PICTURES. Muḥammad cursed the painter or drawer of men and animals (Mishkāt, book xii. ch. i. pt. 1), and consequently they are held to be unlawful.

PILGRIMAGES TO MAKKAH are of two kinds: the Ḥajj or special pilgrimage performed in the month of Ẕū ʾl-Ḥijjah, and the ʿUmrah, or visitation, which may be performed at any time of the year. [HAJJ, ʿUMRAH.]

PĪR (پير‎). The Persian word for an elder. A term used for a murshid, or religious leader. [SUFIISM.]

PLAGUES OF EGYPT. The following references occur to the ten plagues of Egypt in the Qurʾān.

Sūrah viii. 127–135: “Already had we chastised the people of Pharaoh with dearth and scarcity of fruits, that haply they might take warning: and when good fell to their lot they said, ‘This is our due.’ But if ill befell them, they regarded Moses and his partizans as (the birds) of ill omen. Yet, was not their evil omen from God? But most of them knew it not. And they said, ‘Whatever sign thou bring us for our enchantment, we will not believe on thee.’ And we sent upon them the flood and the locusts and the qummal (lice) and the frogs and the blood,—clear signs—but they behaved proudly, and were a sinful people. And when any plague fell upon them, they said, ‘O Moses! pray for us to thy Lord, according to that which he hath covenanted with thee: Truly if thou take off the plague from us, we will surely believe thee, and will surely send the children of Israel with thee.’ But when we had taken off the plague from them, and the time which God had granted them had expired, behold! they broke their promise. Therefore we took vengeance on them and drowned them in the sea, because they treated our signs as falsehoods and were heedless of them. And we gave to the people who had been brought so low, the eastern and the western lands, which we had blessed as an heritage: and the good word of thy Lord was fulfilled on the children of Israel because they had borne up with patience: and we destroyed the works and the structures of Pharaoh and his people: And we brought the children of Israel across the sea, and they came to a people who gave themselves up to their idols. They said, ‘O Moses! make us a god, as they have gods.’ He said, ‘Verily, ye are an ignorant people: for the worship they practice will be destroyed, and that which they do is vanity!’ ”

In the Sūrah xvii. 103–104, they are referred to as “nine clear signs,” which some commentators understand to be the commandments of Moses.

“We heretofore gave to Moses nine clear signs. Ask thou, therefore, the children of Israel how it was when he came unto them, and Pharaoh said to him, ‘Verily, I deem thee, O Moses, a man enchanted.’

“Said Moses, ‘Thou knowest that none hath sent down these clear signs but the Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth; and I surely deem thee, O Pharaoh, a person lost.’ ”

Mr. Sale, translating from the Jalālān and al-Baiẓāwī, says: “These were, the changing his rod into a serpent, the making his hand white and shining, the producing locusts, lice, frogs, and blood, the dividing of the Red Sea, the bringing water out of the rock, and the shaking of Mount Sinai over the children of Israel. In lieu of the three last, some reckon the inundation of the Nile, the blasting of the corn and scarcity of the fruits of the earth. These words, however, are interpreted by others not of nine miracles, but of nine commandments, which Moses gave his people, and were thus numbered up by Muhammad himself to a Jew, who asked him the question, viz. That they should not be guilty of idolatry, nor steal, nor commit adultery or murder, nor practise sorcery or usury, nor accuse an innocent man to take away his life, or a modest woman of whoredom, nor desert the army, to which he added the observing of the Sabbath as a tenth commandment, but which peculiarly regarded the Jews, upon which answer, it is said, the Jew kissed the Prophet’s hand and feet.”

PLANETS. Arabic as-sayyārah (السيارة‎). According to Arabic writers, there are seven planets, called an-Najūmu ʾs-Sayyārāt (النجوم السيارات‎), or, collectively, as-Sayyārah, the wandering stars, as distinguished from fixed stars, or an-Najūmu ʾs̤-s̤awābit (النجوم الثوابت‎). These planets are said to be situated in the seven firmaments in the following order: (1) Al-Qamar, Moon; (2) ʿUt̤ārid, Mercury; (3) Zuhrah, Venus; (4) ash-Shams, Sun; (5) al-Mirrīk͟h, Mars; (6) al-Mushtarī, Jupiter; (7) Zuḥal, Saturn. (Vide Kashshāf-i-Iṣt̤ilaḥāt, in loco.)

It will be seen that 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.

PLUNDER. Arabic g͟hanīmah (غنيمة‎), fayʾ (فىء‎). If the Imām, or leader of the Muslim army, conquer a country by force of arms, he is at liberty to leave the land in possession of the original proprietors, provided they pay tribute, or he may divide it amongst the Muslims; but with regard to movable property, it is unlawful for him to leave it in possession of the infidels, but he must bring it away with the army and divide it amongst the soldiers. Four-fifths of the spoils belong to the troops, and the remaining one-fifth must be divided into three equal portions for the relief of orphans, the feeding of the poor, and the entertainment of travellers. Captives form part of the plunder. All cattle and baggage which cannot be carried away upon a retreat, must be destroyed. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. p.159; Mishkāt, book xvii. ch. viii. pt. 1.)

POETS. Arabic shāʿir (شاعر‎), pl. shuʿarāʾ. Poetry, shiʿr (شعر‎). Muḥammad repudiated the idea of being a poet. See Qurʾān.

Sūrah xxxvi. 69: “We have not taught him poetry, nor was it proper for him; it is but a reminder and a plain Qurʾān.”

Sūrah lxix. 40, 41: “Verily it is the speech of a noble apostle; and it is not the speech of a poet.”

