzirī, “God who is present with me.”

Allāho nāz̤irī, “God who sees me.”

Allāho shāhidī, “God who witnesses me.”

Allāho maʿī, “God who is with me.”

Having recited this ẕikr, either aloud or mentally, the worshipper proceeds to meditate upon some verse or verses of the Qurʾān. Those recommended for the Qādirīyah Faqīrs by Maulavī Shāh Walīyu ʾllāh are the following, which we give as indicating the line of thought which is considered most devotional and spiritual by Muslim mystics:—

1. Sūratu ʾl-Ḥadīd (lvii.), 3:—

“He (God) is first. He is last. The Manifest, and the Hidden, and who knoweth all things.”

2. Sūratu ʾl-Ḥadīd (lvii.), 4:—

“He (God) is with you wheresoever ye be.”

3. Sūratu Qāf (l.), 16:—

“We (God) are closer to him (man) than his neck-vein.”

4. Sūratu ʾl-Baqarah (ii.), 109:—

“Whichever way ye turn, there is the face of God.”

5. Sūratu ʾn-Nisāʾ (iv.), 125:—

“God encompasseth all things.”

6. Sūratu ʾr-Raḥmān (lv.), 26, 27:—

“All on earth shall pass away, but the face of thy God shall abide resplendent with majesty and glory.”

Some teachers tell their disciples that the heart has two doors, that which is fleshly, and that which is spiritual; and that the ẕikr jalī has been established for the opening of the former, and ẕikr k͟hafī for the latter, in order that they may both be enlightened.

To the uninitiated such a ceremony appears but a meaningless rite, but to the Ṣūfī it is one calculated to convey great benefit to his inner man, as will appear from the following instructions which are given by a member of the Order respecting the ẕikr, which he says is a union of the heart and the tongue in calling upon God’s name. “In the first place, the Shaik͟h, or teacher, must with his heart recite, ‘There is no God but Allah, and Muḥammad is the Prophet of Allah,’ whilst the Murid keeps his attention fixed by placing his heart opposite that of the Shaik͟h; he must close his eyes, keep his mouth firmly shut, and his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth; his teeth tight against each other, and hold his breath; then, with great force, accompany the Shaik͟h in the ẕikr, which he must recite with his heart, and not with his tongue. He must retain his breath patiently, so that within one respiration he shall say the ẕikr three times, and by this means allow his heart to be impressed with the meditative ẕikr.”

“The heart,” the same writer continues, “in this manner is kept constantly occupied with the idea of the Most High God; it will be filled with awe, love, and respect for Him; and, if the practiser arrives at the power of continuing to effect this when in the company of a crowd, the ẕikr is perfect. If he cannot do this, it is clear that he must continue his efforts. The heart is a subtle part of the human frame, and is apt to wander away after worldly concerns, so that the easier mode of arriving at the proceeding is to compress the breath, and keep the mouth firmly closed with the tongue forced against the lips. The heart is shaped like the cone of a fir-tree; your meditations should be forced upon it, whilst you mentally recite the ẕikr. ‘Let the “La” be upward, the “Ilaha” to the right, and the whole phrase “La ilaha illa ʾllahu” (There is no God but Allah) be formed upon the fir-cone, and through it pass to all the members of the whole frame, and they feel its warmth. By this means the world and all its attractions disappear from your vision, and you are enabled to behold the excellence of the Most High. Nothing must be allowed to distract your attention from the ẕikr, and ultimately you retain, by its medium, a proper conception of the Tauḥīd, or Unity of God.

“The cone-shaped heart rests in the left breast and contains the whole truth of man. Indeed, it signifies the ‘whole truth’; it comprises the whole of man’s existence within itself, and is a compendium of man; mankind, great and small, are but an extension of it, and it is to humanity what the seed is to the whole tree which it contains within itself: in fine, the essence of the whole of God’s book and of all His secrets is the heart of man. Whoever finds a way to the heart obtains his desire; to find a way to the heart is needed by a heartful service, and the heart accepts of the services of the heart. It is only through the fatigues of water and ashes that the Murid reaches the conversation of the heart and the soul; he will be then so drawn towards God that afterwards, without any difficulty, he may without trouble, in case of need, turn his face from all others towards Him. He will then know the real meaning of the Tark (the abandonment of the world), the Haqiqat (the truth), the Hurriyat (the freedom), and the Ẕikr (the recital of God’s names and praises).”

As a curious instance of the superstitious character of this devotional exercise, the Chishtīyah order believe that if a man sits cross-legged and seizes the vein called kaimās, which is under the leg, with his toes, that it will give peace to his heart, when accompanied by a ẕikr of the “nafī wa is̤bāt,” which is a term used for the Kalimah, namely:—

Lā ilāha illā ʾllāhu, “There is no deity but God.”

The most common form of ẕikr is a recital of the ninety-nine names of God [NAMES OF GOD], for Muḥammad promised those of his followers who recited them a sure entrance to Paradise (Mishkāt, book cxi.); and to facilitate the recital of these names, the ẕākir (or reciter) uses a tasbīḥ (or rosary). [TASBIH.]

In addition to the forms of ẕikr already mentioned there are three others, which are even of more common use, and are known as Tasbīḥ, Taḥmīd, and Takbīr. They are used as exclamations of joy and surprise, as well as for the devotional exercise of ẕikr.

Tasbīḥ is the expression Subḥāna ʾllāh! “Holiness be to God!”

Taḥmīd, Alḥamdu li-ʾllāh! “Praise be to God!”

Takbīr, Allāhu akbar! “God is great!”

When the Tasbīḥ and Taḥmīd are recited together it is said thus, Ṣubḥāna ʾllāhi bi-ḥamdi-hi, i.e. “Holiness be to God with His praise.” It is related in the Ḥadīs̤ that Muḥammad said, “Whoever recites this sentence a hundred times, morning and evening, will have all his sins forgiven.”

Muḥammad said, “Repeat the Tasbīḥ a hundred times, and a thousand virtues shall be recorded by God for you, ten virtuous deeds for each repetition.”

