HELPERS, The. [ANSAR.]

HERACLIUS. Arabic Hiraql (هرقل‎). The Roman Emperor to whom Muḥammad sent an embassy with a letter inviting him to Islām, A.H. 7, A.D. 628.

“In the autumn of this year (A.D. 628), Heraclius fulfilled his vow of thanksgiving for the wonderful success which had crowned his arms (in Persia); he performed on foot the pilgrimage from Edessa to Jerusalem, where the ‘true cross,’ recovered from the Persians, was with solemnity and pomp restored to the Holy Sepulchre. While preparing for this journey, or during the journey itself, an uncouth despatch in the Arabic character was laid before Heraclius. It was forwarded by the Governor of Bostra, into whose hands it had been delivered by an Arab chief. The epistle was addressed to the Emperor himself, from ‘Mahomet the Apostle of God,’ the rude impression of whose seal could be deciphered at the foot. In strange and simple accents like those of the Prophets of old, it summoned Heraclius to acknowledge the mission of Mahomet, to cast aside the idolatrous worship of Jesus and his Mother, and to return to the Catholic faith of the one only God. The letter was probably cast aside, or preserved, it may be, as a strange curiosity, the effusion of some harmless fanatic.” (Muir’s Life of Mahomet, new ed. p. 383.)

Tradition, of course, has another story. “Now the Emperor was at this time at Hims, performing a pedestrian journey, in fulfilment of the vow which he had made, that, if the Romans overcame the Persians, he would travel on foot from Constantinople to Aelia (Jerusalem). So having read the letter, he commanded his chief men to meet him in the royal camp at Hims. And thus he addressed them:—‘Ye chiefs of Rome! Do you desire safety and guidance, so that your kingdom shall be firmly established, and that ye may follow the commands of Jesus, Son of Mary?’ ‘And what, O King! shall secure us this?’ ‘Even that ye follow the Arabian Prophet,’ said Heraclius. Whereupon they all started aside like wild asses of the desert, each raising his cross and waving it aloft in the air. Whereupon Heraclius, despairing of their conversion, and unwilling to lose his kingdom, desisted, saying that he had only wished to test their constancy and faith, and that he was now satisfied by this display of firmness and devotion. The courtiers bowed their heads, and so the Prophet’s despatch was rejected.” (Kātibu ʾl-Wāqidī, p. 50, quoted by Muir, in a note to the above passage.)

The letter written by Muḥammad to Heraclius is, according to a tradition by Ibn ʿAbbās, as follows:—

“In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate. This letter is from Muḥammad the Messenger of God, to Hiraql, chief of ar-Rūm. Peace be upon whosoever has gone on the straight road! After this, I say, verily I call thee to Islām. Embrace Islām that ye may obtain peace. Embrace Islām and God will give thee a double reward. If ye reject Islām, then on thee shall rest the sins of thy subjects and followers. O ye people of the Book (i.e. Christians) come to a creed which is laid down plainly between us and you, that we will not serve other than God, nor associate aught with Him, nor take each other for lords rather than God. But if they turn back, then say, ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims.’ ” (Qurʾān, iii. 57.) (See Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, p. 98.)

The Shīʿah traditions give the above letter almost verbatim. (See Merrick’s Ḥayātu ʾl-Qulūb, p. 89.)

“Not long after, another despatch, bearing the same seal, and couched in similar terms, reached the court of Heraclius. It was addressed to Hârith VII., Prince of the Bani Ghassân, who forwarded it to the Emperor, with an address from himself, soliciting permission to chastise the audacious impostor. But Heraclius regarding the ominous voice from Arabia beneath his notice, forbade the expedition, and desired that Hârith should be in attendance at Jerusalem, to swell the imperial train at the approaching visitation of the temple. Little did the Emperor imagine that the kingdom which, unperceived by the world, this obscure Pretender was founding in Arabia, would in a few short years wrest from his grasp that Holy City and the fair provinces which, with so much toil and so much glory, he had just recovered from the Persians!” (Muir’s Life of Mahomet, p. 384.)

(For the Shīʿah account of the embassy to Heraclius, see Merrick’s Ḥayātu ʾl-Qulūb, p. 88.)