The Qurʾān being in manifest rhythm, and in some places actual poetry, the declaration of the Prophet, that he was not a poet has much perplexed the commentators. But the Imām Fak͟hru ʾd Dīn ar-Rāzī, has hit upon the following clever explanation of the difficulty. He says, that in order to be a poet it is absolutely necessary that the poems should not be impromptu verses, but deliberately framed, and that, therefore, although the Qurʾān contains poetry (for example, in Sūrah xciv., which begins thus:—

it is not really poetry, because the writer did not deliberately intend to produce the rhythm!

The same excuse is urged for the lines which Muḥammad is related to have uttered impromptu when his toe was wounded in battle:—

Arabic scholars (see Kashfu Īṣt̤ilāḥāti ʾl-Funūn, in loco) divide the Arabic poets into six periods:—

(1) Al-Jāhilīyūn, those in the time of ignorance, or before Islām, such as the ancient Arabic poets Zuhair, T̤arafah, Imru ʾl-Qais, ʿAmr ibn Kuls̤ūm, al-Ḥāris̤, and ʿAntarah.

(2) Al-Muk͟hzaramūn (lit. “spurious”), those born in the time of ignorance, but who embraced Islām, as Labīd and Ḥassān, whose names occur in the traditions.

(3) Al-Mutaqaddimūn (lit. “first”), those who were born in the time of Islām, of parents who were converts to Islām, as Jarīr and Farazdaq.

(4) Al-Muwalladūn, those who were born of true-born Muslims, as Bashār.

(5) Al-Muḥdis̤ūn, the third generation of Muslim poets, as Abū Tammām, and Buk͟htari.

(6) Al-Mutaʾak͟hk͟hirūn (lit. “the last”), all succeeding poets.

The Mutaqadimūn, the Muwalladūn, and the Muḥdis̤ūn, correspond with the Aṣhāb, the Tābiʿūn, and the Tābiʿ Tābiʿūn, or the three first generations of Muslims.

There are seven poems of ancient Arabia, who are known in history as the Muʿallaqāt, or “suspended,” because they had been in turn suspended on the walls of the Makkan temple. They are also known as Muẕahhabāt, or the “golden” poems, because they were written in gold. The names of their authors are Zuhair, T̤arafah, Imru ʾl-Qais, ʿAmru ibn Kuls̤ūm, al-Ḥāris̤, ʿAntarah, and Labīd. The last of the seven embraced Islām. It is related that Labīd had posted up in the Kaʿbah his poem, beginning:—

But that when he saw the first verses of the Sūratu ʾl-Baqarah (ii.) of the Qurʾān posted up, he withdrew his verses and embraced Islām. Muḥammad repaid Labīd with the compliment that the words, “Know that everything is vanity but God,” were the truest words ever uttered by a poet. (Mishkāt, book xxii. ch. x.)

In the earlier part of his mission, Muḥammad affected to despise the poets, and in the Qurʾān we find him saying (Sūrah xxvi. 224), “Those who go astray follow the poets”; and in the Traditions, Mishkāt, book xxii. ch. x.: “A belly full of purulent matter is better than a belly full of poetry.” But when Labīd and Ḥassān embraced Islām, the poets rise into favour, and the Prophet utters the wise but cautious saying, that “poetry is a kind of composition, which if it is good it is good, and if it is bad it is bad.” In the battle with the Banū Quraiz̤ah, the Prophet called out to Ḥassān the poet, “Abuse the infidels in your verse, for truly the Holy Spirit (in the Ḥadīs̤ it is Gabriel) will help you.” It is also related that the Prophet used to say, “O Lord! help Ḥassān the poet by the Holy Spirit (or Gabriel).”

It is generally admitted by Arabic scholars that the golden age of Arabic poetry was that immediately preceding or contemporaneous with Muḥammad, and that from the time of Muḥammad there was a gradual decline. This is not surprising, inasmuch as the Qurʾān is considered the most perfect model of composition ever revealed to mankind, and to be written in the language of Paradise.

Baron MacGuckin de Slane, in his Introduction to Ibn K͟hallikān’s Dictionary, says:—

“The oldest monuments of Arabic literature which we still possess were composed within the century which preceded the birth of Muḥammad. They consist in short pieces of verse uttered on the spur of the moment, narrations of combats between hostile tribes, passages in rhythmical prose and kasîdas (qaṣīdahs), or elegies. The study of these remains reveals the existence of a language perfect in its form and application, admirably suited to express the various ideas which the aspect of nature could suggest to a pastoral people, and as equally adapted to portray the fiercer passions of the mind. The variety of its inflections, the regularity of its syntax, and the harmony of its prosody, are not less striking, and they furnish in themselves a sufficient proof of the high degree of culture which the language of the Arabic nation had already attained. The superior merit of this early literature was ever afterwards acknowledged by the Arabs themselves. It furnished them not only with models, but ideas for their poetical productions, and its influence has always continued perceptible in the Kasîda, which still contains the same thoughts, the same allusions as of old, and drags its slow length along in monotonous dignity.… (p. xv.)