In forming our estimation of Muḥammad and Muḥammadanism, we must take into consideration the important place the devotional exercise of ẕikr occupies in the system, not forgetting that it has had the authoritative sanction of “the Prophet” himself.

The following is a graphic description of one of these devotional performances, by Dr. Eugene Schuyler, in his work on Turkistan:—

“At about ten o’clock one Thursday evening, in company with several friends, we went to the mosque, and were at once admitted. Some thirty men, young and old, were on their knees in front of the qiblah, reciting prayers with loud cries and violent movements of the body, and around them was a circle, two or three deep, of men standing, who were going through the same motions. We took up a position in one corner and watched the proceedings. For the most part the performers or worshippers had taken off their outside gowns and their turbans, for the night was warm and the exercise was violent. They were reciting the words ‘My defence is in God! May Allah be magnified! My light, Muhammad—God bless him! There is no God but God!’ These words were chanted to various semi-musical notes in a low voice, and were accompanied by a violent movement of the head over the left shoulder towards the heart, then back, then to the right shoulder, and then down, as if directing all the movements towards the heart. These texts were repeated for hundreds and hundreds of times, and this zikr usually lasted for an hour or two. At first the movements were slow, but continually increased in rapidity, until the performers were unable to endure it any longer. If anyone failed in his duty, or was slower, or made less movement than was required, the persons who regulated the enthusiasm went up to him and struck him over the head, or pushed him back out of the circle and called another into it. Occasionally persons got so worn out with their cries, and so wet with perspiration, that it became necessary for them to retire for a few minutes rest, and their places were immediately taken by others. When their voices became entirely hoarse with one cry another was begun, and finally the cry was struck up, ‘He lives! He lives! God lives!’ at first slowly, with an inclination of the body to the ground: then the rhythm grew faster and in cadence, the body became more vertical, until at last they all stood up: the measure still increased in rapidity, and, each one placing his hand on the shoulder of his neighbour, and then forming several concentric rings, they moved in a mass from side to side of the mosque, leaping about and always crying: ‘He lives! God lives!’ Hitherto, there had been something wild and unearthly in it, but now to persons of weak nerves it became positively painful, and two of my friends were so much impressed as to be obliged to leave the mosque. Although I was sufficiently cold-blooded to see the ridiculous rather than horrible side of this, I could not help receiving an impression that the devotees were a pack of madmen, whose motions were utterly independent of any volition of their own.… The intonations of the voice were very remarkable, and were often accompanied by most singular gestures, the hands or a book being often held to the side of the mouth in order to throw the voice as far as possible. Often these recitations are merely collections of meaningless words, which always seem to produce the same effect on the hearers, and are constantly interrupted by cries of Hi, ho, och, och, ba, ba, and groans and sobs, and the hearers weep, beat their breasts with their fists, or fall upon the ground.”

The dancing and howling darweshes at Constantinople and Cairo have become public sights, and are familiar to those Europeans who have visited those cities.

We are indebted to Mr. Brown’s account of The Dervishes (Trübner and Co., Ludgate Hill) for the following graphic description of one of these public recitals of ẕikr. [FAQIR.]

The ceremony commences by the recital by the Shaik͟h of the seven first attributes of the Divinity, called by them the seven mysterious words. “He next chants various passages of the Koran, and at each pause the Dervishes, placed in a circle round the hall, respond in chorus by the word ‘Allah!’ (God) or ‘Hoo!’ (Huwa or Hū, He). In some of the societies they sit on their heels, the elbows close to those of each other, and all making simultaneously light movements of the head and body. In others, the movement consists in balancing themselves slowly, from the right to the left, and from the left to the right, or inclining the body methodically forward and aft. There are other societies in which these motions commence seated, in measured cadences, with a staid countenance, the eyes closed or fixed upon the ground, and are continued on foot. These singular exercises are consecrated under the name of Murâkebeh (exaltation of the Divine glory) [murāqabah, ‘meditation’], and also under that of the Tevheed (celebration of the Divine unity) [Tauḥīd], from which comes the name Tevheed khâneh given to the whole of the halls devoted to these religious exercises.

“In some of these institutions, such as the Kâdirees, the Rufâʾees, the Khalwettees, the Bairâmees, the Gulshenees, and the ʾUshâkees, the exercises are made, each holding the other by the hand, putting forward always the right foot, and increasing at every step the strength of the movement of the body. This is called the Devr (Daur), which may be translated the ‘dance’ or ‘rotation.’ The duration of these dances is arbitrary,—each one is free to leave when he pleases. Every one, however, makes it a point to remain as long as possible. The strongest and most robust of the number, and the most enthusiastic, strive to persevere longer than the others; they uncover their heads, take off their turbans, form a second circle within the other, entwine their arms within those of their brethren, lean their shoulders against each other, gradually raise the voice, and without ceasing repeat ‘Yâ Allah!’ (O God), or ‘Yâ Hoo!’ (O He), increasing each time the movement of the body, and not stopping until their entire strength is exhausted.

“Those of the order of the Rufâʾees excel in these exercises. They are, moreover, the only ones who use fire in their devotions. Their practices embrace nearly all those of the other orders; they are ordinarily divided into five different scenes, which last more than three hours, and which are preceded, accompanied, and followed by certain ceremonies peculiar to this order. The first commences with praises which all the Dervishes offer to their sheikhs, seated before the altar. Four of the more ancient come forward the first, and approach their superior, embrace each other as if to give the kiss of peace, and next place themselves two to his right, and two to his left. The remainder of the Dervishes, in a body, press forward in a procession, all having their arms crossed, and their heads inclined. Each one, at first, salutes by a profound bow the tablet on which the name of his founder is inscribed. Afterwards, putting his two hands over his face and his beard, he kneels before the Sheikh, kisses his hand respectfully, and then they all go on with a grave step to take their places on the sheep-skins, which are spread in a half-circle around the interior of the hall. So soon as a circle is formed, the Dervishes together chant the Takbeer (Takbīr, the exclamation Allāhu akbar, ‘God is exalted’) and the Fâtiha (Fātiḥah, the first chapter of the Qurʾān). Immediately afterwards the shaikh pronounces the words ‘Lâ ilâha illʾ Allâh’ (There is no deity but God), and repeats them incessantly; to which the Dervishes repeat ‘Allâh!’ balancing themselves from side to side, and putting their hands over their faces, on their breasts, and their abdomen, and on their knees.

