DICTIONARY OF ISLĀM. (continued 14)

Sūrah ii. 81: “Moreover, to Moses gave we ‘the Book,’ and we raised up apostles after him; and to Jesus, son of Mary, gave we clear proofs of his mission, and strengthened him by the Holy Spirit. So oft then as an apostle cometh to you with that which your souls desire not, swell ye with pride, and treat some as impostors, and slay others?”

Sūrah ii. 254: “Some of the apostles we have endowed more highly than others: Those to whom God hath spoken, He hath raised to the loftiest grade, and to Jesus the Son of Mary we gave manifest signs, and we strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. And if God had pleased, they who came after them would not have wrangled, after the clear signs had reached them. But into disputes they fell: some of them believed, and some were infidels; yet if God had pleased, they would not have thus wrangled: but God doth what he will.”

Sūrah lxi. 6: “And remember when Jesus the son of Mary said, ‘O children of Israel! of a truth I am God’s apostle to you to confirm the law which was given before me, and to announce an apostle that shall come after me whose name shall be Aḥmad!’ But when he (Aḥmad) presented himself with clear proofs of his mission, they said, ‘This is manifest sorcery!’ ”

Sūrah vi. 85: “And Zachariah, John, Jesus, and Elias: all were just persons.”

Sūrah iv. 157: “And there shall not be one of the people of the Book but shall believe in him (Jesus) before his death, and in the day of judgment he shall be a witness against them.”

Sūrah iii. 44: “And I have come to attest the law which was before me; and to allow you part of that which had been forbidden you; and I come to you with a sign from your Lord: Fear God, then, and obey me; of a truth God is my Lord, and your Lord: Therefore worship Him. This is a right way.”

V.—The Crucifixion of Jesus.

Sūrah iii. 47–50: “And the Jews plotted, and God plotted: But of those who plot is God the best. Remember when God said, ‘O Jesus! verily I will cause thee to die, and will take thee up to myself and deliver thee from those who believe not; and I will place those who follow thee above those who believe not, until the Day of Resurrection. Then, to me is your return, and wherein ye differ will I decide between you. And as to those who believe not, I will chastise them with a terrible chastisement in this world and in the next; and none shall they have to help them.’ But as to those who believe, and do the things that are right, He will pay them their recompense. God loveth not the doers of evil.”

Sūrah iv. 155, 156: “And for their unbelief [are the Jews cursed]—and for their having spoken against Mary a grievous calumny,—And for their saying, ‘Verily we have slain the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, an Apostle of God.’ Yet they slew him not, and they crucified him not, but they had only his likeness. And they who differed about him were in doubt concerning him: No sure knowledge had they about him, but followed only an opinion, and they really did not slay him, but God took him up to Himself. And God is Mighty, Wise!”

[Sale, in his notes on the Qurʾān, says: “The person crucified some will have to be a spy that was sent to entrap him; others that it was one Titian, who by the direction of Judas entered in at a window of the house where Jesus was, to kill him; and others that it was Judas himself, who agreed with the rulers of the Jews to betray him for thirty pieces of silver, and led those who were sent to take him. They add, that Jesus, after his crucifixion in effigy, was sent down again to the earth to comfort his mother and disciples and acquaint them how the Jews were deceived, and was then taken up a second time into heaven. It is supposed by several that this story was an original invention of Moḥammad’s; but they are certainly mistaken: for several sectaries held the same opinion long before his time. The Basilidians, in the very beginning of Christianity, denied that Christ himself suffered, but [asserted] that Simon the Cirenean was crucified in his place. The Corinthians before them, and the Carpocratians next (to name no more of those who affirmed Jesus to have been a mere man), did believe the same thing, that it was not himself, but one of his followers, very like him, that was crucified. Photius tells us that he read a book entitled The Journeys of the Apostles, relating the acts of Peter, John, Andrew, Thomas, and Paul; and among other things contained therein this was one, that Christ was not crucified, but another in his stead, and that therefore he laughed at his crucifiers, or those who thought they had crucified him.” The “Cross of Christ” is the missing link in the Muslim’s creed; for we have in Islām the great anomaly of a religion which rejects the doctrine of a sacrifice for sin, whilst its great central feast is a Feast of Sacrifice. It is related by the Muslim historian al-Wāqidī, that Muḥammad had such repugnance to the sign of the cross that he destroyed everything brought to his house with that figure upon it.]