“The decline of Arabic poetry can be easily traced down from the accession of the Abbasides to the time of the Aiyubites: for many centuries the patrons of the belles-lettres were of foreign extraction, and writers who sought their favour were obliged to conform their own judgment to that of persons who were in general unable to appreciate the true beauties of literary compositions. Works which had obtained the patronage of the prince could not fail to fix the attention of other poets, who took them as models which they strove to imitate and to surpass. The opinion held in the schools that the ancient kasîdas were masterpieces of art, contributed also to the perversion of good taste, their plan and ideas were servilely copied, and it was by refinement of expression alone that writers could display their talent; verbal quibbles, far-fetched allusions, thoughts borrowed from the old writers, and strained so as to be hardly recognisable, such were the means by which they strove to attain originality; sense was sacrificed to sound, the most discordant ideas were linked together for the futile advantage of obtaining a recurrence of words having a similar written form or a similar pronunciation; poets wrote for the ear and the eye, not for the mind, and yet the high estimation in which their productions were held may be judged from the readiness of Ibn Khallikân to quote them. His taste was that of the age in which he lived, and the extracts which he gives enable the reader to form an idea of the Arab mind at the period of the Crusades. The same feeling of impartiality which induces me to express so severe a censure on the generality of the Islamic poets, obliges me also to make some exceptions. The kasîdas of al-Mutanabbi are full of fire, daring originality, and depth of thought; he often reaches the sublime, and his style, though blemished by occasional faults, is very fine; al-Bohtori is remarkable for grace and elegance; Abû-l-Alâ for dignity and beauty; but Ibn-al-Fârid seems superior to them all, his pieces teem with sentiment and poetry, in his mystic reveries he soars towards the confines of another world pervaded with spiritual beauty, and glides with the reader from one enchanting scene to another; the judgment is captivated by the genius of the poet, and can hardly perceive the traits of false taste which disfigure, from time to time, his admirable style. Having pointed out the influence of the kasîda, or elegy, it may not be amiss to sketch the plan generally followed in this species of composition. The poet, accompanied by two friends, approaches, after a long journey through the desert, to the place where he saw his mistress the year before, and where he hopes to meet her again. At his request, they direct the camels on which they are mounted towards the spot, but the ruins of the rustic dwellings, the withered moss, brushwood, and branches of trees, with which were formed the frail abodes where the tribe had passed the summer, the hearthstones blackened by the fire, the solitary raven hovering around in search of a scanty nourishment, every object he perceives strikes him with the conviction that his beloved and her family have removed to some other region in the desert. Overcome with grief, heedless of the consolations of his friends, who exhort him to be firm, he long remains plunged in silent affliction; at length he finds relief in a torrent of tears, and, raising up his head, he extemporizes a mournful elegy. He commences by mentioning the places which he had already visited in hopes of finding her whom he loved, and calls to mind the dangers which he had encountered in the desert. He describes the camel which, though fatigued, still full of ardour, had borne him into the depths of the wilderness, he vaunts his own courage and extols the glory of his tribe. An adventure which happened on the previous night then comes to his memory: a fire blazing on a lofty hill, had attracted their attention and guided them to the tent of a generous Arab, where they found shelter and hospitality. He then praises the charms of his mistress, and complains of the pains of love and absence, whilst his companions hurry him away. He casts a parting look towards the place where she had resided, and lo! a dark cloud, fringed with rain, and rent with lightnings, overhangs the spot. This sight fills his heart with joy! an abundant shower is about to shed new life upon the parched soil, and thus ensure a rich herbage for the flocks; the family of his beloved will then soon return, and settle again in their former habitation.

“Such may be considered as the outline of the pastoral kasîda. In these productions the same ideas almost constantly recur, and the same words frequently serve to express them. The eulogistic kasîda, or poem in praise of some great man, assumes also the same form, with the sole difference that in place of a mistress it is a generous patron whom the poet goes to visit, or else, after praising the object of his passion, he celebrates the noble qualities of the man who is always ready, with abundant gifts, to bestow consolation on the afflicted lover.

“It results from this that a person familiar with the mode of composition followed in the kasîda, can often, from a single word in a verse, perceive the drift of the poet, and discover, almost intuitively, the thoughts which are to follow. He has thus a means of determining the true readings amidst the mass of errors with which copyists usually disfigure Arabic poetry; knowing what the poet intends to say, he feels no longer any difficulty in disengaging the author’s words from the faults of a corrupted text. The same peculiarity is frequently perceptible in pieces of a few verses; these generally reproduce some of the ideas contained in the kasîda, and for this reason they are justly styled fragments by Arabic writers.

“There exist, also, some compositions of an original form: such are the dûbait, or distich, and the mawâlia, both borrowed from the Persians, and the muwashshaha, invented in Spain by Ibn Abd Rabbîh. Pieces of this kind became general favourites by the novelty of their form and matter; the mawâlia was adopted by the dervishes, and the muwashshaha was cultivated with passion and attained its perfection in Andalusia, whence it was transported to the East. It cannot be denied that the Moorish poets, with all their extravagance of thought and expression, were far superior in their perception of the beauties of nature and the delicacies of sentiment, to their brethren of the East, and the European reader will often discover in their poems, with some surprise, the same ideas, metaphors, and systems of versification, which characterise the works of the troubadours and the early Italian poets.

“An idea borrowed from the ante-Islamic poets, and of frequent recurrence in the kasîdas of later authors, is the taif al-khiâl (t̤āʾifu ʾl-k͟hiyāl), or phantom. The lover journeys with a caravan through the desert; for many nights his grief at being separated from his beloved prevents him from sleeping, but at length he yields to fatigue and closes his eyes. A phantom then approaches towards him, unseen by all but himself, and in it he recognises the image of his mistress, come to visit and console him. It was sent to him by the beloved, or rather it is herself in spirit, who has crossed the dreary waste and fleeted towards his couch; she, too, had slept, but it was to go and see her lover in her dreams. They thus meet in spite of the foes and spies who always surround the poet, ready to betray him if he obtain an interview with the beloved, and who are so jealous, that they hinder him from sleeping, lest he should see her image in his dream; it is only when they slumber that he dare close his eyes.