“The second scene is opened by the Hamdee Mohammedee, a hymn in honour of the Prophet, chanted by one of the elders placed on the right of the sheikh. During this chant the Dervishes continue to repeat the word ‘Allah!’ moving, however, their bodies forward and aft. A quarter of an hour later they all rise up, approach each other, and press their elbows against each other, balancing from right to left, and afterwards in a reverse motion,—the right foot always firm, and the left in a periodical movement, the reverse of that of the body, all observing great precision of measure and cadence. In the midst of this exercise, they cry out the words ‘Yâ Allah!’ followed by that of ‘Yâ Hoo!’ Some of the performers sigh, others sob, some shed tears, others perspire great drops, and all have their eyes closed, their faces pale, and the eyes languishing.

“A pause of some minutes is followed by a third scene. It is performed in the middle of an Ilâhee, chanted by the two elders on the right of the sheikh. The Ilâhees are spiritual cantiques, composed almost exclusively in Persian by sheikhs deceased in the odour of sanctity. The Dervishes then hasten their movements, and, to prevent any relaxation, one of the first among them puts himself in their centre, and excites them by his example. If in the assembly there be any strange Dervishes, which often happens, they give them, through politeness, this place of honour; and all fill it successively, the one after the other, shaking themselves as aforesaid. The only exception made is in favour of the Mevlevees; these never perform any other dance than that peculiar to their own order, which consists in turning round on each heel in succession.

“After a new pause commences the fourth scene. Now all the Dervishes take off their turbans, form a circle, bear their arms and shoulders against each other, and thus make the circuit of the hall at a measured pace, striking their feet at intervals against the floor, and all springing up at once. This dance continues during the Ilâhees, chanted alternately by the two elders to the left of the sheikh. In the midst of this chant the cries of ‘Yâ Allah!’ are increased doubly, as also those of ‘Ya Hoo!’ with frightful howlings, shrieked by the Dervishes together in the dance. At the moment that they would seem to stop from sheer exhaustion, the sheikh makes a point of exerting them to new efforts by walking through their midst, making also himself most violent movements. He is next replaced by the two elders, who double the quickness of the step and the agitation of the body; they even straighten themselves up from time to time, and excite the envy or emulation of the others in their astonishing efforts to continue the dance, until their strength is entirely exhausted.

“The fourth scene leads to the last, which is the most frightful of all, the wholly prostrated condition of the actors becoming converted into a species of ecstasy which they call Halet (Ḥālah). It is in the midst of this abandonment of self, or rather of religious delirium, that they make use of red hot irons. Several cutlasses and other instruments of sharp-pointed iron are suspended in the niches of the hall, and upon a part of the wall to the right of the sheikh. Near the close of the fourth scene, two Dervishes take down eight or nine of these instruments, heat them red-hot, and present them to the sheikh. He, after reciting some prayers over them, and invoking the founder of the Order, Ahmed er Rufâʾee, breathes over them, and raising them slightly to the mouth, gives them to the Dervishes, who ask for them with the greatest eagerness. Then it is that these fanatics, transported by frenzy, seize upon these irons, gloat upon them tenderly, lick them, bite them, hold them between their teeth, and end by cooling them in their mouths! Those who are unable to procure any, seize upon the cutlasses hanging on the wall with fury, and stick them into their sides, arms, and legs.

“Thanks to the fury of their frenzy, and to the amazing boldness which they deem a merit in the eyes of the Divinity, all stoically bear up against the pain which they experience with apparent gaiety. If, however, some of them fall under their sufferings, they throw themselves into the arms of their confrères, but without a complaint or the least sign of pain. Some minutes after this the sheikh walks round the hall, visits each one of the performers in turn, breathes upon their wounds, rubs them with saliva, recites prayers over them, and promises them speedy cures. It is said that twenty-four hours afterwards nothing is to be seen of their wounds.

“It is the common opinion among the Rufâʾees that the origin of these bloody practices can be traced back to the founder of the Order. They pretend that one day, during the transport of his frenzy, Ahmed Rufâʾee put his legs in a burning basin of coals, and was immediately cured by the breath and saliva and the prayers of ʾAbdul Kâdir Ghilânee; they believe that their founder received this same prerogative from heaven, and that at his death he transmitted it to all the sheikhs his successors. It is for this reason that they give to these sharp instruments, and to these red-hot irons, and other objects employed by them in their mysterious frenzy, the name of Gul, which signifies ‘rose,’ wishing to indicate thereby that the use made of them is as agreeable to the soul of the elect Dervishes as the odour of this flower may be to the voluptuary.

“These extraordinary exercises seem to have something prodigious in them, which imposes on common people, but they have not the same effect on the minds of men of good sense and reason. The latter believe less in the sanctity of these pretended thaumaturges than in the virtue of certain secrets which they adroitly use to keep up the illusion and the credulity of the spectators, even among the Dervishes themselves. It is thus, perhaps, that some assemblies of these fanatics have given, in this age of light, and in the heart of the most enlightened nation, the ridiculous spectacle of those pious and barbarous buffooneries known by the name of convulsions. At all times, and amongst every people of the earth, weakness and credulity, enthusiasm and charlatanry, have but too frequently profaned the most holy faith, and objects the most worthy of our veneration.