HERMAPHRODITE (Arabic خنثى‎, K͟huns̤ā) is a person who is possessed of the organs of generation of both man and woman, and for whose spiritual existence the Muḥammadan law legislates (vide Hidāyah, vol. iv. p. 559). For example, it is a rule, with respect to equivocal hermaphrodites, that they are required to observe all the more comprehensive points of the spiritual law, but not those concerning the propriety of which, in regard to them, any doubt exists. In public prayer they must take their station between the men and the women, but in other respects observe the customs of women. (Idem, p. 561.)

HIBAH (هبة‎). A legal term in Muḥammadan law, which signifies a deed of gift, a transfer of property, made immediately and without any exchange. [GIFTS.]

ḤIDĀD (حـداد‎). “Mourning.” The state of a widow who abstains from scents, ornaments, &c., on account of the death of her husband. Ḥidād must be observed for a period of four months and ten days. (Hidāyah, vol. i. p. 370.)

HIDĀYAH (هداية‎). Lit. “Guidance.” The title of a well known book on Sunnī law, and frequently quoted in the present work. There are many Muḥammadan works entitled al-Hidāyah, but this is called Hidāyah fīʾl-furūʿ, or “a guidance in particular points.” It was composed by the Shaik͟h Burhānu ʾd-dīn ʿAlī, who was born at Marg͟hīnān in Transoxania about A.H. 530 (A.D. 1135), and died A.H. 593.

There is an English translation of the Hidāyah (omitting the chapters on Prayer and Purification), by Charles Hamilton, four vols., London, A.D. 1791.

ḤIFZ̤U ʾL-ʿAHD (حفظ العهد‎). Lit. “The guarding of the covenant.” A term used by the Ṣūfī mystics for remaining firm in that state in which God has brought them. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)

HIGHWAY ROBBERY. Arabic qat̤ʿu ʾt̤-t̤arīq (قطعو الطريق‎). Persian rahzani. Highway robbery is a very heinous offence according to Muḥammadan law, the punishment of which has been fixed by the Qurʾān (Sūrah v. 37): “The recompense of those who war against God and His apostle, and go about to enact violence on the earth, is that they be slain or crucified, or have their alternate hands and feet cut off, or be banished the land.” According to the Hidāyah, highway robbers are of four kinds, viz. (1) Those who are seized before they have robbed or murdered any person, or put any person in fear. These are to be imprisoned by the magistrate until their repentance is evident. (2) Those who have robbed but have not murdered. These are to have their right hand and left foot struck off. (3) Those who have committed murder but have not robbed. These are punished with death. (4) Those who have committed both robbery and murder. These are punished according to the option of the magistrate. If he please, he can first cut off a hand and foot, and then put them to death by the sword, or by crucifixion; or he may kill them at once without inflicting amputation. If any one among a band of robbers be guilty of murder, the punishment of death must be inflicted upon the whole band.

ḤIJĀB (حجاب‎). A partition or curtain. Veiling or concealing.

(1) A term used for the seclusion of women enjoined in the Qurʾān, Sūrah xxxiii. 53: “And when ye ask them (the Prophet’s wives) for an article, ask them from behind a curtain; that is purer for your hearts and for theirs.”

(2) A term used by the Ṣūfī mystics for that which obscures the light of God in the soul of man. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)

ḤIJĀZ (حجاز‎). Lit. “A barrier or anything similar by which two things are separated.” The name al-Ḥijāz is given to that tract of country which separates Najd from Tahāmah, and is an irregular parallelogram about 250 miles long and 150 miles wide. It may be considered the holy land of the Muḥammadans, for within its limits are the sacred cities of al-Madīnah and Makkah, and most of its places are someway connected with the history of Muḥammad. It is a barren district consisting of sandy plains towards the shore and rocky hills in the interior; and so destitute of provisions as to depend, even for the necessaries of life, on the supplies of other countries. Among its fertile spots is Wādī Fāt̤imah, which is well watered, and produces grain and vegetables. Sajrah abounds in date trees. At̤-T̤āʾif, seventy-two miles from Makkah, is celebrated for its gardens, and the neighbourhood of al-Madīnah has cultivated fields. The towns on the coast are Jiddah and Yambuʿ, the former being considered the port of Makkah, from which it is distant about fifty-five miles, and the latter that of al-Madīnah. Al-Ḥijāz is bounded eastward by a lofty range of mountains, which, near At̤-T̤āʾif, take the name of Jabalu ʾl-Qura. The scenery there is occasionally beautiful and picturesque; the small rivulets that descend from the rocks afford nourishment to the plains below, which are clothed with verdure and shady trees. The vicinity of Makkah is bleak and bare; for several miles it is surrounded with thousands of hills all nearly of one height; their dark and naked peaks rise one behind another, appearing at a distance like cocks of hay. The most celebrated of these are aṣ-Ṣafā, ʿArafah and al-Marwah, which have always been connected with the religious rites of the Muḥammadan pilgrimage.