“The figurative language of the Muslim poets is often difficult to be understood. The narcissus is the eye; the feeble stem of that plant bends languidly under its flower, and thus recalls to mind the languor of the eyes. Pearls signify both tears and teeth, the latter are sometimes called hailstones, from their whiteness and moisture; the lips are cornelians or rubies; the gums a pomegranate flower; the dark foliage of the myrtle is synonymous with the black hair of the beloved, or with the first down which appears on the cheeks of youths at the period of puberty. The down itself is called the izâr or head-stall of the bridle, and the curve of the izâr is compared to the letters lâm and nûn. Ringlets trace on the cheek or neck the letter wâw; they are also called scorpions, either for their dark colour or their agitated movements; the eye is a sword; the eyelids, scabbards; the whiteness of the complexion, camphor; and a mole or beauty-spot, musk, which term denotes also dark hair. A mole is sometimes compared also to an ant creeping on the cheek towards the honey of the mouth; a handsome face is both a full-moon and day; black hair is night; the waist is a willow-branch, or a lance; the water of the face is self-respect; a poet sells the water of his face when he bestows mercenary praises on a rich patron devoid of every noble quality.

“Some of the verses in Arabic poetry (as in all Eastern poetry) are of a nature such as precludes translation. Had they been composed by a female on a youth whom she loved, they would seldom offer anything objectionable; but as the case is not so, they are utterly repugnant to European readers. It must not, however, be supposed that they are always the produce of a degraded passion; in many cases they were the usual expression of simple friendship and affection, or of those platonic attachments which the translated works of some Greek philosophers first taught the Moslims. Indeed, love and friendship are so closely confounded by them, that they designate both feelings by the same word, and it is not uncommon to meet epistles addressed by one aged doctor to another, and containing sentiments of the strongest kind, but which are the expression of friendship only. It often happens, also, that a poet describes his mistress under the attributes of the other sex, lest he should offend that excessive prudery of Oriental feelings which, since the fourth century of Islamism, scarcely allows an allusion to women, and more particularly in poetry, and this rigidness is still carried so far, that at Cairo public singers dare not amuse their auditors with a song in which the beloved is indicated as a female. Some of those pieces have also a mystic import, as the commentators of Hafiz, Saadi, and Shebisteri, have not failed to observe.” (Ib., p. xxxiii. et seq.)

POLL-TAX. [JIZYAH.]

POLYGAMY. In Muḥammadanism, polygamy has the express sanction of the Qurʾān, and is, therefore, held to be a divine institution. Vide Sūratu ʾn-Nisāʾ, or Chapter iv. 3:—

“But if ye cannot do justice between orphans, then marry what seems good to you of women, by twos, or threes, or fours: and if ye fear that ye cannot be equitable, then only one, or what your right hand possesses” (i.e. female slaves).

Compare this with the teaching of the Talmud:—

“A man may marry many wives, for Rabba saith it is lawful to do so, if he can provide for them. Nevertheless, the wise men have given good advice, that a man should not marry more than four wives.” (Arbah. Turim. Ev. Hazaer, 1.)

But although permission to indulge in polygamy is clear and unmistakable, the opening verse of the Sūrah from which the above is taken, seems to imply some slight leaning to monogamy as the highest form of married life, for it reads thus:—

“O ye men! fear your Lord, who created you from one soul, and created therefrom its mate, and diffused from them twain numerous men and women.”

In the Ain-i-Akbari, it is related that a certain Mujtahid, or enlightened doctor, married eighteen wives, for he rendered the Arabic word mas̤na, “double,” and read the text already quoted, “Marry whatever women you like two and two, three and three, and four and four.” And in the same work it is said that another learned Maulawī married eight wives, because he read the verse—“two + three + four = nine”!

Al-Baiẓāwī, the Jalālān, and other Sunnī commentators, are all agreed that the true reading of the verse limits the number of lawful wives to four. The Shīʿahs also hold the same opinion, but they sanction Mutʿah, or “temporary marriages.” [MUʿTAH.]

In the face of the united testimony of Islām founded upon the express injunctions of the Qurʾān, Syed Ameer Ali has the audacity to state in his Critical Examination of the Life and Teachings of Muhammad, p. 223, that “the greatest and most reprehensible mistake committed by Christian writers, is to suppose that Muhammad either adopted or legalised polygamy. The old idea of his having introduced it—a sign only of the ignorance of those who hold it—is by this time exploded, but the opinion that he adopted and legalised the custom is still maintained by the common masses as by many learned in Christendom. No belief can be more false”!

In his more recent work on the Personal Law of the Muḥammadans, the same writer remarks:—

“Muhammad restrained polygamy by limiting the maximum number of contemporaneous marriages, and by making absolute equity towards all obligatory on the man. It is worthy of note that the clause in the Qurán, which contains the permission to contract four contemporaneous marriages is immediately followed by a sentence which cuts down the significance of the preceding passage to its normal and legitimate dimensions. The former passage says, ‘You may marry two, three, or four wives, but not more.’ The subsequent lines declare, ‘but if you cannot deal equitably and justly with all you shall marry only one.’ The extreme importance of this proviso, bearing especially in mind the meaning which is attached to the word ‘equity’ (ʿadl) in the Quranic teachings, has not been lost sight of by the great thinkers of the Moslem world. Even so early as the third century of the era of the Hijra during the reign of al-Mâmûn, the first Motazalite doctors taught that the developed Quranic laws inculcated monogamy. And though the cruel persecutions of the mad bigot, Mutawwakil, prevented the general diffusion of their teachings, the conviction is gradually forcing itself on all sides, in all advanced Moslem communities, that polygamy is as much opposed to the Islâmic laws as it is to the general progress of civilised society and true culture. In India especially, this idea is becoming a strong moral, if not a religious conviction, and many extraneous circumstances in combination with this growing feeling are tending to root out the existence of polygamy from among the Mussulmans. A custom has grown up in that country, which is largely followed by all classes of the community, of drawing up a marriage deed containing a formal renunciation, on the part of the future husband, of any right or semblance of right which he might possess or claim to possess to contract a second marriage during the existence of the first. This custom serves as a most efficacious check upon the growth and the perpetuation of the institution of polygamy. In India more than ninety-five per cent. of Muhammadans are at the present moment, either by conviction or necessity, monogamists. Among the educated classes, versed in the history of their ancestors, and able to compare it with the records of other nations, the custom is regarded with disapprobation, amounting almost to disgust. In Persia, according to Colonel Macgregor’s statement, only two per cent. of the population enjoy the questionable luxury of plurality of wives. It is earnestly to be hoped that before long a general synod of Moslem doctors will authoritatively declare that polygamy, like slavery, is abhorrent to the laws of Islam.” (Personal Law of the Muhammadans, p. 28.)