“After the Rufâʾees, the Sâʾdees have also the reputation of performing miracles, pretty much of the same sort as the preceding. One reads in the institutes of this Order, that Sâʾd ed Deen Jebâwee, its founder, when cutting wood in the vicinity of Damascus, found three snakes of an enormous length, and that, after having recited some prayers and blown upon them, he caught them alive, and used them as a rope with which to bind his fagot. To this occurrence they ascribe the pretended virtue of the sheikhs and the Dervishes of this society, to find out snakes, to handle them, to bite them, and even to eat them, without any harm to themselves. Their exercises consist, like those of the Rufâʾees and other Orders, at first in seating themselves, and afterwards in rising upright; but in often changing the attitude, and in redoubling their agitation even until they become overcome with fatigue, when they fall upon the floor motionless and without knowledge. Then the sheikh, aided by his vicars, employs no other means to draw them out of this state of unconsciousness than to rub their arms and legs, and to breathe into their ears the words ‘Lâ ilâha illʾ Allah.’

“The Mevlevees are distinguished by the singularity of their dance, which has nothing in common with that of the other societies. They call it Semʾa (Samāʿ) in place of Devr (Daur), and the halls consecrated to it are called Semʾa khânehs. Their construction is also different. The apartment represents a kind of pavilion, sufficiently light, and sustained by eight columns of wood. These Dervishes have also prayers and practices peculiar to themselves. Among them the public exercises are not ordinarily made by more than nine, eleven, or thirteen individuals. They commence by forming a circle, seated on sheep-skin spread upon the floor at equal distances from each other; they remain nearly a half-hour in this position, the arms folded, the eyes closed, the head inclined, and absorbed in profound meditation.

“The sheikh, placed on the edge of his seat on a small carpet, breaks silence by a hymn in honour of the Divinity; afterwards he invites the assembly to chant with him the first chapter of the Koran. ‘Let us chant the Fâtiha,’ he says, in ‘glorifying the holy name of God, in honour of the blessed religion of the prophets, but above all, of Mohammed Mustapha, the greatest, the most august, the most magnificent of all the celestial envoys, and in memory of the first four Caliphs, of the sainted Fâtimah, of the chaste Khadeeja, of the Imâms Hasan and Husain, of all the martyrs of the memorable day, of the ten evangelical disciples, the virtuous sponsors of our sainted Prophet, of all his zealous and faithful disciples, of all the Imâms, Mujtahids (sacred interpreters), of all the doctors, of all the holy men and women of Mussulmanism. Let us chant also in honour of Hazreti Mevlânâ, the founder of our Order, of Hazreti Sultan ul ʾUlema (his father), of Sayid Burhân ed Deen (his teacher), of Sheikh Shems ed Din (his consecrator), of Vâlideh Sultan (his mother), of Mohammed ʾAllay ed Deen Efendi (his son and vicar), of all the Chelebees (his successors), of all the sheikhs, of all the Dervishes, and all the protectors of our Order, to whom the Supreme Being deigns to give peace and mercy. Let us pray for the constant prosperity of our holy society, for the preservation of the very learned and venerable Chelebee Efendi (the General of the Order), our master and lord, for the preservation of the reigning Sultan, the very majestic and clement Emperor of the Mussulman faith, for the prosperity of the Grand Vizier, and of the Sheikh ul Islâm, and that of all the Mohammedan militia, of all the pilgrims of the holy city of Mekkeh. Let us pray for the repose of the souls of all the institutors, of all the sheikhs, and of all the Dervishes of all other Orders; for all good people, for all those who have been distinguished by their good works, their foundations, and their acts of beneficence. Let us pray also for all the Mussulmans of one and the other sex of the east and the west, for the maintenance of all prosperity, for preventing all adversity, for the accomplishment of all salutary vows, and for the success of all praiseworthy enterprises; finally, let us ask God to deign to preserve in us the gift of His grace, and the fire of holy love.’

“After the Fâtiha, which the assembly chant in a body, the Sheikh recites the Fâtiha and the Salawât, to which the dance of the Dervishes succeeds. Leaving their places all at once, they stand in a file to the left of the superior, and, approaching near him with slow steps, the arms folded, and the head bent to the floor, the first of the Dervishes, arrived nearly opposite the Sheikh, salutes, with a profound inclination, the tablet which is on his seat, on which is the name of Hazreti Mevlânâ, the founder of the Order. Advancing next by two springs forward, to the right side of the superior, he turns toward him, salutes him with reverence, and commences the dance, which consists in turning on the left heel, in advancing slowly, and almost insensibly making the turn of the hall, the eyes closed, and the arms open. He is followed by the second Dervish, he by the third, and so on with all the others, who end by filling up the whole of the hall, each repeating the same exercises separately, and all at a certain distance from each other.

“This dance lasts sometimes for a couple of hours; it is only interrupted by two short pauses, during which the Sheikh recites different prayers. Towards the close of the exercises, he takes a part in them himself, by placing himself in the midst of the Dervishes; then returning to his seat, he recites some Persian verses expressive of good wishes for the prosperity of the religion, and the State. The General of the Order is again named, also the reigning Sultan, in the following terms: ‘The Emperor of the Mussalmans, and the most august of monarchs of the house of ʾOthman, Sultan, son of a sultan, grandson of a sultan, Sultan ——, son of Sultan ——, Khan,’ &c.

“Here the poem mentions all the princes of blood, the Grand Vizier, the Muftee, all the Pashas of the empire, the ʾUlemas, all the Sheikhs, benefactors of the Order, and of all the Mussulman peers, invoking the benediction of heaven on the success of their arms against the enemies of the empire. ‘Finally, let us pray for all the Dervishes present and absent, for all the friends of our holy society, and generally for all the faithful, dead and living, in the east and in the west.

“The ceremony terminates by chanting the Fâtiha, or first chapter of the Koran.”

(John P. Brown, The Dervishes, or Oriental Spiritualism, p. 218 seqq.)

These ceremonies of ẕikr would at first sight appear to have little in common with original Muḥammadanism, but there appears to be little doubt that the practice of reciting the word Allāh and other similar expressions, commenced in the days of Muḥammad himself, and this even the Wahhābīs admit, who at the same time condemn the extravagances of the Howling and Dancing Darveshes of Turkistan, Turkey, and Egypt.