ḤIJR (حجر‎). In its primitive sense means interdiction or prevention.

(1) In the language of the law it signifies an interdiction of action with respect to a particular person, who is either an infant, an idiot, or a slave. (Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 468.)

(2) Al-Ḥijr is a territory in the province of al-Ḥijāz between al-Madīnah and Syria, where the tribe of S̤amūd dwelt. It is the title of the XVth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, in the 80th verse of which the word occurs: “The inhabitants of al-Ḥijr likewise accused the messenger of God of imposture.”

HIJRAH (هجرة‎). Lit. “migration.” (1) The departure of Muḥammad from Makkah. (2) The Muslim era. (3) The act of a Muslim leaving a country under infidel rule. (4) Fleeing from sin.

The date of Muḥammad’s flight from Makkah was the fourth day of the first month of Rabīʿ, which by the calculation of M. Caussin de Perceval was June 20th, A.D. 622. The Hijrah, or the era of the “Hegira,” was instituted seventeen years later by the K͟halīfah ʿUmar, which dates from the first day of the first lunar month of the year, viz. Muḥarram, which day in the year when the era was established fell on Thursday the 15th of July A.D. 622. But although ʿUmar instituted the official era, according to at̤-T̤abarī, the custom of referring to events as happening before or after the Hijrah originated with Muḥammad himself.

Professor H. H. Wilson in his Glossary of Terms gives the following method of ascertaining the Muḥammadan and Christian years:—

Multiply the Hijrah year by 2,977, the difference between 100 solar and as many lunar Muḥammadan years; divide the product by 100, and deduct the quotient from the Hijrah year; add to the result 621,569 (the decimal being the equivalent of the 15th July, plus 12 days for the change of the Kalendar); and the quotient will be the Christian year from the date at which the Muḥammadan year begins; thus, Hij. 1269 × 2·977 = 3777·8, which divided by 100 = 37·778 and 1269 - 37·778 = 1231·222; this + 621·569 = 1852·791, the decimals corresponding to 9 months and 15 days, i.e. the 15th of October, which is the commencement of the Hij. year 1269. The reverse formula for finding the corresponding Hijrah year to a given Christian year, is thus laid down: Subtract 622 from the current year; multiply the result by 1·0307; cut off two decimals and add ·46; the sum will be the year, which, when it has a surplus decimal, requires the addition of 1: thus, 1852 - 622 = 1230; 1230 × 1·0307 = 1267·761; 1267·76 + ·46 = 1268·22; add therefore 1, and we have the equivalent Hijrah year 1269.

The Persian era of Yezdegird commenced on June 16th, A.D. 632, or ten years later than the Hijrah.

ḤIKMAH (حـكـمـة‎). Al-ḥikmah, “the wisdom,” is a term used by the Ṣūfī mystics to express a knowledge of the essence, attributes, specialities, and results of things as they exist and are seen, with the study of their cause, effects, and uses. This is said to be the wisdom mentioned in the Qurʾān, Sūrah ii. 272: “He (God) bringeth the wisdom (al-ḥikmah) unto whom He willeth.”

The Ṣūfīs say there are four kinds of wisdom expressed in the term al-ḥikmah:—

(1) Al-ḥikmatu ʾl-Mant̤ūqah, “spoken wisdom,” which is made known in the Qurʾān, or in the T̤arīqah, “the Path” (i.e. the Ṣūfī path).

(2) Al-ḥikmatu ʾl-maskūtah, “unspoken wisdom.” Such as understood only by Ṣūfī mystics, and not by the natural man.

(3) Al-ḥikmatu ʾl-majhūlah, “unknown wisdom,” or those acts of the Creator the wisdom of which is unknown to the creature, such as the infliction of pain upon the creatures of God, the death of infants, or the eternal fire of hell. Things which we believe, but which we do not understand.

(4) Al-ḥikmatu ʾl-jāmiʿah, “collective wisdom,” or the knowledge of the truth (ḥaqq), and acting upon it, and the perception of error (bāt̤il) and the rejection of it (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)

HILĀL (هلال‎). The new moon. A term used for the first three days of the month.

