MOSQUE. The Muḥammadan place of worship, which is called in Arabic masjid (مسجد). The term “mosque” is found in all European languages, and must have been derived from the Arabic form of the word, e.g. Spanish, mesquita; Italian, moschea; German, Moschee; French, mosquée; English, mosque or mosk.
For an account of these buildings, see MASJID.
MOTHER. (1) Kindness towards a mother is enjoined in the Qurʾān. Sūrah xlvi. 14: “We have prescribed for man kindness towards his parents. His mother bore him with trouble, and brought him forth with trouble.”
(2) Mothers cannot be compelled to nurse their children.
(3) They are not, without their husband’s permission, allowed to move them to a strange place. (Hidāyah, vol. i. pp. 386, 390.)
MOURNING. The period of mourning for the dead is restricted to three days, during which time the friends and relatives are expected to visit the bereaved family, and offer up prayers for the departed (fātiḥah), and speak words of consolation (taʿziyah). But a widow must observe the custom of mourning for a period of four months and ten days, which period is called iḥdād. During these periods of mourning, it is the duty of all concerned to abstain from the use of perfumes and ornaments, and to wear soiled garments. Lamentation, bukāʾ (Heb. bokhoh), for the dead is strictly forbidden by the Prophet (Mishkāt, book v. ch. vii.), but it is nevertheless a common custom in the East, amongst all sects of Muḥammadans. (See Arabian Nights; Lane’s Modern Egyptians; Shaw’s Travels in Barbary.)
MUʿĀHID (معاهد). One who enters into covenant (ʿahd) with another. An infidel who is permitted by a Muslim Government to enter its towns and carry on traffic, i.e. a ẕimmī. [ZIMMI.]
AL-MUʾAK͟HK͟HIR (الموخر). “The Deferrer.” One of the ninety-nine names or attributes of God. It does not occur in the Qurʾān, but is given in the Ḥadīs̤.
MUʿALLIM (معلم). A teacher in a school or mosque. Al-Muʿallimu ʾl-Awwal, “The first teacher,” is a term used by philosophers for Aristotle. Amongst the Ṣūfīs it is used for Adam, who is said to be the first prophet. Muʿallimu ʾl-Malāʾikah, “The teacher of angels,” is also used by the Ṣūfīs for Adam, because it is said in the Qurʾān, Sūrah ii. 31: “O Adam, declare unto them (the angels) their names.”
MUʿĀNAQAH (معانقة). Embracing, or throwing oneself on the neck of one’s friend. A custom especially enjoined by Muḥammad. (Mishkāt, book xxii. ch. iii. pt. 2.)
AL-MUʿAQQIBĀT (المعقبات). Lit. “The succeeding ones.” A title given to the recording angels. [KIRAMU ʾL-KATIBIN.]
MUʿĀWIYAH (معاوية). The sixth K͟halīfah, and the founder of the Umaiyah dynasty (the Ommiades). He was the son of Abū Sufyān, one of the leading Companions of Muḥammad, and became K͟halīfah on the death of al-Ḥasan, and is regarded with great hatred by the Shīʿahs. He died A.H. 60. He was the first K͟halīfah who made the K͟halīfate hereditary.
AL-MUʿAWWIẔĀT (المعوذات). Lit. “The seekers of refuge.” The two last chapters of the Qurʾān.
Sūratu ʾl-Falaq (cxiii.), beginning with, “Say: I flee for refuge to the Lord of the Daybreak.”
Sūratu ʾn-Nās (cxiv.), beginning, “Say: I flee for refuge to the Lord of men.”
These chapters were ordered by Muḥammad to be recited after each stated prayer. (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. xix. pt. 2.)
MUʿĀẔ IBN JABAL (معاذ بن جبل). One of the most famous of the “Companions.” He was of the Banū K͟hazraj, and was only twenty years of age at the battle of Badr. Being well skilled in the Qurʾān, he was left at Makkah to instruct the people in the principles of Islām. He was also sent as the head of a band of collectors of taxes to south Arabia, and became Qāẓī of al-Yaman. After Muḥammad’s death, he became a leading person in the counsels of Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, and was placed in charge of Syria by the latter K͟halīfah. He died at T̤āʿūn ʿAmawās.
