ʿILMU ʾL-AKTĀF (علم الاكتاف). The science of divining by the shoulder-blades of sheep. It was the custom of the ancient Arabs to place the shoulder-bone of a sheep in the sun, and to examine it, and so divine by its marks future events, in the same way as by the science of palmistry. (Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn, in loco.)
ʿILMU ʾL-ʿAQĀʾID (عـلـم العقائد). [ʿILMU ʾL-KALAM.]
ʿILMU ʾL-BĀT̤IN (علم الباطن). The mystic science; the same as Taṣawwuf. [SUFIISM.]
ʿILMU ʾL-FALAK (علم الفلك). The science of Astronomy. According to the Muḥammadans the earth is the centre of the astronomical system. The seven planets, which are called the nujūmu ʾs-saiyārāt or wandering stars, as distinguished from fixed stars, are 1, Qamar, Moon; 2, ʿUt̤ārid, Mercury; 3, Zuhrah, Venus; 4, Shams, Sun; 5, Mirrīk͟h, Mars; 6, Mushtarī, Jupiter; 7, Zuḥal, Saturn.
The Arabian arrangement of the planets is that of Ptolemy, who placed the earth in the centre of the universe, and nearest to it the moon, whose synodic revolution is the shortest of all, being performed in 29½ days. Next to the moon he placed Mercury, who returns to his conjunctions in 116 days. After Mercury followed Venus, whose periodic time is 584 days. Beyond Venus he placed the sun, then Mars, next Jupiter, and lastly Saturn, beyond which are the fixed stars.
The signs of the zodiac (mint̤aqatu ʾl-burūj) are called: 1, Ḥamal, Ram; 2, S̤aur, Bull; 3, Jauzāʾ, Twins; 4, Sarat̤ān, Crab; 5, Asad, Lion; 6, Sunbalah (lit. an ear of corn), Virgin; 7, Mīzān, Scales; 8, ʿAqrab, Scorpion; 9, Qaus (bow), Archer; 10, Jady (he-goat), Capricorn; 11, Dalw (watering-pot), Aquarius; 12, Ḥūt, Fish.
ʿILMU ʾL-FARĀʾIẒ (علم الفرائض). The law of inheritance. [INHERITANCE.]
ʿILMU ʾL-FIQH (علم الفقه). Jurisprudence; and the knowledge of all subjects connected with practical religion. In the first place, Fiqh deals with the five pillars of practical religion: 1, the recital of the creed; 2, prayer; 3, fasting; 4, zakāt or almsgiving; 5, ḥajj or pilgrimage; and in the second place with all questions of jurisprudence such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, sale, evidence, slavery, partnership, warfare, &c. &c.
The chief Sunnī works on the subject are: Of the Ḥanafī sect, the Hidāyah, the Fatāwā-i-ʿĀlamgīrī, the Durru ʾl-Muk͟htār, and Raddu ʾl-Muḥtār; of the Shāfiʿī and Malakī sects, the Kitābu ʾl-Anwār, the Muḥarrar, and the Ik͟htilāfu ʾl-Aʾimmah. The best-known Shīʿah works on jurisprudence are the Sharāʾiʿu ʾl-Islām, the Mafātīḥ, and the Jāmiʿu ʾsh-Shatāt.
ʿILMU ʾL-ḤADĪS̤ (عـلـم الحديث). The science of the Traditions; i.e. the various canons which have been established for ascertaining the authenticity and genuineness of the Ḥadīs̤ or Traditions. The Nuk͟hbatu ʾl-Fikar, with its commentary the Nuzhatu ʾn-Naz̤ar by Shahābu ʾd-dīn Aḥmad al-ʿAsqalānī (Lee’s ed. Calcutta, 1862), is a well-known work on the subject.
ʿILMU ʾL-HANDASAH (علم الهندسة). The science of Geometry.
ʿILMU ʾL-ḤIKMAH (علم الحكمه). Also ʿIlmu ʾl-Falsafah (علم الفلسفه). [PHILOSOPHY.]
ʿILMU ʾL-ḤISĀB (عـلـم الحساب). Arithmetic.