ḤILF (حلف‎). An oath; a vow. An affidavit. Ḥilf nāmah, a written solemn declaration. Ḥālif, one who takes an oath.

ḤILFU ʾL-FUẒŪL (حلف الفضول‎). A confederacy formed by the descendants of Hāshim, Zuhrah, and Taim, in the house of ʿAbdu ʾllāh ibn Judʿān at Makkah, for the suppression of violence and injustice at the restoration of peace after the Sacrilegious war. Muḥammad was then a youth, and Sir William Muir says this confederacy “aroused an enthusiasm in the mind of Mahomet, which the exploits of the sacrilegious war failed to kindle.”

ḤILM (حلم‎). Being mild, gentle, clement. Restraining oneself at a time when the spirit is roused to anger. Delaying in punishing a tyrant. (Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrīfāt.) Hence al-Ḥalīm, the Clement, is one of the attributes of God.

ḤIMA (حمى‎). Lit. “guarded, forbidden.” A portion of land reserved by the ruler of a country as a grazing ground. (See Mishkāt, book xii. ch. i. pt. i.) “Know ye that every prince has a grazing ground which is forbidden to the people, and know ye the grazing place (ḥima) is the thing forbidden by Him to men.”

HIMMAH (همة‎). “Resolution, strength, ability.” A term used by the Ṣūfī mystics for a determination of the heart to incline itself entirely to God. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)

ḤINNAʾ (حناء‎). The Lawsonia inermis, or Eastern privet, used for dyeing the hands and feet on festive occasions. [MARRIAGE.] Muḥammad enjoined the use of ḥinnāʾ, and approved of women staining their hands and feet with it. He also dyed his own beard with it, and recommended its use for this purpose. (Mishkāt, book xx. c. 4.) It has therefore become a religious custom, and is sunnah.

ḤIQQAH (حقة‎). A female camel turned three years. The proper age for a camel to be given in zakāt, or legal alms, for camels from forty-six to sixty in number.

ḤIRĀʾ (حراء‎). The name of a mountain near Makkah, said to have been the scene of the first revelation given to Muḥammad. [MUHAMMAD.]

HIRAQL (هرقل‎). Heraclius the Roman Emperor, to whom Muḥammad sent an embassy, A.H. 7, A.D. 628. [HERACLIUS.]

HIRE. The Arabic term ijārah (اجارة‎), which means the use and enjoyment of property for a time, includes hire, rental, and lease. The hirer is termed ājir, or muʾjir. The person who receives the rent is the mustaʾjir.

The following are some of the chief points in the Sunnī law with regard to ijārah, and for further particulars the reader must refer in English to Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 312, or in Arabic to such works as the Durru ʾl-Muk͟htār, Fatāwā-i-ʿĀlamgīrī, and the Raddu ʾl-Muḥtār, in which works it is treated in the Bābu ʾl-Ijārah.

A contract of hire, or rental, or lease, is not valid unless both the usufruct and the hire be particularly known and specified, because there is a traditional saying of the Prophet, “If a person hire another let him first inform him of the wages he is to receive.”

A workman is not entitled to anything until his work is finished, but the article wrought upon may be detained until the workman be paid his full wages, and the workman is not responsible for any loss or damage in the article during such detention. If a person hire another to carry a letter to al-Baṣrah and bring back an answer, and he accordingly go to al-Baṣrah and there find the person dead to whom the letter was addressed, and come back, and return the letter, he is not entitled to any wages whatever! This strange ruling is according to Abū Ḥanīfah and two of his disciples, but the Imām Muḥammad says the messenger ought to be paid.

It is lawful to hire a house or shop for the purpose of residence, although no mention be made of the business to be followed in it, and the lessee is at liberty to carry on any business he pleases, unless it be injurious to the building. For example, a blacksmith or a fuller must not reside in the house, unless it is previously so agreed, since the exercise of those trades would shake the building.

It is lawful to hire or lease land for the purposes of cultivation, and in this case the hirer is entitled to the use of the road leading to the land, and likewise the water (i.e. his turn of water) although no mention of these be made in the contract.

A lease of land is not valid unless mention is made of the article to be raised on it, not only with a view to cultivation, but also for other purposes, such as building, and so forth. Or the lessor of the land may make declaration to the effect:—“I let the land on this occasion, that the lessee shall raise on it whatever he pleases.”