VI.—Divinity and Sonship of Christ, and His Sinlessness.

Sūrah xix. 35, 36: “That is Jesus the son of Mary, the word of truth (Qaulu ʾl-Ḥaqq), whereon ye do dispute! God could not take to Himself a son! Celebrated be His praise! When He decrees a matter He only says to it, ‘BE,’ and it is; and verily God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him: this is the right way. But the sects have differed among themselves.”

Sūrah iii. 51, 52: “These signs, and this wise warning do we rehearse to thee. Verily, Jesus is as Adam in the sight of God. He created Him of dust: He then said to him, ‘Be’—and he was.”

Sūrah xliii. 57–65: “And when the Son of Mary was set forth as an instance of divine power, lo! thy people cried out for joy thereat: And they said, ‘Are our gods or is he the better?’ They put this forth to thee only in the spirit of dispute. Yea, they are a contentious people. Jesus is no more than a servant whom we favoured, and proposed as an instance of divine power to the children of Israel; and if we pleased, we could from yourselves bring forth Angels to succeed you on earth: and he shall be a sign of the last hour; doubt not then of it, and follow ye me: this is the right way; and let not Satan turn you aside from it, for he is your manifest foe. And when Jesus came with manifest proofs, he said, ‘Now am I come to you with wisdom; and a part of those things about which ye are at variance I will clear up to you; fear ye God, therefore, and obey me. Verily, God is my Lord and your Lord; wherefore, worship ye him: this is a right way.’ But the different parties fell into disputes among themselves; but woe to those who thus transgressed, because of the punishment of an afflictive day!”

Sūrah ix. 30: “The Jews say Ezra is the Son of God; and the Christians say that the Messiah is the Son of God; that is what they say with their mouths imitating the sayings of those who misbelieved before—God fight them!—How they lie!”

Sūrah iii. 72, 73: “And some truly are there among them who torture the Scriptures with their tongues, in order that ye may suppose it to be from the Scripture, yet it is not from the Scripture. And they say, ‘This is from God’; yet it is not from God: and they utter a lie against God, and they know they do so. It beseemeth not a man, that God should give him the Scriptures and the Wisdom, and the gift of prophecy, and that then he should say to his followers, ‘Be ye worshippers of me, as well as of God’; but rather, ‘Be ye perfect in things pertaining to God, since ye know the Scriptures, and have studied deep.’ ”

Sūrah v. 19: “Infidels now are they who say, ‘Verily God is the Messiah Ibn Maryam (son of Mary)! Say: And who could aught obtain from God, if he chose to destroy the Messiah Ibn Maryam, and his mother, and all who are on the earth together?’ ”

There is a remarkable Ḥadīs̤ related by Anas, which inadvertently proves that, whilst Muḥammad admitted his own sinfulness, as well as that of other prophets, he could not charge our Lord with sin. It is as follows: “The Prophet of God said, ‘In the Day of Resurrection Muslims will not be able to move, and they will be greatly distressed, and will say, “Would to God that we had asked Him to create some one to intercede for us, that we might be taken from this place, and be delivered from tribulation and sorrow?” Then these men will go to Adam, and will say, “Thou art the father of all men, God created thee with His hand, and made thee a dweller in Paradise, and ordered His angels to prostrate themselves before thee, and taught thee the names of all things. Ask grace for us we pray thee!” And Adam will say, “I am not of that degree of eminence you suppose, for I committed a sin in eating of the grain which was forbidden. Go to Noah, the Prophet, he was the first who was sent by God to the unbelievers on the face of the earth.” Then they will go to Noah and ask for intercession, and he will say, “I am not of that degree which ye suppose.” And he will remember the sin which he committed in asking the Lord for the deliverance of his son (Hūd), not knowing whether it was a right request or not; and he will say, “Go to Abraham, who is the Friend of God.” Then they will go to Abraham, and he will say, “I am not of that degree which ye suppose.” And he will remember the three occasions upon which he told lies in the world; and he will say, “Go to Moses, who is the servant to whom God gave His law, and whom He allowed to converse with Him.” And they will go to Moses, and Moses will say, “I am not of that degree which ye suppose.” And he will remember the sin which he committed in slaying a man, and he will say, “Go to Jesus, He is the servant of God, the Apostle of God, the Spirit of God, and the Word of God.” Then they will go to Jesus, and He will say, “Go to Muḥammad who is a servant, whose sins God has forgiven both first and last.” Then the Muslims will come to me, and I will ask permission to go into God’s presence and intercede for them.’ ” (Mishkāt, book xxiii. ch. xii.)