ʿILMU ʾL-ILĀHĪYĀT (علم الالهيات). A knowledge of divinity. [THEOLOGY.]
ʿILMU ʾL-INSHĀʾ (علم الانشاء). The art of literary composition. [INSHAʾ.]
ʿILMU ʾL-JABR (عـلـم الجـبـر). Algebra.
ʿILMU ʾL-KAFF (علم الكف). The science of palmistry said to have been practised by Daniel.
ʿILMU ʾL-KALĀM (عـلـم الكلام). Scholastic theology. It is also known as ʿIlmu ʾl-ʿAqāʾid, the science of the articles of belief. The author of the Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn defines it as “the science whereby we are able to bring forward proofs of our religious belief,” and it includes the discussion of the nature of the existence and the attributes of God.
ʿIlmu ʾl-Kalām is the discussion of all subjects connected with the six articles of the Muslim Creed: 1, the Unity of God; 2, the Angels; 3, the Books; 4, the Prophets; 5, the Day of Judgment; 6, the Decrees of God, as distinguished from al-Fiqh, which is an exposition of the five foundations of practical religion—1, recital of the Creed; 2, prayer; 3, fasting; 4, zakāt; 5, ḥajj.
The most celebrated works on the subject of ʿAqāʾid or ʿIlmu ʾl-Kalām are: Sharḥu ʾl-ʿAqāʾid, by the Maulawī Masʿūd Saʿdu ʾd-dīn at-Taftāzānī, A.H. 792; the Sharḥu ʾl-Muwāqif, by Saiyid Sharīf Jurjāni.
ʿILMU ʾL-LUG͟HAH (عـلـم اللغة). Lexicography. [ARABIC LEXICONS.]
ʿILMU ʾL-MANT̤IQ (عـلـم المنطق). Logical science. [LOGIC.]
ʿILMU ʾL-MASĀḤAH (علم المساحة). Mensuration.
ʿILMU ʾL-MILĀḤAH (عـلـم الـمـلاحة). The nautical art. The science of making and navigating ships.
ʿILMU ʾL-MŪSĪQĪ (علم الموسيقى). The science of Music. [MUSIC.]
ʿILMU ʾL-UṢŪL (علم الاصول). The science of the “roots,” or fundamentals of the religion of Muḥammad, namely, of the Qurʾān, Aḥādīs̤, Ijmāʿ, and Qiyās. The science of exegesis, or the rules of interpretation of these four roots of Islām. An explanation of the methods of this science will be found in the article on QURʾAN, Sect. viii., the same principles applying to the other three fundamentals.
The best known works on the ʿIlmu ʾl-Uṣūl are the Manār, by ʿAbdu ʾllāh ibn Aḥmad an-Nasafī, A.H. 710, and its commentary, the Nūru ʾl-Anwār; also at-Tanqīḥ, by ʿUbaidu ʾllāh ibn Masʿūd, A.H. 747, with its commentary, at-Tauẓiḥ, by the same author, and a super-commentary, the Talwīḥu ʾt-Tauẓīḥ, by Saʿdu ʾd-dīn Masʿūd ibn ʿUmar at-Taftāzānī, A.H. 792.
AL-ʿILMU ʾL-YAQĪN (العلم اليقين). Certain knowledge; demonstration; a religious life; a knowledge of the truth.
ʿILMU ʾN-NABĀTĀT (علم النباتات). Botany. The knowledge of the use of herbs.
ʿILMU ʾN-NUJŪM (عـلـم النجوم). Astrology. “The science by which are discovered the events both of the present and of the future by means of the position of the stars.” (Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn, in loco.) [ASTROLOGY.]
ʿILMU ʾR-RAML (عـلـم الـرمـل). Geomancy. A pretended divination by means of lines on the sand (raml). It is said to have been practised as a miracle by six prophets, viz. Adam, Idrīs, Luqmān, Armiyā (Jeremiah), Shaʿyāʾ (Isaiah), Daniel. (See Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn, in loco.)
ʿILMU ʾR-RIYĀẒAH (علم الرياضة). Mathematics. The author of the Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn says the science of Riyāẓah is divided into four sections: 1, handasah, geometry; 2, ḥiʾah, astronomy; 3, ḥisāb, arithmetic; 4, mūsīqā, music.