If a person hire unoccupied land for the purposes of building or planting, it is lawful, but on the term of the lease expiring it is incumbent on the lessee to remove his buildings and trees, and to restore the land to the lessor in such a state as may leave him no claim upon it, because houses or trees have no specific limit of existence, and if they were left on the land it might be injurious to the proprietor. But it is otherwise when the land is hired or leased for the purpose of tillage, and the term of the lease expires at a time when the grain is yet unripe. In this case, the grain must be suffered to remain upon the ground at a proportionate rent, until it is fit for reaping.

The hire of an animal is lawful, either for carriage, or for riding, or for any use to which animals are applied. And if a person hire an animal to carry a burden, and the person who lets it to hire specify the nature and quantity of the article with which the hirer is to load the animal, the hirer is at liberty to load the animal with an equal quantity of any article not more troublesome or prejudicial in the carriage than wheat, such as barley, &c. The hirer is not at liberty to load the animal with a more prejudicial article than wheat (unless stipulated beforehand), such as salt or iron. For a hired animal perishing from ill-usage, the hirer is responsible.

(For the sayings of Muḥammad on the subject of hire and leases, refer to the Mishkāt, Bābu ʾl-Ijārah.)

ḤIRṢ (حرص‎). “Avarice, greed, eagerness.” Derivatives of the word occur three times in the Qurʾān. Sūrah ii. 90: “Thou wilt find them (the Jews) the greediest of men for life.” Sūrah iv. 128: “And ye may not have it at all in your power to treat your wives with equal justice, even though you be anxious to do so.” Sūrah xii. 104: “And yet most men, though thou ardently desire it, will not believe.”

ḤISS (حس‎). “Understanding, sense.” Ḥiss bātin, internal sense; ḥiss z̤āhir, external sense; ḥiss mushtarik, common sense.

ḤIẒĀNAH (حضانة‎). Al-ḥiẓānah is the right of a mother to the custody of her children. “The mother is of all persons the best entitled to the custody of her infant children during the connubial relationship as well as after its dissolution.” (Fatāwā-i-ʿĀlamgīrī, vol. i. p. 728.)

When the children are no longer dependent on the mother’s care, the father has a right to educate and take charge of them, and is entitled to the guardianship of their person in preference to the mother. Among the Ḥanafīs, the mother is entitled to the custody of her daughter until she arrives at puberty; but according to the other three Sunnī sects, the custody continues until she is married.

There is difference of opinion as to the extent of the period of the mother’s custody over her male children. The Ḥanafīs limit it to the child’s seventh year, but the Shāfiʿīs and Malakīs allow the boy the option of remaining under his mother’s guardianship until he has arrived at puberty. Among the Shīʿahs, the mother is entitled to the custody of her children until they are weaned, a period limited to two years. After the child is weaned, its custody, if a male, devolves on the father, if a female, on the mother. The mother’s custody of the girl continues to the seventh year.

The right of ḥiẓānah is lost by the mother if she is married to a stranger, or if she misconducts herself, or if she changes her domicile so as to prevent the father or tutor from exercising the necessary supervision over the child.

Apostasy is also a bar to the exercise of the right of ḥiẓānah. A woman, consequently, who apostatizes from Islām, whether before or after the right vests in her, is disentitled from exercising or claiming the right of ḥiẓānah in respect to a Muslim child.

The custody of illegitimate children appertains exclusively to the mother and her relations. (Personal Law of Muḥammadans, by Syud Amīr Ali, p. 214.) [GUARDIANSHIP.]

HOLY SPIRIT. Arabic Ruḥu ʾl-Quds (روح القدس‎). The Holy Spirit is mentioned three times in the Qurʾān. In the Sūratu ʾn-Naḥl (XVIth, 104), as the inspiring agent of the Qurʾān: “Say, The Holy Spirit brought it down from thy Lord in truth.” And twice in the Sūratu ʾl-Baqarah (IInd, 81 and 254), as the divine power which aided the Lord Jesus: “and We strengthened him by the Holy Spirit” (in both verses).

The Jalālān, al-Baiẓāwī, and the Muslim commentators in general, say this Holy Spirit was the angel Gabriel who sanctified Jesus, and constantly aided Him, and who also brought the Qurʾān down from heaven and revealed it to Muḥammad.

For a further consideration of the subject, see SPIRIT.

HOMICIDE. [MURDER.]