[In dealing with Muḥammadans the Christian missionary must not treat their system as though the teachings of Islām were precisely those of the modern Socinians (we speak of the modern Socinians, for both the Socini, uncle and nephew, admitted the miraculous conception of Christ, and said he ought to be worshipped). Islām admits of the miraculous conception of Christ, and that He is the “Word” which God “conveyed into Mary”; and whilst the other five great prophets are but “the chosen,” “the preacher,” “the friend,” “the converser with,” and “the messenger of” God, Jesus is admitted to be the “Spirit of God.” He is the greatest miracle worker of all the prophets; and whilst Muḥammad is dead and buried, and saw corruption, all Muslim divines admit that Jesus “saw no corruption,” and still lives with a human body in Paradise.

Moreover, it is said in the Ḥadīs̤ that the Ḥaqīqatu ʾl-Muḥammadīyah or the Nūr-i-Muḥammad, “the essence, or light of Muḥammad,” was created before all things which were made by God. The pre-existence of the divine “Word which was made flesh and dwelt amongst us” is not, therefore, an idea foreign to the Muslim mind.]

VII.—The Trinity.

Sūrah v. 76–79: “They misbelieve who say, ‘Verily, God is the Messiah, the son of Mary’; but the Messiah said, ‘O children of Israel! worship God, my Lord and your Lord; verily, he who associates aught with God, God hath forbidden him Paradise, and his resort is the Fire, and the unjust shall have none to help them.’ They misbelieve who say, ‘Verily, God is the third of three, for there is no God but one; and if they do not desist from what they say, there shall touch those who misbelieve amongst them grievous woe. Will they not turn again towards God and ask pardon of Him? for God is forgiving and merciful.’ The Messiah, the son of Mary, is only a prophet! Prophets before him have passed away; and his mother was a confessor; they used both to eat food. See how we explain to them the signs, yet see how they turn aside!”

Sūrah iv. 169: “O ye people of the Book! overstep not bounds in your religion; and of God, speak only truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God, and His Word which he conveyed into Mary, and a Spirit from Him. Believe, therefore, in God and His apostles, and say not, ‘Three’: (i.e. there is a Trinity)—Forbear—it will be better for you. God is only one God! Far be it from His glory that He should have a son! His, whatever is in the Heavens, and whatever is in the Earth! And God is a sufficient Guardian.”

Sūrah v. 116, 117: “And when God shall say—‘O Jesus, Son of Mary: hast thou said unto mankind—“Take me and my mother as two Gods, beside God?” ’ He shall say—‘Glory be unto Thee! it is not for me to say that which I know to be not the truth; had I said that, verily thou wouldest have known it: Thou knowest what is in me, but I know not what is in Thee; for Thou well knowest things unseen! I spake not to them aught but that which thou didst bid me—“Worship God, my Lord and your Lord”; and I was a witness against them so long as I was amongst them: but when Thou didst take me away to Thyself Thou wert the watcher over them, for Thou art witness over all.’ ”

From the text of the Qurʾān it appears that Muḥammad thought the Holy Trinity of the Christians consisted of the Father, the Son, and the Virgin; and historians tell us that there existed in Arabia a sect called Collyridians, who considered the Virgin Mary a divine person, and offered in worship to her a cake called Collyris; it is, therefore, not improbable that Muḥammad obtained his perverted notion of the Holy Trinity from the existence of this sect. From the expression “they both ate food,” we must conclude that Muḥammad had but a sensuous idea of the Trinity in Unity, and had never been instructed in the orthodox faith with reference to this dogma.

Al-Baiẓāwī (A.H. 685), in his commentary on Sūrah iv. 169, says: “Say not there are Three,” that is, “Do not say there are three Gods,” namely, Allāh and al-Masīḥ and Maryam; or “Do not say God is Three,” meaning that there are Three Aqānīm (اقانيم‎) or Essences—Ab (Father), Ibn (Son), and Rūḥu ʾl-Quds (Holy Spirit), and interpreting it thus: Ab, the Ẕāt or Essence; Ibn, the ʿIlm or Knowledge; and Rūḥu ʾl-Quds, the Ḥayāt or Life of God.