ʿILMU ʾSH-SHIʿR (علم الشعر). [POETRY.]
ʿILMU ʾS-SIḤR (علم السحر). The science of magic. [MAGIC.]
ʿILMU ʾS-SĪMIYĀʾ (علم السيمياء). Natural magic, chiromancy, palmistry.
AL-ʿILMU ʾT̤-T̤ABĪʿĪ (العلم الطبيعى). Natural philosophy.
ʿILMU ʾT-TAJWĪD (علم التجويد), called also ʿIlmu ʾl-Qirāʾah. The science of reading the Qurʾān correctly. The most popular work on the subject is al-Muqaddamatu ʾl-Jazarīyah, by the Shaik͟h Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Jazarī (A.H. 833).
ʿILMU ʾT-TAṢAWWUF (عـلـم التصوف). The mystic or contemplative science. [SUFIISM.]
ʿILMU ʾT-TASHRĪḤ (علم التشريح). The science of anatomy.
ʿILMU ʾT-TAWĀRĪK͟H (عـلـم التواريخ), or ʿIlmu ʾt-Taʾrīk͟h. Chronology, history. For a complete list of Muḥammadan histories of an early date, see Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn in loco.
ʿILMU ʾT̤-T̤IBB (علم الطب). The science of Medicine. For a list of medical books of an early date, see Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn, in loco.
IMĀM (امام). One whose leadership or example is to be followed. A pattern; a model; an example of evil. The term is used in the Qurʾān in these senses.
Sūrah ii. 118: “Verily I have set thee (Abraham) as an Imām (or a leader) for mankind.”
Sūrah xvii. 73: “The day when we will call all men by their Imām (or leader).”
Sūrah xxxvi. 11: “Everything we have set down in a clear model.”
Sūrah xv. 79: “They (Sodom and Midian) are an obvious example.”
Sūrah xxv. 74: “Make us a model to the pious.”
Muḥammadans use the term in the following senses:—
(1) The Imām, or K͟halīfah, of the Muslim people. The author of the Hidāyah says, by the rightful Imām is understood a person in whom all the qualities essential to magistracy are united, such as Islāmism, freedom, sanity of intellect, and maturity of age, and who has been elected into his office by any tribe of Muslims, with their general consent; whose view and intention is the advancement of the true religion, and the strengthening of the Muslims, and under whom the Muslims enjoy security in person and property; one who levies title and tribute according to law; who, out of the public treasury, pays what is due to learned men, preachers, qāẓīs, muftīs, philosophers, public teachers, and so forth; and who is just in all his dealings with Muslims; for whoever does not answer this description is not the right Imām, whence it is not incumbent to support such a one, but rather it is incumbent to oppose him, and make war upon him until such time as he either adopt a proper mode of conduct, or be slain; as is written in the Maʿdinu ʾl-Ḥaqāʾiq, copied from the Fawāʾid. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 248.)
THE IMAM LEADING PRAYERS AND RECITING THE FATIHAH OR FIRST SURAH OF THE QURʾAN.
(E. Campbell.)
For a discussion of this meaning of the title, refer to the article on KHALIFAH, which is the term used for the Imām of the Sunnī Muslims.
(2) The Shīʿahs apply the term Imām to the twelve leaders of their sect whom they call the true Imāms [SHIʿAH], and not using the term K͟halīfah for this office as the Sunnīs do. The Shīʿah traditions are very wild on the subject of the Imāmate, and contrast unfavourably with those of the Sunnīs.
In the Ḥayātu ʾl-Qulūb (Merrick’s edition, p. 203), Muḥammad is said to have related: “On the night of the ascension, the Most High commanded me to inquire of the past prophets for what reason they were exalted to that rank, and they all testified, We were raised up on account of your prophetical office, and the Imāmate of ʿAlī ibn Abī T̤ālib, and of the Imāms of your posterity. A divine voice then commanded, ‘Look on the right side of the empyrean.’ I looked and saw the similitude of ʿAlī and al-Ḥasan, and al-Ḥusain, and ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusain (alias Zainu ʾl-ʿAbidīn), and Muḥammad al-Bāqir, and Jaʿfar aṣ-Ṣādiq, and Mūsā al-Kāz̤im, and ʿAlī ibn Mūsā ar-Riẓā, and Muḥammad at-Taqī, and ʿAlī an-Naqī, and al-Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī, and al-Mahdī, all performing prayers in a sea of light. These, said the Most High, are my proofs, vicegerents, and friends, and the last of them will take vengeance on my enemies.”