HONEY. Arabic ʿasal (عسل‎). In the Qurʾān it is specially mentioned as the gift of God. Sūrah xvi. 70: “Thy Lord inspired the bee. ‘Take to houses in the mountains, and in the trees, and in the hives they build. Then eat from every fruit and walk in the beaten paths of thy Lord.’ There cometh forth from her body a draught varying in hue, in which is a cure for man.”

HORSES. Arabic faras (فرس‎), k͟hail (خيل‎), pl. k͟huyūl. Muḥammad’s affection for horses was very great, as was natural to an Arabian. Anas says there was nothing the Prophet was so fond of as women and horses. Abū Qatādah relates that Muḥammad said: “The best horses are black with white foreheads and having a white upper lip.” But Abū Wahhāb says the Prophet considered a bay horse with white forehead, white fore and hind legs the best. An instance of the way in which the traditionists sometimes contradict each other! (Mishkāt, book xvii. c. ii.)

In the Hidāyah (Arabic edition, vol. ii. p. 432) it is said that horses are of four kinds: (1) Birẕaun, Burẕūn, a heavy draught horse brought from foreign countries. (2) ʿAtīq, a first blood horse of Arabia. (3) Hajīn, a half-bred horse whose mother is an Arab and father a foreigner. (4) A half-bred horse whose father is an Arab and whose mother is a foreigner.

In taking a share of plunder, a horseman is entitled to a double share, but he is not entitled to any more if he keep more horses than one.

HOSPITALITY. Arabic ẓiyāfah (ضيافة‎). It is related that Muḥammad said:—

“Whoever believes in God and in the Day of Resurrection must respect his guest.”

“If a Muslim be the guest of a people and he spends the whole night without being entertained, it shall be lawful for every Muslim present to take money and grain necessary for the entertainment of the man.”

“It is according to my practice that the host shall come out with his guest to the door of his house.” (Mishkāt, book xix. ch. ii.)

Hospitality is enjoined in the Qurʾān. Sūrah iv. 40: “Show kindness to your parents, and to your kindred, and to orphans, and to the poor, and to your neighbour who is akin and to your neighbour who is a stranger, and the companion who is strange, and to the son of the road.”

HOUR, The. Arabic as-Sāʿah (الساعة‎). A term frequently used in the Qurʾān for the Day of Judgment.

Sūrah vi. 31: “When the hour comes suddenly upon them.”

Sūrah vii. 186: “They will ask you about the hour for what time it is fixed.”

Sūrah xv. 85: “Verily the hour is surely coming.”

Sūrah xvi. 79: “Nor is the matter of the hour aught but as the twinkling of an eye, or nigher still.”

Sūrah xxii. 1: “Verily the earthquake of the hour is a mighty thing.”

Sūrah liv. 46: “Nay the hour is their promised time! and the hour is most severe and bitter.”

HOURS OF PRAYER. The terms “Hours of Prayer” and “Canonical Hours,” being used in the Christian Church (see Johnson’s Engl. Canons and Canons of Cuthbert, ch. 15), we shall consider under this title the stated periods of Muḥammadan prayer. [PRAYER.] They are five: (1) Fajr (فجر‎), daybreak; (2) Z̤uhr (ظهر‎), when the sun begins to decline at midday; (3) ʿAṣr (عصر‎), midway between z̤uhr and mag͟hrib; (4) Mag͟hrib (مغرب‎), evening; (5) ʿIshāʾ (عشاء‎), when the night has closed in. According to the Traditions (Mishkāt, book xxiv. ch. vii. pt. 1), Muḥammad professed to have received his instructions to say prayer five times a day during the Miʿrāj, or the celebrated night journey to heaven. He said, God first ordered him to pray fifty times a day, but that Moses advised him to get the Almighty to reduce the number of canonical hours to five, he himself having tried fifty times for his own people with very ill success!

It is remarkable that there is but one passage in the Qurʾān, in which the stated hours of prayer are enjoined, and that it mentions only four and not five periods. Sūratu ʾr-Rūm, xxx. 16, 17: “Glorify God when it is evening (masāʾ), and at morning (ṣubḥ),—and to Him be praise in the heavens and in the earth,—and at afternoon (ʿashī), and at noon-tide (z̤uhr).” But al-Jalālān, the commentators, say all are agreed that the term, “when it is masāʾ” (evening or night), includes both sunset and after sunset, and therefore both the mag͟hrib and ʿishāʾ prayers are included.