Syud Ahmad Khan Bahadur, in his essay, Whether Islam has been beneficial or injurious to Society in general, on the contrary, defends the institution of polygamy as divine, and quotes John Milton, Mr. Davenport, and Mr. Higgins, as Christian writers who defended the practice.

The Prophet claimed considerable indulgence for himself in the matter, and married eleven wives. [WIVES OF THE PROPHET.]

The views of Dr. Marcus Dods in his Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ (p. 55), give an able and interesting summary of the subject:—

“The defence of polygamy has been undertaken from various points of view, and with varying degrees of insight and of earnestness. But one cannot detect much progress among its defenders. F. W. Newman has nothing to say in its favour which had not previously been suggested by Voltaire; nothing, we may say, which does not occur to anyone who wishes to present the argument for a plurality of wives. It is somewhat late in the day to be called upon to argue for monogamy as abstractly right. Speculators like Aristotle (Econ. i. 2, 8), who have viewed the subject both as statesmen having a regard to what is practicable and will conduce to social prosperity, and as philosophers reasoning from first principles, have long ago demanded for their ideal society, not only monogamy, but also that mutual respect and love, and that strict purity and modesty, which polygamy kills. Let us say briefly that the only ground conscience recognises as warranting two persons to become one in flesh is that they be, first of all, one in spirit. That absolute surrender of the person which constitutes marriage is justified only by the circumstances that it is a surrender of the heart as well, and that it is mutual. To an ideal love, polygamy is abhorrent and impossible. As Mohammed himself, in another connection, and with more than his usual profundity, said, ‘God has not put two hearts in you.’ This is the grand law imbedded in our nature, and by which it is secured that the children born into the world be the fruit of the devoted surrender of one human spirit to another; by which, in other words, it is secured that love, the root principle of all human virtue and duty, be transmitted to the child and born in it. This is the beneficent law expressed in monogamy, and this law is traversed and robbed of its effects precisely in so far as even monogamous marriages are prompted by fleshly or worldly rather than by spiritual motives. The utilitarian argument Mr. Lecky (Hist. European Morals, vol. ii. p. 295) has summed up in three sentences: ‘Nature, by making the number of males and females nearly equal, indicates it as natural. In no other form of marriage can the government of the family, which is one of the chief ends of marriage, be so happily sustained; and in no other does the woman assume the position of the equal of man.’ But we have here to do only with Mohammedan apologists, and their reasonings are somewhat perplexing; for they first maintain that nature intended us to be polygamists (see Syud Ahmad’s Essay, p. 8; Syud Ameer Ali’s Crit. Exam., p. 225), and then, secondly, declare that ‘the greatest and most reprehensible mistake committed by Christian writers is to suppose that Mohammed either adopted or legalised polygamy.’ Probably the most that can be said for Mohammed in regard to this matter, is that he restricted polygamy, and that its abolition was impossible and unsuitable to the population he had to do with.

“The allegation, however, that Mohammed confined polygamy within narrower limits than the Arabs had previously recognised, though true, is immaterial. For, in the first place, he restricted polygamy indeed in others, but not in his own case; and thus left upon the minds of his followers the inevitable impression that an unrestricted polygamy was the higher state of the two.

“In the second place, while he restricted the number of lawful wives, he did not restrict the number of slave-concubines. In the third place, his restriction was practically of little value, because very few men could afford to keep more than four wives. And, lastly, as to the principle, he left it precisely where it was, for as Mr. Freeman justly observes (Lectures, p. 69): ‘This is one of the cases in which the first step is everything. The difference between one wife and two is everything; that between four and five thousand is comparatively nothing.’

“And if the principle be defended as at least relatively good, nothing is to be urged against this as matter of fact; although the circumstance has been overlooked, that already very many thousands of Christian Arabs had found it quite possible to live in monogamy. But that polygamy is not incompatible with a sound, if not perfectly developed, morality, and with the highest tone of feeling, no one who has read the history of Israel will be disposed to deny. That it may suit a race in a certain stage of its development, and may in that stage lead to purer living and surer moral growth than its prohibition would, may be granted. But necessarily the religion which incorporates in its code of morals such allowances, stamps itself as something short of the final religion.”

[MARRIAGE, MUTʿAH, WIVES, WOMEN.]

POTIPHAR. Arabic Qit̤fīr (قطفير‎), or It̤fīr (اطفير‎). The treasurer of Egypt in the time of Joseph, and the husband of Zulaik͟hah. [JOSEPH.]

PRAYER. Arabic ṣalāt (صلوة‎), pl. ṣalawāt. Persian namāz (نماز‎), pl. namāzhā.

Prayer is the second of the five foundations, or pillars, of practical religion in Islām, and is a devotional exercise which every Muslim is required to render to God at least five times a day, namely, at the early morning, midday, afternoon, evening, and night.

The general duty of prayer is frequently enjoined in the Qurʾān, but it is remarkable that in no single passage are the five periods mentioned.

See Sūratu ʾr-Rūm (xxx.), 17: “Glorify God when it is evening (masāʾ) and at morning (ṣubḥ),—and to Him be praise in the heavens and the earth,—and at afternoon (ʿashī), and at noon-tide (z̤uhr).” (But all commentators are agreed that masāʾ includes both sunset and after sunset; and, therefore, both the Mag͟hrib and ʿAshīyah prayers.)