(3) The Imām, or leader, of any system of theology or law. Abū Ḥanīfah and the other three doctors of the Sunnīs are called Imāms, and so are other leading doctors of divinity. The term is still used for a religious leader. For example, the head of the Wahhābīs on the North-West frontier of India is called the Imām, and so is the chief of Najd.
(4) The Imām or leader of prayers in any Masjid. Mr. Sale says it answers to the Latin Antistes. Each mosque, however small, has its Imām, or priest, who is supported by endowments. The office is not in any sense a sacerdotal one, the Imām not being set apart with any ceremony, as in the case of a Christian presbyter, nor the office being hereditary, as in the case of the Hindu Brahmins. The position of Imām in this sense is not unlike the sheliach, or legatus, of the Jewish synagogue, who acted as the delegate of the congregation, and was the chief reader of prayers in their name. But quite independent of the duly appointed minister of a mosque, who is responsible for its services, and receives its revenues, no congregation of Muslim worshippers can assemble without one of the party taking the lead in the prayers by standing in front, and who is said “to act as Imām” for the assembly.
The rules laid down on this subject, as given in the Traditions, are as follows (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. xxvii., xxviii.):—
Abū Saʿīd al-K͟hudrī says the Prophet said: “When there are three persons, one of them must act as Imām and the other two follow him, and the most worthy of them to act as such is he who repeats the Qurʾān best.”
Abū Masʿūd al-Anṣārī says the Prophet said: “Let him act as Imām to a congregation who knows the Qurʾān thoroughly; and if all present should be equal in that respect, then let him perform who is best informed in the rules of prayer; and if they are equal in this respect also, let him act as Imām who has fled for the sake of Islām; and if equal in this likewise, let that person act who is oldest; but the governed must not act as Imām to the governor.”
Abū Hurairah relates that the Prophet said: “When any of you acts as Imām to others, he must be concise in his prayers, because there are decrepit, aged, and sick persons amongst them, and when any one of you says his prayers alone, he may be as prolix as he pleases. [MASJID.]
IMĀM-BĀRAH (امام باره). A building in which the festival of the Muḥarram is celebrated, and service held in commemoration of the deaths of ʿAlī and his sons, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusain. At other times, the tāzias, or shrines, are preserved in it; sometimes it is used as the mausoleum of the founder of the family. [MUHARRAM.]
IMĀMĪYAH (امامية). Lit. “The followers of the Imām.” The chief sect of the Shīʿahs, namely, those who acknowledge the twelve Imāms. [SHIʿAH.]
IMĀM MUBĪN (امام مبين). “The clear prototype or model.” The expression occurs twice in the Qurʾān, Sūrah xxxvi. 11, “Everything we do set down in a clear prototype” (fī Imāmin Mubīnin). Here it appears to be used for the Qurʾān as an inspired record. Sūrah xv. 79, “Verily they became both, Sodom and Midian, a clear example” (labi-Imāmin Mubīnin). Muḥammadan teachers use the word for the Laḥwu ʾl-Maḥfūz̤, or the Tablet of Decrees.
AL-IMĀMU ʾL-MAHDĪ (الامـام الـمـهـدى). Lit. “The well-guided Leader.” Umm Salmah relates that the Prophet said, “Strife and disputations will be created among men when a K͟halīfah shall die: and this shall be in the last days. And a man of the people of al-Madīnah will come forth and will flee from al-Madīnah to Makkah, and the men of Makkah will come and try to make him Imām by flattery, but he will not be pleased. Then men shall acknowledge him as Imām. Then an army from Syria shall advance against him, and this army shall be engulphed in an earthquake at Badāʾah, between Makkah and al-Madīnah. Then when the people shall see this the Abdāl, i.e. the Substitutes or good people [ABDAL], will come from Syria, and a multitude from al-ʿIrāq. And after that a man shall be born of the Quraish, of the tribe of Kalb, who will also send an army against him i.e. al-Mahdī; but he shall be victorious. Then he will rule people according to the laws of Muḥammad, and will give strength to Islām upon the earth, and he will remain on the earth seven years. Then will he die, and Muslims will say prayers in his behalf.”