A chapter is devoted to the Prophet’s injunctions on the subject in all large books of traditions, called Bābu ʾẕ-Ẕikr, from which the following sayings of Muḥammad have been selected:—

Whenever people sit and remember God, they are surrounded by angels which cover them with God’s favour, and peace descends upon them, and God remembers them in that assembly which is near him.

Verily there are angels who move to and fro on the roads and seek for the rememberers of God, and when they find an assembly remembering God, they say to one another, “Come ye to that which ye were seeking.” Then the angels cover them with their wings as far as the lowest heaven, called the region of the world. The Prophet said:—When the angels go to the court of God, God asks them, while knowing better than they, “What do my servants say and do?” Then the angels say, “They are reciting the Tasbīḥ, the Takbīr, the Taḥmīd, and the Tamjīd for Thee.” And God says, “Have they seen Me?” The angels say, “No, by God, they have not seen Thee.” Then God says, “What would their condition be if they had seen Me?” The angels say, “If they had seen Thee, they would be more energetic in worshipping Thee and in reciting the Tamjīd, and they would be more excessive in repeating the Tasbīḥ.” God says, “Then what do they want?” The angels say, “Paradise.” Then God says, “Have they seen Paradise?” The angels say, “We swear by God they have not.” Then God says, “What would their state have been had they seen Paradise?” The angels say, “If they had seen Paradise, they would be very ambitious for it, and would be excessive wishers of it, and very great desirers of it.” God says, “What thing is it they seek protection from?” The angels say, “From hell fire.” God says, “Have they seen the fire?” The angels say, “No, by God, if they had seen the fire——.” God says, “How would they have been had they seen the fire?” The angels say, “If they had seen the fire, they would be great runners from it, and would be great fearers of it.” Then God says, “I take ye as witnesses that verily I have pardoned them.” One of the angels said, “There is a person amongst them who is not a rememberer of Thee, and is only come on account of his own needs.”

There is a polish for everything that takes rust, and the polish for the heart is the remembrance of God, and there is no act that redeems from God’s punishments so much as the remembrance of Him. The Companions said, “Is not fighting with the infidels also like this?” He said, “No, although he fights until his sword be broken.”

“Shall I not inform you of an action which is better for you than fighting with infidels and cutting off their heads, and their cutting off yours?” The Companions said, “Yes, inform us.” The Prophet said, “These actions are remembering God.”

ʿAbdullāh ibn Aus said:—An ʿArabī came to the Prophet and asked, “Which is the best of men?” The Prophet said, “Blessed is the person whose life is long and whose actions are good.” The ʿArabī said, “O Prophet! which is the best of actions, and the most rewarded?” He said, “The best of actions is this, that you separate from the world, and die whilst your tongue is moist in repeating the name of God.”

A man said, “O Prophet of God, really the rules of Islām are many, tell me a thing by which I may lay hold of rewards.” The Prophet said, “Let your tongue be always moist in the remembrance of God.”

“Verily there are ninety-nine names of God; whosoever counts them up shall enter into Paradise.” And in another tradition it is added, “God is Witr and like Witr.”

When Ẕū ʾn-Nūn (Jonah) the prophet prayed his Lord, when he was in the fish’s belly, he said, “There is no Deity but Thee. I extol Thy holiness. Verily I am of the unjust ones.” And a Mussulman who supplicates God with this petition will have his prayer granted.

The best expressions are these four: Subhāna Allahi, al-Hamdu Lillāhi, La ilāha illā ʾllāhu, and Allāhu akbar; and it does not matter with which of them you begin.

Verily I like repeating these four expressions: O Holy God! Praise be to God! There is no deity but God! and God is Great! better than anything upon which the sun shines.

No one can bring a better deed on the Day of Resurrection (unless he shall have said the like or added to it) than he who has recited, “O Holy God! Praise be to Thee!” one hundred times every morning and evening.

There are two expressions light upon the tongue and heavy in the scale of good works, and they are, “O Holy God! Praise be to Thee!” and “O Holy God! the Mighty One!”

That person who shall say, “There is no deity but God, who has no partner, to whom is dominion and praise and power,” one hundred times, shall receive rewards equal to the emancipating of ten slaves; and one hundred good actions shall be written for him, and one hundred of his sins shall be blotted out; and those words shall be a protection to him from the devil and his wickedness, in that day in which he shall have repeated them, until the night. Nor can anyone perform a better deed for the Day of Resurrection than this, unless he has done even more.

Moses said, “O my Lord, teach me how I am to call upon Thee.” And God said, “O Moses, recite ‘There is no deity but God!’ ” Then Moses said, “O my Lord, every one of Thy people say this.” And God said, “O Moses, if the seven heavens and their inhabitants and the seven earths were put into one scale, and this expression, ‘There is no deity but God,’ into another, these words would exceed in weight.”

Reciting “O Holy God” is half the scale of good works, and reciting “God be praised,” fills the scale. The recital of “There is no deity but one,” removes the curtain between the worshipper and his God.

He who recites with an unsullied heart “There is no deity but God,” shall have the doors of heaven open for him until he reaches the throne of God, as long as he abstains from great sins.

The ejaculation, “There is no power and strength but in God,” is medicine for ninety-nine pains, the least of which is melancholy.

“There are two qualities which, being practised by anyone, shall cause him to enter Paradise; they are small and easy, and it is easy for anyone to practise them. One of them is this: saying ‘God is holy’ ten times after every prayer, ‘Praised be God’ ten times, and ‘God is great’ ten times.” And verily I saw the Prophet counting these words on his hand, and he would say, “Then these words are one hundred and fifty with the tongue in the day and night, but they are one thousand and five hundred in the scale of actions, reckoning ten for one. And the second is this: when he goes to his bed-chamber, let him say, ‘God is holy,’ and ‘God be praised,’ and ‘God is great,’ then that is one hundred on the tongue and a thousand in the scales. Then which of you is it that commits two thousand five hundred vices in the day and night, so that these words may cover them?” The Companions said, “If when we repeat these words we have so many rewards, why should we not say them?” The Prophet said, “The Devil comes to one of you when at prayers and says to him, ‘Remember so-and-so,’ till you have finished your prayers; and the Devil comes to you in your bed-chamber, and is always making you sleep.”