Ḥusain (A.H. 900) quotes al-Baiẓāwī, and offers no opinion of his own.

The Jalālān (A.H. 911) say “Three” means Allāh and ʿĪsā and his Mother.

The word generally used by Muḥammadan writers for the Trinity is at-Tas̤līs̤ (التثليث‎). [TRINITY.]

VIII.—The Second Coming of Jesus.

The Qurʾān has no definite teaching on the subject, but the Traditions have. (See Mishkātu ʾl-Maṣābīḥ, book xxiii. ch. vi.)

Abū Hurairah relates that the Prophet said, “I swear by God, it is near, when Jesus, son of Mary, will descend from the heavens upon your people, a just king, and he will break the cross, and will kill the swine, and will remove the poll-tax from the unenfranchised; and there will be great wealth in his time, so much that nobody will accept of it; and in that time, one prostration in prayer will be better than the world and everything in it.”

And Abū Hurairah said, “If ye doubt about this coming to pass, then read this verse (Sūrah iv. 157), and there shall not be one of those who have received the Scriptures who shall not believe in Him (Jesus) before His death.”

Abū Hurairah again relates that the Prophet said, “I swear by God, Jesus son of Mary will come down, a just king; he will kill the swine, and break the cross, and remove the poll-tax from the unenfranchised; and camels will not be rode in his time on account of the immensity of wealth, and man’s being in want of nothing; and verily enmity, hatred and malice will go from man; and verily, Jesus will call people to wealth, and nobody will take it.”

Jābir relates that the Prophet said: “A section of my people will always fight for the true religion, and will be victorious, unto the resurrection. Then Jesus son of Mary will come down; and the prince of my people will say to him, ‘Come in front, and say prayers for us.’ And he will say to him, ‘I shall not act as Imām, because some of you are princes over others.’ And Jesus will say this from respect to my people.”

ʿAbdu ʾllāh ibn ʿAmr relates that the Prophet said: “Jesus will come down to the earth, and will marry and have children, and will stay on the earth forty-five years, and then die, and be buried in my place of burial; and I and Jesus shall rise up from one place, between Abū-Bakr and ʿUmar.” [HUJRAH.]

IX.—His Exaltation in Heaven.

There is some difference of opinion as to where Jesus Christ now is. All Muslim divines agree that “he saw no corruption,” but they differ as to the exact stage of celestial bliss in which he resides in the body. According to a tradition by Qatādah (Mishkāt, book xxiv. ch. vii.), Muḥammad said, on the night of the Miʿrāj or celestial journey, he saw John and Jesus in the second heaven. The Jalālān agree with this tradition. But in the commentary known as the Jāmiʿu ʾl-Bayān (vol. i. 656) it is said he is in the third region of bliss; whilst some say he is in the fourth.

X.—The Disciples of Jesus.

The disciples of Jesus are called in the Qurʾān al-Ḥawārīyūn, a word which seems to be derived from an Ethiopic root, signifying “to send,” but which al-Baiẓāwī says means “white ones,” and that it was given to the disciples of Jesus either because they were holy and sincere men or because they wore white clothes. It is noticeable that not one of the twelve apostles is mentioned by name in the Qurʾān. In the story told of disciples visiting the city (of Antioch), three disciples are mentioned, and commentators say they were John, Jude and Simon. [See Sūrah xxxvi. 13, 19—HABIB THE CARPENTER.] John the Baptist and his father Zacharias are mentioned. (Sūrahs xix. 7, xxi. 90.)

JETHRO. [SHUʿAIB.]

JEWELS. Arabic Jauhar (جوهر‎), pl. Jawāhir. According to the Hidāyah a thief is liable to suffer amputation of the hand for stealing jewels, such as a ring set with emerald, ruby, or chrysolite, as such are rare articles, and are not held to be of an indifferent nature, neither are they undesirable. (Vol. ii. p. 93.)

A sillim sale [SILLIM], or a sale in trust, of jewels and marine shells, is not lawful, because the unities of these vary in their value. (Vol. ii. p. 539.) In the partition of property, jewels must not be divided by the Qāẓī, but by mutual arrangement in the family, because of the great difference in the actual value of jewels. (Vol. iv. 13.)