The Shīʿahs believe that al-Mahdī has already come and is still concealed in some part of the earth. For they suppose him to be the last of the twelve Imāms, named Muḥammad ʿAbdu ʾl-Qāṣim [SHIʿAHS], who will again appear in the last days. The Shīʿahs say that Muḥammad said, “O ye people, I am the Prophet and ʿAlī is my heir, and from us will descend al-Mahdī, the seal of the Imāms, who will conquer all religions and will take vengeance on the wicked.” (Ḥarjātu ʾl-Qulūb, p. 342.)
IʾMĀN, ĪMĀN (ايمان). “Faith,” which, according to the Muḥammadan doctors, is the belief of the heart and the confession of the lips to the truth of the Muslim religion. Faith is of two kinds: Iʾmān Mujmal, or the simple expression of faith in the teaching of the Qurʾān and the Aḥādīs̤, or Traditions; and Iʾmān Mufaṣṣal, or a formal declaration of belief in the six articles of the Muslim Creed: 1, in God; 2, the Angels of God; 3, the Books of God; 4, the Prophets of God; 5, the Day of Judgment; 6, Predestination to good and evil. In the Traditions, Iʾmān includes practice (ʿAmal), and all that belongs to the religious life of the Muslim. It is related (Mishkāt, book i. ch. i.) that Muḥammad said, “That person has tasted the sweets of faith who is pleased with God as his Lord, with Islām as his religion, and with Muḥammad as the Prophet of God.” And again (ib.), “The most excellent faith is to love him who loves God, and to hate him who hates God, to keep the tongue employed in repeating the name of God [ZIKR], and to do unto men as you would wish them to do unto you, and to reject for others what you would reject for yourself.”
Salvation by faith without works is clearly taught (Mishkāt, book i. ch. i.) by Muḥammad, e.g. “When anyone of you shall have believed truly and sincerely, then whatever good action that person may do will be rewarded from ten to seven hundred fold, and every sin he may commit will be expiated one by one before he dies.” Good works, however, are the test of faith. A man asked the Prophet what was the sign whereby he might know the reality of his faith. He said, “If thou dost derive pleasure from the good that thou hast done, and art grieved for the evil which thou hast committed, then thou art a true believer” (Mishkāt, book i. ch. i.). Some of the Prophet’s friends came to him and said, “Verily, we find in our minds such wicked propensities, that we think it even a sin to speak of them.” The Prophet said, “Do you find them really bad?” They said, “Yes.” He said, “This is an evidence of faith.” By which he meant, if the man had not faith he would not have felt the wickedness of his heart.
ʿIMLĪQ (عمليق). The grandson of Shem, the son of Noah. The progenitor of the ʿAmāliqah, the Amalekites of Scripture. They are said to be some of the earliest inhabitants of Makkah and al-Madīnah.
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION of the Virgin Mary. This doctrine was asserted by Muḥammad (Mishkāt, book i. ch. iii. pt. 1). The Prophet said, “There is not of the sons of Adam, except Mary and her Son, one born but is touched by the Devil at the time of his birth, and the child makes a loud noise from the touch.”
When or where the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was first taught is quite unknown. Perrone says that some writers have ascribed its origin to France, and he himself is of opinion that it came from the East, and was recognized in Naples in the ninth century. (Blunt’s Dictionary of Doctrinal and Historical Theology, in loco.)
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was finally imposed as an Article of Faith in the Romish Church, by Pius IX., Dec. 8th, 1854.
IMMODESTY. [MODESTY.]