Sūrah xi. 116: “Observe prayer at early morning, at the close of the day, and at the approach of night; for the good deeds drive away the evil deeds.”

Sūrah xx. 130: “Put up then with what they say; and celebrate the praise of thy Lord before the sunrise, and before its setting; and some time in the night do thou praise Him, and in the extremes of the day, that thou haply mayest please Him.”

Sūrah xvii. 80: “Observe prayer at sunset, till the first darkening of the night, and the daybreak reading—for the daybreak reading hath its witnesses, and watch unto it in the night: this shall be an excess in service.”

Sūrah ii. 42: “Seek aid with patience and prayer.”

Sūrah iv. 1–4: “When ye have fulfilled your prayer, remember God standing and sitting, and lying on your sides; and when ye are in safety, then be steadfast in prayer. Verily prayer is for the believers prescribed and timed.”

According to the Traditions, Muḥammad professed to have received instructions to recite prayers five times a day, during his miʿrāj, or ascent to heaven. The tradition runs thus:—

“The divine injunctions for prayer were originally fifty times a day. And as I passed Moses (in heaven, during my ascent), Moses said to me, ‘What have you been ordered?’ I replied, ‘Fifty times!’ Then Moses said, ‘Verily your people will never be able to bear it, for I tried the children of Israel with fifty times a day, but they could not manage it.’ Then I returned to the Lord and asked for some remission. And ten prayers were taken off. Then I pleaded again and ten more were remitted. And so on until at last they were reduced to five times. Then I went to Moses, and he said, ‘And how many prayers have you been ordered?’ And I replied ‘Five.’ And Moses said, ‘Verily I tried the children of Israel with even five, but it did not succeed. Return to your Lord, and ask for a further remission.’ But I said, ‘I have asked until I am quite ashamed, and I cannot ask again.’ ” (See Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, vol. i. p. 91.)

This Ṣalāt, or liturgical service, has thus become one of the most prominent features of the Muḥammadan religion, and very numerous are the injunctions regarding it which have been handed down in the traditions. There are various minor differences amongst the numerous sects of Islām regarding the formula, but its main features are alike in all countries.

We shall describe prayer according to the Ḥanafī sect of Sunnī Muslims.

It is absolutely necessary that the service should be performed in Arabic; and that the clothes and body of the worshipper should be clean, and that the praying-place should be free from all impurity. It may be said either privately, or in company, or in a mosque—although services in a mosque are more meritorious than those elsewhere.

The stated prayers are always preceded by the ablution of the face, hands, and feet. [ABLUTION.]

At the time of public prayer, the muʾaẕẕin, or “crier,” ascends the minaret, or stands at the side of the mosque nearest the public thoroughfare, and gives the azān, or “call to prayer,” as follows:—

(The Shīʿahs add “Come to good works!”)

(The Shīʿahs recite the last sentence twice.)

In the early morning the following sentence is added: “Prayers are better than sleep!”

When the prayers are said in a congregation or in the mosque, they begin with the Iqāmah, which is a recitation of the same words as the azān, with the addition of the sentence, “Prayers are now ready!” The regular form of prayer then begins with the Nīyah, which is said standing, with the hands on either side:—

“I have purposed to offer up to God only, with a sincere heart this morning (or, as the case may be), with my face Qiblah-wards, two (or, as the case may be) rakʿah prayers Farẓ (Sunnah, or Nafl).”

Then follows the Takbīr-i-Taḥrīmah, said with the thumbs touching the lobules of the ears and the open hands on each side of the face:—

The Qiyām, or standing position. The right hand placed upon the left, below the navel (the Shāfiʿīs, and the two other orthodox sects, place their hands on their breasts, as also the Wahhābīs; the Shīʿahs keep their hands on either side. In all the sects the women perform the Qiyām with their hands on their breasts), and the eyes looking to the ground in self-abasement. During which is said the Subḥān (the Shīʿahs omit the Subḥān):—

The Taʿawwuẕ, or Aʿūẕubillah, is then said as follows:—

After which the Tasmiyah is repeated:—

Then follows the Fātiḥah, viz. the first chapter of the Qurʾān:—

After this the worshipper can repeat as many chapters of the Qurʾān as he may wish; he should, at least, recite one long or two short verses. The following chapter is usually recited, namely, the Sūratu ʾl-Ik͟hlāṣ, or the 112th chapter:

The Takbīr-i-Rukūʿ, said whilst making an inclination of the head and body and placing the hands upon the knees, separating the fingers a little.

The Tasbīḥ-i-Rukūʿ, said in the same posture.

(The Shīʿahs here add “and with His praise.” This is also added by the Shīʿahs to the Tasbīḥ-i-Sijdah.)

The Qiyām-i-Samiʿ Ullah or Tasmīʿ, said with the body erect, but, unlike the former Qiyām, the hands being placed on either side. The Imām says aloud (when the prayers are said by a person alone, he recites both sentences):—

The people then respond in a low voice—

Takbīr-i-Sijdah, said as the worshipper drops on his knees.

Tasbīḥ-i-Sijdah, recited as the worshipper puts first his nose and then his forehead to the ground.

Then raising his head and body and sinking backward upon his heels, and placing his hands upon his thighs, he says the Takbīr-i-Jalsah (the Shīʿahs here omit the Takbīr, and say instead, “I rise and sit by the power of God!”)

Then, whilst prostrating as before, he says the Takbīr-i-Sijdah.

And then during the prostration the Tasbīḥ-i-Sijdah as before.