Three hours of prayer were observed by the Jews. David says, “Evening, morning, and at noon will I pray.” (Ps. lv. 17.) Daniel “kneeled upon his knees three times a day.” These three hours of the Jews seem to have been continued by the Apostles (see Acts iii. 1), and were transmitted to the early church in succeeding ages, for Tertullian speaks of “those common hours which mark the divisions of the day, the third, sixth, and ninth, which we observe in scripture to be more solemn than the rest.” (De Orat., c. 25.) And Clement of Alexandria says, “If some fix stated hours of prayer, as the third, sixth, and ninth, the man of knowledge prays to God throughout his whole life.” (Stom. l. vii. c. 7, sect. 40.) Jerome says, “There are three times in which the knees are bent to God. Tradition assigns the third, the sixth, and the ninth hour.” (Com. in Dan., c. vi. 10.)

In the third century there seems to have been five stated periods of prayer, for Basil of Cappadocia speaks of five hours as suitable for monks, namely, the morning, the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, and the evening. (Regulæ fusius Tract. Resp. ad Qu., 37, sections 3–5.)

It is therefore probable that Muḥammad obtained his idea of five stated periods of prayer during his two journeys to Syria. But he changed the time, as will be seen from the table annexed, which was drawn up by Mr. Lane at Cairo, and shows the times of Muḥammadan prayer with the apparent European time of sunset, in or near the latitude of Cairo at the commencement of each zodiacal month:—

N.B.—The time of noon, according to Muḥammadan reckoning, on any particular day, subtracted from twelve, gives the apparent time of sunset on that day according to European reckoning.

HOUSES. Arabic bait (بيت‎), pl. buyūt; dār (دار‎), pl. diyār, dūr; Heb. ‏בַּיִת‎. In the time of Muḥammad the houses of the Arabs were made of a framework of jarīd, or palm-sticks, covered over with a cloth of camel’s hair, or a curtain of a similar stuff, forming the door. Those of the better class were made of walls of unbaked bricks, and date-leaf roofs plastered over with mud and clay. Of this description were the abodes of Muḥammad’s family. (Burton, vol. i. p. 433.)

Sir William Muir, translating from the account given by the secretary of al-Wāqidī (Life of Mahomet, new ed., p. 546), says:—

“Abdallah ibn Yazîd relates, that he saw the house in which the wives of the Prophet dwelt at the time when Omar ibn (ʿAbd) al-Azîz, then governor of Medîna (about A.H. 100) demolished them. They were built of unburnt bricks, and had separate apartments made of palm branches, daubed (or built up) with mud; he counted nine houses, each having separate apartments in the space from the house of Ayesha, and the gate of Mahomet to the house of Asma, daughter of Hosein. Observing the dwelling-place of Omm Salma, he questioned her grandson concerning it; and he told him that when the Prophet was absent on the expedition to Dûma, Omm Salma built up an addition to her house with a wall of unburnt bricks. When Mahomet returned, he went in to her, and asked what new building this was. She replied, ‘I purposed, O Prophet, to shut out the glances of men thereby!’ Mahomet answered, ‘O Omm Salma! verily the most unprofitable thing that eateth up the wealth of a believer is building.’ A citizen of Medîna present at the time, confirmed this account, and added that the curtains (Anglo-Indice, purdas) of the doors were of black hair-cloth. He was present, he said, when the despatch of the Caliph Abd al Malîk (A.H. 86–88) was read aloud, commanding that these houses should be brought within the area of the Mosque, and he never witnessed sorer weeping than there was amongst the people that day. One exclaimed, ‘I wish, by the Lord! that they would leave these houses alone thus as they are; then would those that spring up hereafter in Medîna, and strangers from the ends of the earth, come and see what kind of building sufficed for the Prophet’s own abode, and the sight thereof would deter men from extravagance and pride.