IMPOSTURE. The Quraish charged Muḥammad, at the early period of his preaching, with imposture. The following Sūrahs were given in answer to these charges:—
Sūrah xxv. 5–7: “Those who misbelieve say, ‘This is nothing but a lie which he has forged, and another people hath helped him at it’; but they have wrought an injustice and a falsehood. And they say, ‘They are old folk’s tales which he has got written down while they are dictated to him morning and evening.’ Say He sent it down who knows the secrets of heaven and earth.”
Sūrah lxix. 40–43: “Verily it is the speech of a noble Apostle, and it is not the speech of a poet:—little is it ye believe!
“And it is not the speech of a soothsayer,—little is it that ye mind! It is a revelation from the Lord, the Lord of all the worlds.”
IMPOTENCY. Arabic ʿAnānah (عنانة), ʿInnīnah (عنينة). Both according to Sunnī and Shīʿah law it cancels the marriage contract, but the decree of the Qāẓī is necessary before it can take effect. [DIVORCE.]
IMPRISONMENT. Arabic Sijn (سجن), Ḥabs (حـبـس). According to the Ḥanīfī school of jurisprudence, the person upon whom punishment or retaliation is claimed, must not be imprisoned until evidence be given, either by two people of unknown character (that is, of whom it is not known whether they be just or unjust), or by one just man who is known to the Qāẓī; because the imprisonment, in this case, is founded on suspicion, and suspicion cannot be confirmed but by the evidence of two men of unknown character, or of one just man. It is otherwise in imprisonment on account of property; because the defendant, in that instance, cannot be imprisoned but upon the evidence of two just men; for imprisonment on such an account is a grievous oppression, and, therefore, requires to be grounded on complete proof. In the Mabsūt̤, under the head of duties of the Qāẓī, it is mentioned that, according to the two disciples, the defendant, in a case of punishment for slander, or of retaliation, is not to be imprisoned on the evidence of one just man, because, as the exaction of bail is in such case (in their opinion) lawful, bail is, therefore to be taken from him. When a claimant establishes his right before the Qāẓī, and demands of him the imprisonment of his debtor, the Qāẓī must not precipitately comply, but must first order the debtor to render the right; after which, if he should attempt to delay, the Qāẓī may imprison him. If a defendant, after the decree of the Qāẓī against him, delay the payment in a case where the debt due was contracted for some equivalent (as in the case of goods purchased for a price, or of money, or of goods borrowed on promise of a return), the Qāẓī must immediately imprison him, because the property he received is a proof of his being possessed of wealth. In the same manner, the Qāẓī must imprison a refractory defendant who has undertaken an obligation in virtue of some contract, such as marriage or bail, because his voluntary engagement in an obligation is an argument of his possession of wealth, since no one is supposed to undertake what he is not competent to fulfil.
A husband may be imprisoned for the maintenance of his wife, because in withholding it he is guilty of oppression; but a father cannot be imprisoned for a debt due to his son, because imprisonment is a species of severity which a son has no right to be the cause of inflicting on his father; in the same manner as in cases of retaliation or punishment. If, however, a father withhold maintenance from an infant son, who has no property of his own, he must be imprisoned; because this tends to preserve the life of the child. (Hidāyah, vol. ii.)
ʿIMRĀN (عمران). According to Muḥammadan writers the name of two different persons. The one the father of Moses and Aaron, and the other the father of the Virgin Mary. Christian writers imagine that the Qurʾān confounds Mary, the mother of Jesus, with Mary or Maryam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. The verses are as follows:—
Sūrah iii. 30: “Verily, above all human beings did God choose Adam and Noah, and the family of ʿImrān, the one the posterity of the other; and God heareth and knoweth. Remember when the wife of ʿImrān said, ‘O my Lord, I vow to Thee what is in my womb, for Thy special service.… And I have named her Mary, and I commend her and her offspring to Thy special protection.’ ”
Sūrah lxvi. 12: “And Mary the daughter of ʿImrān, ever virgin, and into whose womb We breathed Our spirit.”
Sūrah xix. 29: “ ‘O sister of Aaron! thy father was not a wicked man, nor unchaste thy mother.’ And she made a sign unto them pointing towards the babe.”