Then, if at the close of one rakʿah, he repeats the Takbīr standing, when it is called Takbīr-i-Qiyām; but at the end of two rakʿahs, and at the close of the prayer, he repeats it sitting, when it is called Takbīr-i-Quʿūd. (The Shīʿahs here recite the Takbīr:—“God is great!” with the thumbs touching the lobules of the ear, and add, “I seek forgiveness from God, my Lord, and I repent before Him!”)

Here ends one rakʿah or form of prayer. The next rakʿah begins with the Fātiḥah or 1st chapter of the Qurʾān. At the close of every two rakʿahs he recites the Taḥīyah, which is said whilst kneeling upon the ground. His left foot bent under him he sits upon it, and places his hands upon his knees and says (the Shīʿahs omit the Taḥīyah):—

Then raising the first finger of the right hand he recites the Tashahhūd:—

(Every two rakʿahs close with the Tashahhud. The Darūd is said whilst in the same posture.)

“O God, have mercy on Muḥammad and on his descendants (the Shīʿahs merely recite: “God have mercy on Muḥammad and his descendants”; and omit the rest), as Thou didst have mercy on Abraham and on his descendants. Thou art to be praised, and Thou art great. O God, bless Muḥammad and his descendants, as Thou didst bless Abraham and his descendants!

Then the Duʿāʾ:—

(The Duʿāʾ is omitted by the Shīʿahs, who recite the following instead: “Peace be on thee, O Prophet, with the mercy of God and His blessing! Peace be upon us, and upon God’s righteous servants!”)

He then closes with the Salām.

Turning the head round to the right, he says:—

Turning the head round to the left, he says:—

At the close of the whole set of prayers, that is of Farẓ, Sunnah, Nafl, or Witr, the worshipper raises his hands and offers up a Munājāt, or “supplication.” This usually consists of prayers selected from the Qurʾān or Ḥadīs̤. They ought to be said in Arabic, although they are frequently offered up in the vernacular.

Such supplications were highly commended by Muḥammad, who is related to have said:—

“Supplication is the marrow of worship.”

“There is nothing better before God than supplication.”

“Supplicate God when ye are certain of its approval, and know that God accepts not the supplication of a negligent heart.”

“Verily your Lord is ashamed of his servants when they raise up their hands to Him in supplication to return them empty.”

These daily prayers are either Farẓ, Sunnah, Nafl, or Witr. Farẓ, are those rakʿahs (or forms of prayer), said to be enjoined by God. Sunnah, those founded on the practice of Muḥammad. Nafl, the voluntary performance of two rakʿahs, or more, which may be omitted without sin. Witr, an odd number of rakʿahs, either one, three, five, or seven, said after the night prayer. These divisions of prayer are entirely distinct from each other. They each begin afresh with the Nīyah, and worshippers may rest for a while between them, but not converse on worldly subjects. The Wahhābīs think it correct to say the Sunnah prayers in their houses and only the Farẓ prayers in the mosque.

The five times of prayer are known as Z̤uhr, ʿAṣr, Mag͟hrib, ʿIshāʾ, and Fajr. There are also three voluntary periods called Ishrāq, Ẓuḥā, and Tahajjud.

The following is a table showing the exact number of rakʿahs to be performed at each service:—

According to the above table, a devout Muslim recites the same form of prayer at least seventy-five times in the day.

ʿAbdu ʾllāh ibn ʿUmar relates that the Prophet said, “The time for Z̤uhr prayers begins from the inclination of the sun towards the west and closes at the time when the shadow of a person shall be the length of his own stature, which time marks the beginning of the ʿAṣr prayers, and the time of the ʿAṣr prayers is from that time till the sun assumes a yellow appearance. The time of Mag͟hrib prayers is from sunset as long as the red appearance in the horizon remains. The time of ʿIshāʾ prayers is from that time till midnight. And the time of the Fajr prayers is from the break of day till the sun rises. Therefore, when the sun has risen you must not recite the morning prayer, for the sun rises between the horns of the devil.” (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. ii.)

It is the ordinary custom of Muslims to say their prayers with their feet uncovered, but strictly according to the Traditions it is lawful to cover the feet with boots or shoes during prayer, provided they are free from impurity.

Shaddād ibn Aus relates that Muḥammad said, “Act the reverse of the Jews in your prayer, for they do not pray in boots and shoes.”

Abū Saʿīd al-K͟hudrī relates that “the Prophet said prayers with his companions, and all on a sudden took off his shoes, and put them down on his left side, and when the people observed it, they took off theirs also; and when the Prophet had finished the prayers, he said, ‘What caused you to take off your shoes?’ They replied, ‘We did so in order to follow your example.’ And the Prophet said, ‘Verily Gabriel came to me and told me there was a little filth upon my shoes; therefore, when any one of you goes into a Masjid, look well at your shoes first; and if you perceive any dirt, wipe it off, and then say your prayers in them.’ ” (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. ix. pt. 2.)

Any wandering of the eyes, or of the mind, a coughing or the like, answering a question, or any action not prescribed to be performed, must be strictly avoided (unless it is between the Sunnah prayers and the farẓ, or be difficult to avoid; for it is held allowable to make three slight irregular motions, or deviations from correct deportment); otherwise, the worshipper must begin again and recite his prayers with due reverence.

If a person arrive late, he merely recites the Nīyah and Takbīr, and then joins the congregation in that part of the service in which they are engaged.

The Muslim may say his five daily prayers in his home, or shop, or in the street or road, but there are said to be special blessings attending prayer recited in a congregation.

In addition to the daily prayers, the following are special services for special occasions:—

Ṣalātu ʾl-Jumʿah.—“The Friday Prayer.” It consists of two rakʿahs after the daily meridian prayer.

Ṣalātu ʾl-Musāfir.—“Prayers for a traveller.” Two rakʿahs instead of the usual number at the meridian, afternoon, and night prayers.