AZ̤-Z̤ILLU ʾL-AUWAL (الظل الاول‎). “The first shade.” A Ṣūfī term for al-ʿAqlu ʾl-Auwal. [SUFI.]

Z̤ILLU ʾLLĀH (ظل الله‎). “The Shade of God.” A Ṣūfī term for the Insānu ʾl-Kāmil, or the “perfect man.” [SUFI.]

AZ-ZILZĀL (الزلزال‎). “The Earthquake.” The title of the XCIXth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, beginning with the words “When the earth shall quake with its quaking.”

ẔIMMAH (ذمة‎), pl. ẕimam, from the root ẕamm, “to blame.” A compact, covenant, or contract, a league or treaty, any engagement or obligation, because the breaking thereof necessitates blame; and a right or due, for the neglect of which one is to be blamed. The word is also synonymous with amān, in the sense of security of life and property, protection or safeguard, and promise of such; hence ahlu ʾẕ-ẕimmah, or, with suppression of the noun ahlu, simply aẕ-ẕimmah, the people with whom a compact or covenant has been made, and particularly the Kitābīs, or the people of the book, i.e. Jews and Christians, and the Majūsī or Sabeans, who pay the poll-tax called jazyah. [JAZYAH.] An individual of this class—namely, a free non-Muslim subject of a Muslim Government, who pays a poll- or capitation-tax, for which the Muslims are responsible for his security, personal freedom, and religious toleration—is called ẕimmī (see the following article).

In the Qurʾān, the word ẕimmah occurs once, in the sense of clientship, or good faith, as opposed to ties of blood. Sūrah ix. 7–10:—

“How can they who add gods to God be in league with God and with His Apostle, save those with whom ye made a league at the sacred temple? So long as they are true to you, be ye true to them: verily, God loveth those who fear Him.

“How can they? since if they prevail against you, they will not regard, in their dealing with you, either ties of blood or good faith: With their mouths they content you, but their hearts are averse, and most of them are perverse doers.

“They sell the signs of God for a mean price, and turn others aside from his way: of a truth, evil is it that they do!

“They respect not with a believer either ties of blood or good faith; and these are the transgressors.”

In modern language, the word ẕimmah has frequently the meaning of conscience. (Compare Lane’s Arabic Dictionary, in loco.)

ẔIMMĪ (ذمى‎), a member of the Ahlu ʾẕ-Ẕimmah, a non-Muslim subject of a Muslim Government, belonging to the Jewish, Christian, or Sabean creed, who, for the payment of a poll- or capitation-tax, enjoys security of his person and property in a Muḥammadan country.

One of the most urgent duties enjoined by Muḥammad upon the Muslim or true believer, was the Jihād fī Sabīli ʾllāhi, or exertion in the road of God, i.e. warfare for the spread of Islām, amongst the infidels within and without Arabia [JIHAD]; thus the whole world came to be regarded as divided into two great portions, the Dāru ʾl-Ḥarb and Dāru ʾl-Islām [DARU ʾL-HARB, DARU ʾL-ISLAM]—the territories of War and the territories of Peace. These two divisions, one of which represented the land of infidelity and darkness, the other that of light and faith, were supposed to be in a continual state of open or latent belligerency, until the Dāru ʾl-Islām should have absorbed the Dāru ʾl-Ḥarb and faith conquered unbelief. Infidelity, however, admits of degrees. Its worst shape is idolatry, that is, the worship of idols instead of or besides the one true God; and this, again, is a crime most abominable on the part of Arabs, “since the Prophet was sent amongst them, and manifested himself in the midst of them, and the Qurʾān was delivered down in their language.” Of an equally atrocious character is the infidelity of apostates, “because they have become infidels, after having been led into the way of faith, and made acquainted with its excellence.” In the case of neither, therefore, is a compromise admissible; they must accept or re-embrace the faith, or pay with their lives the full penalty of their crime.

With regard to the idolaters of a non-Arabic or ʿAjam country, which latter expression in the times of early Islām particularly applied to the Persian Empire, ash-Shāfiʿī maintains that destruction is incurred by them also; but the other learned doctors agree that it is lawful to reduce them to slavery, thus allowing them, as it were, a respite during which it may please God to direct them into the right path, but making, at the same time, their persons and substance subservient to the cause of Islām.

The least objectionable form of infidelity in the eyes of Muḥammad and his followers, is that of the Kitābīs or people of the Book (ahlu ʾl-kitāb), i.e. the Jews, as possessors of the Old Testament, or Taurāt, and the Christians, to whom, moreover, the Injīl (Gospel) was revealed. As they are not guilty of an absolute denial, but only of a partial perversion of the truth, only part of the punishment for disbelief is their due, and it is imposed upon them in the shape of a tribute, called poll- or capitation-tax [JAZYAH], by means of which they secure protection for their property, personal freedom, and religious toleration from the Muslim Government. The same privilege is extended to the Majūsī or Sabeans, whose particular form of worship was more leniently judged by Muḥammad and the Traditionists than that of the idolaters of Persia.

This is the state of things if a country inhabited by such infidels be conquered by a Muslim army: theoretically, the inhabitants, together with their wives and children, are considered as plunder and property of the State, and it would be lawful to reduce them to slavery. In practice, however, the milder course prevails, and by paying the stipulated capitation-tax, the subdued people become, in the quality of Ẕimmīs, free subjects of the conquering power, whose condition is but little inferior to that of their Muslim fellow-subjects.

The relations of an alien or Ḥarbī—that is, one who belongs to the people of the Dāru ʾl-ḥarb—to a Muslim community which he visits, in time of peace, for the sake of traffic or any other legitimate purpose, are regulated by that high conception of the duties of hospitality, which was innate with the ancient Arab, and which prompted him to defend and honour even a mortal enemy, as soon as he might have crossed as a chance guest the threshold of his tent.