Al-Baiẓāwī the commentator, says the ʿImrān first mentioned in Sūrah iii. is the father of Moses, and the second the father of Mary the Virgin. He attempts to explain the anachronism in Sūrah xix. by stating that (1) Mary is called the sister of Aaron by way of comparison; (2) or because she was of the Levitical race; (3) or, as some have said, there was a man of the name of Aaron, renowned either for piety or wickedness, who lived at the time, and she is said, by way of derision, to be like him!
IMSĀK (امساك). Lit. “Keeping back.” The word occurs only once in the Qurʾān, Sūrah ii. 228: “Divorce (may happen) twice; then, keep them in reason or let them go in kindness.”
The word is used in theological works for being miserly in charity, and in giving in God’s service, in opposition to Infāq.
INʿĀM (انعام). A gift; a benefaction in general. A gift by a superior to an inferior. In India, the term is especially applied to grants of land held rent-free, and in hereditary and perpetual occupation; the tenure came in time to be qualified by the reservation of a portion of the assessable revenue, or by the exaction of all proceeds exceeding the intended value of the original assignment; the term is also vaguely applied to grants of rent-free land without reference to perpetuity or any specified conditions. The grants are also distinguishable by their origin from the ruling authorities, or from the village communities, and are again distinguishable by peculiar reservations, or by their being applicable to different objects.
Sanad-i-Inʿām is a grant emanating from the ruling power of the time of the grant, free from all Government exactions, in perpetuity, and validified by a Sanad, or official deed of grant; it usually comprises land included in the village area, but which is uncultivated, or has been abandoned; and it is subject to the village functionaries.
Nisbat-i-Inʿām (from nisbah, “a portion”), are lands granted rent-free by the village out of its own lands; the loss or deduction thence accruing to the Government, assessment being made good by the village community. (Wilson’s Glossary of Indian Terms.)
INCENSE. Arabic Bak͟hūr (بخور), Lubān (لبان). Heb. לְבוֹנָה, in Isaiah xliii. 23, &c. The use of incense forms no part of the religious customs of the Muslim, although its use as a perfume for a corpse is permitted by the Traditions. It is, however, much used as an offering at the shrines of the Muḥammadan saints, and forms an important item in the so-called science of Daʿwah. [DAʿWAH.]
INFANTS, The Religion of. The general rule is that the religion of an infant is the same as that of its parents. But where one of the parents is a Muḥammadan, and the other of a different persuasion (as a Jew or a Christian), the infant must be accounted a Muḥammadan, on the principle that where the reasons are equally balanced, the preference is to be given to that religion. (Hidāyah, vol. i. p. 177. Sharīfīyah, Appendix No. 71. Baillie’s Inheritance, p. 28.)
INFANT SALVATION. The author of Durru ʾl-Muk͟htār, vol. i. p. 891, says: Abū Ḥanīfah gave no answer to the question whether the infants of mushrikūn (those who associate another with God) will have to answer for themselves in the Day of Judgment or not; or whether they will inherit the Fire (i.e. Hell), or go to Paradise (Jannah) or not. But Ibn al-Humām has said, the learned are not agreed upon these questions, and it is evident that Abū Ḥanīfah and others are at a loss to answer them; and, moreover, there are contradictory traditions recorded regarding them. So it is evident that in the matter of salvation, they (the infants) will be committed to God, and we are not able to say anything regarding this matter. Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan (the disciple of Abū Ḥanīfah), has said, “I am certain God will not commit anyone to the punishment (of hell) until he has committed sin.” And Ibn Abī Sharīf (a disciple of Ibn al-Ḥasan), says the Companions were silent regarding the question of the future of infants; but it is related by the Imām Nawawī (commentator on the Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim) that there are three views regarding the salvation of infants. Some say they will go to hell, some do not venture an opinion on the subject, and some say they will enter Paradise; and the last view he considers the correct one, in accordance with the tradition which says, “Every child is born according to the law of God.”
INFĀQ (انفاق). Lit. “Giving forth; expending.” The word occurs once in the Qurʾān, Sūrah xvii. 102: “Did ye control the treasuries of the mercy of my Lord, then ye would hold them through fear of expending (infāq), for man is ever niggardly.”
The word is used for giving in charity and in God’s service, in opposition to imsāk.