Ṣalātu ʾl-K͟hauf.—“The prayers of fear.” Said in time of war. They are two rakʿahs recited first by one regiment or company and then by the other.

Ṣalātu ʾl-Tarāwīḥ.—Twenty rakʿahs recited every evening during the Ramaẓān, immediately after the fifth daily prayer.

Ṣalātu ʾl-Istik͟hārah.—Prayers for success or guidance. The person who is about to undertake any special business performs two rakʿah prayers and then goes to sleep. During his slumbers he may expect to have “ilhām,” or inspiration, as to the undertaking for which he seeks guidance!

Ṣalātu ʾl-K͟husūf.—Two rakʿahs said at the time of an eclipse of the moon.

Ṣalātu ʾl-Kusūf.—Two rakʿahs said at the time of an eclipse of the sun.

Ṣalātu ʾl-Istisqāʾ.—Prayer in time of drought, consisting of two rakʿahs.

Ṣalātu ʾl-Janāzah.—Prayers at a funeral. [JANAZAH.]

The liturgical service of the Muslim is not given in the Qurʾān, but is founded upon very minute instructions given by the Prophet, and which are recorded in the Traditions, and for which the Arabic scholar can refer to Ṣaḥīḥu ʾl-Buk͟hārī, vol. i. p. 50; Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, vol. i. p. 164; Sunanu ʾt-Tirmiẕī, p. 22; Sunanu Abū Dāʾūd, p. 56; Sunanu Muwat̤t̤aʾ, p. 50; and the English reader to Matthew’s Mishkāt, book iv.

The following are selections from the sayings of Muḥammad with reference to the Liturgical prayers (vide Mishkāt, book iv.):—

“That which leads a creature into infidelity is neglect of prayers.”

“Not one of you must say your prayers in a garment without covering your whole body.”

“God accepts not the prayers of a woman arrived at puberty unless she covers her head.”

“People must not lift up their eyes whilst saying their prayers, or they will become blind.”

“The prayers which are said in congregation increase the rewards of those said alone by twenty seven degrees.” [MOSQUE.]

“The five stated prayers erase the sins which have been committed during the intervals between them, if they have not been mortal sins.”

“That prayer preparatory to which the teeth shall have been cleaned with the Miswāk is more excellent than the prayer without Miswāk by seventy.” [MISWAK.]

“The prayers of a person will not be accepted who has broken his ablution until he completes another ablution.”

“That person who leaves even one hair without washing after uncleanness, will be punished in hell accordingly.”

“When any one of you stands up for prayer, he must not smooth the ground by wiping away pebbles, because the compassion of God descends upon him at that time.”

“Order your children to say the stated prayers when they are seven years of age, and beat them if they do not do so when they are ten years old; and when they reach ten years, divide their beds.”

“When you stand up to prayer, spit not in front, because you are then in God’s presence; neither spit on your right side, because an angel is there. Spit, therefore either on your left side or under your feet, and then throw earth over it.”

“Whoever says twelve rakʿahs of Sunnah prayers in the day and night, will have a house built for him in Paradise; four rakʿahs before the noon-day prayer, and two rakʿahs after it, and two after sunset prayer, and two rakʿahs after evening prayer, and two before morning prayer.”

“ ‘Tell me if any one of you had a rivulet before his door and bathed five times a day in it, whether any dirt would remain upon his body.’ The Companions said, ‘Nothing would remain.’ The Prophet said, ‘In this manner will the five daily prayers as ordered by God erase all little sins.’ ”

“When any one of you says his prayers, he must have something in front of him, but if he cannot find anything for that purpose, he must put his walking-stick into the ground; but if the ground be hard, then let him place it lengthways in front of him; but if he has no staff, he must draw a line on the ground, after which there will be no detriment in the prayers from anyone passing in front of it.” [SUTRAH.]

“The best prayers for God were those of David the prophet, and the best fast are his also. David used to sleep half the night and would be woke, and in prayer a third part of the night and would fast one day and eat another.”

The form of prayer, or rakʿahs, as given above, admit of no variations whether they are used in private or public, and consequently, notwithstanding the beauty of its devotional language, it is simply a superstitious act, having very little in common with the Christian idea of prayer.

We translate the Arabic Ṣalāt, and the Persian Namāz by the English word prayer, although this “second foundation” of the religion of Muḥammad is something quite distinct from that prayer which the Christian poet so well describes as the “soul’s sincere desire uttered or unexpressed.” It would be more correct to speak of the Muḥammadan Ṣalāt as a service; “prayer” being more correctly rendered by the Arabic duʿāʾ. In Islām prayer is reduced to a mechanical act, as distinct from a mental act; and in judging of the spiritual character of Muḥammadanism, we must take into careful consideration the precise character of that devotional service which every Muslim is required to render to God at least five times a day, and which undoubtedly, exercise so great an influence upon the character of the followers of Muḥammad.

The devotions of Islām are essentially “vain repetitions,” for they must be said in the Arabic language, and admit of no change or variety. The effect of such a constant round of devotional forms, which are but the service of the lips, on the vast majority of Muḥammadans, can be easily imagined. The absence of anything like true devotion from these services, accounts for the fact that religion and true piety stand so far apart in the practice of Islām.

The late Dean Stanley remarks (Eastern Church, p. 279), “The ceremonial character of the religion of Musalmāns is, in spite of its simplicity, carried to a pitch beyond the utmost demands either of Rome or of Russia.… Prayer is reduced to a mechanical act as distinct from a mental act, beyond any ritual observances in the West. It is striking to see the figures along the banks of the Nile going through their prostrations, at the rising of the sun, with the uniformity and regularity of clockwork; but it resembles the worship of machines rather than of reasonable beings.”