MUʾAẔẔIN (موذن). The caller of the aẕān, or “summons to prayer.” In small mosques, the aẕān is given by the Imām, but in the larger ones, an official is specially appointed for the purpose. When the mosque has a minaret, he calls from the top of it, but in smaller places of worship, from the side of the mosque. The first muʾaẕẕin was Bilāl, the son of an Abyssinian slave-girl, and Muḥammad is related to have said, “The callers to prayer may expect Paradise, and whoever serves in the office for seven years shall be saved from hell fire.” (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. vi.) [AZAN.]
MUBĀḤ (مباح). Lit. “Allowed.” A term used in the religious and ceremonial law of Islām for an action which a person may do or let alone, being attended with neither praise nor blame.
MUBĀRĀT (مباراة). “Mutual discharge.” A term used in the law of divorce when a man says to his wife, “I am discharged from the marriage between you and me,” and she consents thereto. It is the same as k͟hulʿ.
AL-MUBDĪʾ (المبدى). “The Producer or Beginner.” One of the ninety-nine names or attributes of God. It does not occur in the Qurʾān, but the idea is expressed in Sūrah lxxxv. 13: “He produces and restores.”
MUBTADIʿ (مبتدع). Lit. “An inventor.” A heretic, or a broacher of new opinions.
MUDABBAR (مدبر). A slave who has received his freedom in consequence of the master’s death, in accordance with a previous promise.
MUDDAʿĪ (مدعى). A plaintiff in a law-suit.
MUDDAʿĪ-ʿALAIH (مدعى عليه). A defendant in a law-suit.
AL-MUDDAS̤S̤IR (المدثر). Lit. “The Enwrapped.” The title of the LXXIVth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, in the first verse of which the word occurs. “O Thou, enwrapped in thy mantle, arise and preach.” This is considered by some to be the earliest Sūrah in the Qurʾān, but others think it was the XCVIth. [MUHAMMAD.]
MUFARRIḤU ʾL-AḤZAN (مفرح الاحزان). Lit. “The making cheerful under affliction.” A term used by pious Muslims for a spirit of resignation in affliction, which, they say, is to be produced by possessing faith with a firm belief in the decrees of fate. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)
MUFSID (مفسد). “A pernicious person.” It occurs in the Qurʾān frequently, e.g. Sūrah ii. 219: “God knoweth the foul dealer (mufsid) from the fair dealer (muṣlih).”
MUFTĪ (مفتى). The officer who expounds the law. He assists the Qāẓī, or judge, and supplies him with fatwās, or decisions. He must be learned in the Qurʾān and Ḥadīs̤, and in the Muslim works of law.
AL-MUG͟HNĪ (المغنى). “The Enricher.” One of the ninety-nine names or attributes of God. It is referred to in the Qurʾān, Sūrah iv. 129: “God can make both independent (lit. ‘enrich’) out of His abundance.”
MUḤĀDAS̤AH (محادثة). Lit. “Discoursing together.” A term used by the Ṣūfīs for the calling of a person by God through some outward means, as when, according to the Qurʾān, Sūrah xxviii. 30, God spoke to Moses out of a tree. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)
MUḤADDIS̤ (محدث). (1) The narrator of a Ḥadīs̤ or acts and words of Muḥammad. (2) One learned in the Traditions.
AL-MUHAIMIN (المهيمن). “The Protector.” One of the ninety-nine names or attributes of God. It occurs in the Qurʾān, Sūrah lix. 23, “He is … the Protector.”
MUHĀJIR (مهاجر). From hijrah, “flight.” One who performs hijrah either by (1) leaving Makkah in company with the Prophet, or (2) leaving a country ruled by an infidel power, or (3) by fleeing from what God has forbidden.
MUHĀJIRŪN (مهاجرون). The pl. of Muhājir. The exiles or refugees. A term used for all those converts to Islām who fled with their Prophet from Makkah. Under the title are also included all who from time to time joined Muḥammad at al-Madīnah, either from Makkah or from any other quarter, up to the taking of Makkah in A.H. 8. They rank first in order amongst the Companions of the Prophet.
MUḤALLIL (محلل). Lit. “One who makes lawful.” The man who marries a divorced wife in order to make her lawful for her former husband if he wish to marry her. [DIVORCE.]