On entering the territory, an alien can claim a guest’s protection from the first met Muslim, be it even the lowest peasant, and having obtained this protection, he is entitled to remain in the country unmolested for the term of a whole year. The authorities, however, must within the year give him notice that, if he should remain until its completion, capitation-tax will be imposed upon him, and in such notice the permission for his stay may be limited to some months only, if for some reason or other it should appear advisable or necessary to do so. If the alien continue in the country beyond the full or limited time prescribed, he becomes ipso facto liable to the capitation-tax, and if, after thus becoming a Ẕimmī, he be desirous of returning to his own country, he may be prevented, as now being bound to the Muslim Government by a contract of fealty. In similar manner an alien becomes a Ẕimmī upon purchasing tribute land and paying the impost on it, and is then liable to capitation-tax for the ensuing year. An alien woman turns Ẕimmīyah by marrying a Ẕimmī, because thereby she undertakes to reside in the Muḥammadan state. (See Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 196.)

Ẕimmīs do not subject themselves to the laws of Islām, either with respect to things which are merely of a religious nature, such as fasting and prayer, or with respect to those temporal acts which, though contrary to the Muḥammadan religion, may be legal by their own, such as the sale of wine or swine’s flesh. The construction of places of worship in the Muslim territory is unlawful for them, unless within their own houses, but if churches and synagogues originally belonging to Christians and Jews be destroyed or fall to decay, they are at liberty to rebuild and repair them. This is the rule with regard to cities, because, as the tokens of Islām, such as public prayer, festivals, &c., appear there, Ẕimmīs should not be permitted to exhibit the tokens of infidelity in the face of them; in villages and hamlets, on the other hand, where the tokens of Islām do not appear, there is no occasion to prevent the construction of Christian and Jewish places of worship. (See Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 219.)

Save some slight restrictions with regard to dress and equipage, Ẕimmīs are held in all transactions of daily life pretty much on a footing of equality with Muslims. Like children, women and slaves, a Ẕimmī has no legal share in the booty, but only a discretionary allowance out of it, if he has taken part in the fight. If he has acted as a guide, and his services as such have been attended with any eminent advantage, he may, however, receive even a larger share than a Muḥammadan combatant. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 178.)

Every marriage that is lawful between two Muslims, is lawful between two Ẕimmīs. Marriages that are not lawful between two Muslims are of several kinds. Of these there is the marriage without witnesses. When a Ẕimmī marries a Ẕimmīyah without witnesses, and such marriages are sanctioned by their religion, the marriage is lawful. So that, if they should afterwards embrace the Muslim faith, the marriage would still be established. And in like manner, if they should not embrace that faith, but should both claim from the judge the application of the rules of Islām, or one of them should make such a claim, the judge is not to separate them. There is also the marriage of a woman during her ʿiddah on account of another man [ʿIDDAH]. When a Ẕimmī marries a woman in her ʿiddah for another man, that man being a Muslim, the marriage is invalid, and may be objected to before their adoption of the Muḥammadan religion, even though their own religion should recognise the legality of marriage in the state of ʿiddah; but if the ʿiddah were rendered incumbent on the woman on account of an infidel, and marriages in a state of ʿiddah are accounted lawful in the religion of the parties, it cannot be objected to while they remain in a state of infidelity, according to general agreement. If under these circumstances they afterwards adopt the Muslim faith, the marriage remains fixed and established, according to Abū Ḥanīfah, whose decision is considered valid in spite of the different opinions of Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad, and the judge is not to separate them, though both of them or only one of them should adopt the faith, or both or only one of them should bring the matter before the judge. In the Mabsūt̤ it is stated that the difference between the masters was only when the reference to the judge, or the adoption of the faith, takes place during the subsistence of the ʿiddah; but where it does not take place till after the ʿiddah has expired, the parties are not to be separated, according to all their opinions. (Baillie’s Digest of Moohummudan Law, Hanifeea, p. 178.)

If a Ẕimmī marry a Ẕimmīyah, making the dower consist of wine or pork, and one or both should afterwards embrace the faith before the wife has obtained seisin, according to Abū Ḥanīfah, the woman is entitled to receive the actual article, if it has been “identically specified,” but if not, the estimated value of the wine, or her proper dower in lieu of the pork, as the case may be. Abū Yūsuf maintains that she is to have her proper dower, and Muḥammad the estimated value in all cases. If a Christian Ẕimmī marry a Christian Ẕimmīyah, without specifying any dower, or on a specified dower consisting of carrion (flesh of an animal not lawfully slain), such as may be deemed lawful by members of their profession, and have sexual intercourse with her, or divorce her without consummation, or die without consummation, according to Abū Ḥanīfah, she is not entitled to any dower, although both parties may have embraced the faith in the interim; but according to Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad, she will take her proper dower if the husband consummate the marriage, or die without consummation, and will be entitled to a present if she be divorced without consummation. (A. Rumsey, Moohummudan Law of Inheritance, p. 373.)

When one of an infidel married couple embraces the Muḥammadan faith, Islām is to be presented to the other, and if the other adopt it, good and well; if not, they are to be separated. If the party is silent and says nothing, the judge is to present Islām to him time after time, till the completion of three, by way of caution. And there is no difference between a discerning youth and one who is adult; so that a separation is to be made equally on the refusal of the former as of the latter, according to Abū Ḥanīfah and the Imām Muḥammad. But if one of the parties be young and without sufficient discernment, it is necessary to wait till he has understanding; and when he has understanding, Islām is then to be presented to him; and if he adopt it, well; if not, a separation is to be made without waiting for his arriving at puberty. And if he be mad, Islām is to be presented to his parents; and if they, or one of them, should embrace it, good and well; if not, a separation is to be made between the married parties. If the husband should embrace the faith and the wife refuse, the separation is not accounted repudiation; but if the wife should embrace the faith and the husband decline, the separation in consequence is considered a repudiation, since the cause of separation proceeds from him. When a separation takes place between them by reason of refusal, and it is after consummation, she is entitled to the whole dower; and if it is before consummation and through his refusal, she is entitled to half the dower; but if through her own refusal, she has no dower at all. If, however, the husband of a Kitābīyah adopt the faith, their marriage remains unaffected in accordance with the general principle, that the marriage between a Muslim and a Kitābīyah is originally lawful. (Baillie, Hanifeea Code, p. 180.)