“There were four houses of unburnt bricks, the apartments being of palm-branches; and five houses made of palm-branches built up with mud and without any separate apartments. Each was three Arabian yards in length. Some say that they had leather curtains for the doors. One could reach the roof with the hand. The house of Hâritha was next to that of Mahomet. Now, whenever Mahomet took to himself a new wife, he added another house to the row, and Hâritha was obliged successively to remove his house and build on the space beyond. At last this was repeated so often, that the Prophet said to those about him, ‘Verily, it shameth me to turn Hâritha over and over again out of his house.’ ”

The houses of the rural poor in all parts of Islām, in Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, Afg͟hānistān, and India, are usually built either of mud or of unburnt bricks. In mountainous parts of Afg͟hānistān they are built of stones (collected from the beds of rivers) and mud. They are generally one storey high, and of one apartment in which the cattle are also housed. The roofs are flat and are formed of mud and straw laid upon branches of trees and rafters. The windows are small apertures, high up in the walls, and sometimes grated with wood. There are no chimneys, but in the centre of the roof there is an opening to emit the smoke, the fire being lighted on the ground in the centre of the room. In front of the house there is an inclosure, either of thorns or a mud wall, which secures privacy to the dwelling. A separate building, called in Asia a ḥujrah, or guest chamber, is provided for male visitors or guests; this chamber being common property of the section of the village, except in the case of chiefs or wealthy land-owners, who keep ḥujrahs of their own. In towns the houses of the inferior kind do not differ much from those in the villages, except that there is sometimes an upper storey. In some parts of Afg͟hānistān and Persia, it becomes necessary for each householder to protect his dwelling, in which case a watch tower, of mud, is erected close to the house.

The injunctions of Muḥammad regarding the seclusion of women have very greatly influenced the plan and arrangement of Muḥammadan dwelling-houses of the better class throughout the world, all respectable houses being so constructed as to seclude the female apartments from public view. In cities such as Cairo, Damascus, Delhi, Peshawur, and Cabul, the prevailing plan of dwelling-houses is an entrance through a blank wall, whose mean appearance is usually relieved by a handsome door-way and a few latticed windows. A respectable house usually consists of two courts, the first being that used by the male visitors and guests, and the inner court is the ḥarīm or zanānah reserved for the female members of the family. Facing the outer court will be an upper chamber, or bālā k͟hānah as it is called in Persian, the ὑπερῷον or upper room of the New Testament, in which there will be a dīwān, or raised seat or sofa, upon which the inmates can sit, eat, or sleep. This is the usual reception room. In Asia, this bālā k͟hānah seems to take the place of the more elaborate qāʿah described by Mr. Lane in his Modern Egyptians, vol. i. p. 39, which is either on the ground or upper floor. Within the first enclosure will be the stables for horses and cattle, and in its centre a raised dais as seats for servants and attendants. It should be noticed that there are no special bed-rooms in Eastern houses. Male visitors and friends will sleep in the verandahs of the outer court, or on the dīwān in the upper court.

The ḥarīm or women’s apartments in the inner court is entered by a small door. It is a quadrangle with verandahs on each of the four sides, formed by a row of pillars, the apertures of which are usually closed by sliding shutters. The back of the rooms being without windows, the only air being admitted from the front of the dwelling-place. The apartments are divided into long rooms, usually four, the extreme corners having small closets purposely built as store-rooms. On festive occasions these verandah rooms will be spread with handsome carpets, carpets and pillows being almost the only furniture of an Eastern dwelling, chairs being a modern invention. The roofs of these rooms are flat, and as the top is fenced in with a barrier some four feet high, the female members of the household sleep on the top of the house in the hot weather. [HARIM.]

In no point do Oriental habits differ more from European than in the use of the roof. Its flat surface, in fine weather the usual place of resort, is made useful for various household purposes, as drying corn, hanging up linen, and drying fruit.

In the centre of the inner court or ḥarīm, there is usually a well, so that the female domestics are not obliged to leave the seclusion of the ḥarīm for water-carrying. In a large court, of a wealthy person, there is usually a raised dais of either stone or wood, on which carpets are spread, and on which the ladies sit or recline. In the better class of dwellings, there are numerous courtyards, and special ones are devoted to winter and summer uses. In Peshawur, most respectable houses have an underground room, called a taḥ k͟hānah, where the inmates in the hot weather sleep at mid-day. These rooms are exceedingly cool and pleasant on hot sultry days.

Over the entrance door of a Muḥammadan dwelling it is usual to put an inscription, either of the Kalimah, or Creed, or of some verse of the Qurʾān.

We have only attempted to describe, briefly, the ordinary dwelling-houses of Muḥammadans, which are common to all parts of the Eastern world; but in large wealthy cities, such as Damascus, Cairo, Delhi, and Lucknow, there are very handsome houses, which would require a longer description than our space admits of. For Mrs. Meer Ali’s account of a Muḥammadan ḥarīm or zanānah, see HARIM.