When a Ẕimmī has repudiated his Ẕimmīyah wife three times, and then behaves to her as he had done before the repudiation, without marrying her again, or saying the words of the contract over her; or when his wife has obtained a k͟hulʿ or release [KHULʿ], and he then acts to her as before without renewing the contact—they are to be separated, even though they should not bring the matter to the judge. But if he repudiates her three times, and then renews the contract of marriage with her without her being married to another, they are not to be separated. (Ib.)

The child follows the religion of the better of its parents. Hence, if one of them be a Muslim, the child is of the Muslim religion. The mother could not be so ab initio, but only in consequence of conversion to the Muḥammadan faith, for a Muslim woman cannot lawfully be the wife of any other than a man of her own religion. So also, if one of them should subsequently embrace Islām, having an infant child, the infant would become Muslim by virtue of the parent’s conversion, that is, when there is no difference of dār, by both of the parents being either within the Dāru ʾl-Islām or the Dāru ʾl-Ḥarb, or by the child being in the former at the time that its parent embraces the Muslim faith in the foreign country, for he then becomes constructively one of the Muslim people; but when the child is in the foreign country, and the parent within the Muslim territory, and he adopt the faith there, the child does not follow him, and is not a Muslim. A Majūsī is worse than a Kitābī; and if one of the parents be a Majūsī and the other Kitābī, the child is a Kitābī, and may be lawfully married by a Muslim, to whom also things slaughtered by the child would be lawful.

Generally, an infidel cannot inherit from a believer, nor, on the other hand, can a believer inherit from an infidel; but infidel subjects of a Muslim state can inherit from one another. And it is immaterial, for such a purpose, whether they be of the same religion or not; all unbelievers being, in this respect, considered as of one class. A Muslim may, however, make a bequest to a Ẕimmī and a Ẕimmī to a Muslim, as well as to another infidel, whether of the same or of a different religion, not being a hostile alien. The testamentary power of a Ẕimmī is subject to the same limitations as that of a Muslim, so that bequests to a person entitled by inheritance are invalid, and bequests to any other person are invalid so far as they exceed one-third of the testator’s property. This for the reason that, on entering into the compact of Ẕimmah, he has agreed to conform to the laws of Islām in all temporal concerns. (See A. Rumsey, Moohummudan Law of Inheritance, p. 222.)

The will of a Ẕimmī for secular purposes is valid, according to all opinions. Other than secular purposes are of four different kinds. First, there are purposes which are qurbah, or a means of approach to Almighty God, both with Ẕimmīs and Muslims; and bequests for these purposes are valid, whether they be to a set of particular persons or not. Thus, when a Kitābī has directed, by his will, that slaves be purchased and emancipated on his account, whether with or without a specification of individuals, or that a third of his property be bestowed in charity on beggars and the indigent, or expended in lighting a lamp in the Baitu ʾl-Muqaddas or Holy Temple of Jerusalem, or in making war against the infidel Tartars, the bequest is valid.

Second, there are purposes which are sinful, both with the Ẕimmīs and the Muslims; and bequests for these purposes are valid, if they are to a set of particular persons, and the bequest is a gift without regard to the purposes; but if the persons are not particularised, the bequest is void. If, therefore, a Ẕimmī should bequeath, for instance, a third of his property for the support of dissolute women, singers, and the like, the bequest is valid, if such persons are particularised and it is a gift to them; but if they are not particularised, it is void.

Third, there are purposes which are qurbah with the Muslims, but sinful with the Ẕimmīs. In this, as in the previous case, the bequest is a gift and valid if in favour of a set of particular persons; but it is void, if the persons are not particularised. Hence, if the third of a man’s property is to be expended in sending a set of Muslims on pilgrimage, or building a masjid, and the persons are particularised, the bequest or gift is valid, and considered to be coupled with a counsel to accomplish the stated purpose, leaving them at liberty to perform the pilgrimage, or erect the mosque, or not, as they please.

Fourth and last, there are purposes which are sinful with a Muslim, but qurbah or meritorious with a Ẕimmī; and bequests for these are valid, according to Abū Ḥanīfah, whether the persons be particularised or not; but void, according to Abū Yūsuf and the Imām Muḥammad, when they are not specified. If, for instance, a Kitābī bequeath a third of his property for the erection of a church or synagogue; or bequeath his mansion to be converted into a place of worship of his religion, the bequest, according to the two disciples, is void, as sinful in the eyes of a Muslim, unless it is for a particular class of persons, when it is a gift to them; but, according to Abū Ḥanīfah, it is valid under all circumstances. This, however, subject to the condition stated above, that the erection of such buildings takes place in villages and not in towns, the bequest in the latter case being inoperative. (See Baillie, Hanifeea Code, p. 673.)

If a Jew or a Christian, being in sound health, build a church or a synagogue, and then die, such building is an inheritance, according to all the doctors, and therefore descends to the heirs in the same manner as any other of the founder’s property. From the point of view taken by the two disciples this is evident enough. But with regard to Abū Ḥanīfah’s doctrine, the question may be raised: What is the difference between the building of a church or synagogue in the time of health, and the bequeathing it by will, that Abū Ḥanīfah should hold it inheritable in the former instance, and not in the latter. This “objection” is met in the Hidāyah with the “reply”: “that it is not the mere erecting (of the church, &c.) which extinguishes the builder’s property, but the exclusive dedication of the building to the service of God, as in the case of mosques erected by Mussulmāns; and as an infidel place of worship is not dedicated to God indisputably, it therefore still remains the property of the founder, and is consequently inheritable (in common with his other effects); whereas a bequest, on the contrary, is used for the very purpose of destroying a right of property.” (Hidāyah, Grady’s Translation, p. 696.)