JEWS, JUDAISM. The Jews are mentioned in the Qurʾān and Traditions under the names of Yahūdī (يهودى‎), pl. Yahūd, and Banū Isrāʾīl (بنو اسرائيل‎), “Children of Israel.” No distinction is made between Jews and Israelites. They are acknowledged to be a people in possession of a divine book, and are called Ahlu ʾl-Kitāb, or “people of the book.” Moses is their special law-giver (Abraham not having been a Jew, but a “Ḥanīf Muslim”); they are a people highly-favoured of God, but are said to have perverted the meaning of Scripture, and to have called Ezra “the Son of God.” They have an intense hatred of all true Muslims; and, as a punishment for their sins, some of them in times past had been changed into apes and swine, and others will have their hands tied to their necks and be cast into the Fire at the Day of Judgment.

The following are the selections from the Qurʾān relating to the Jews:—

Sūrah ii. 116: “O children of Israel! remember my favour wherewith I have favoured you, and that high above all mankind have I raised you.”

Sūrah v. 48, 49: “Verily, we have sent down the law (Taurāt) wherein are guidance and light. By it did the prophets who professed Islām judge the Jews; and the doctors and the teachers judged by that portion of the Book of God, of which they were the keepers and the witnesses. Therefore, O Jews! fear not men but fear Me; and barter not away my signs for a mean price! And whoso will not judge by what God hath sent down—such are the Infidels. And therein have we enacted for them, ‘Life for life, an eye for eye, and nose for nose, and ear for ear, and tooth for tooth, and for wounds retaliation’:—Whoso shall compromise it as alms shall have therein the expiation of his sin; and whoso will not judge by what God hath sent down—such are the transgressors.”

Sūrah iii. 60: “Abraham was not a Jew, nor yet a Christian. He was a Ḥanīf Muslim, and not an idolater.”

Sūrah ix. 30: “The Jews say, ‘Ezra (ʿUzair) is a son of God’; and the Christians say, ‘The Messiah is a son of God.’ Such the saying in their mouths! They resemble the saying of the Infidels of old! God do battle with them! How are they misguided!”

Sūrah vi. 147: “To the Jews did we forbid every beast having an entire hoof, and of both bullocks and sheep we forbade them the fat, save what might be on their backs, or their entrails, and the fat attached to the bone. With this have we recompensed them, because of their transgression: and verily, we are indeed equitable.”

Sūrah iv. 48, 49: “Among the Jews are those who displace the words of their Scriptures, and say, ‘We have heard, and we have not obeyed. Hear thou, but as one that heareth not; and LOOK AT US’; perplexing with their tongues, and wounding the Faith by their revilings. But if they would say, ‘We have heard, and we obey; hear thou, and REGARD US’; it were better for them, and more right. But God hath cursed them for their unbelief. Few only of them are believers!”

Sūrah ii. 70–73: “Desire ye then that for your sakes the Jews should believe? Yet a part of them heard the word of God, and then, after they had understood it, perverted it, and knew that they did so. And when they fall in with the faithful, they say, ‘We believe’; but when they are apart one with another, they say, ‘Will ye acquaint them with what God hath revealed to you, that they may dispute with you about it in the presence of your Lord?’ Understand ye their aim? Know they not that God knoweth what they hide, as well as what they bring to light? But there are illiterates among them who are not acquainted with the Book, but with lies only, and have but vague fancies. Woe to those who with their own hands transcribe the Book corruptly, and then say, ‘This is from God,’ that they may sell it for some mean price! Woe then to them for that which their hands have written! and, Woe to them for the gains which they have made!”

Sūrah v. 64–69: “Say: O people of the Book! do ye not disavow us only because we believe in God, and in what He hath sent down to us, and in what He hath sent down aforetime, and because most of you are doers of ill? Say: Can I announce to you any retribution worse than that which awaiteth them with God? They whom God hath cursed and with whom He hath been angry—some of them hath He changed into apes and swine; and they who worship T̤āg͟hūt are in evil plight, and have gone far astray from the right path! When they presented themselves to you they said, ‘We believe’; but Infidels they came in unto you, and Infidels they went forth! God well knew what they concealed. Many of them shalt thou see hastening together to wickedness and malice, and to eat unlawful things. Shame on them for what they have done! Had not their doctors and teachers forbidden their uttering wickedness, and their eating unlawful food, bad indeed would have been their doings! ‘The hand of God,’ say the Jews, ‘is chained up.’ Their own hands shall be chained up—and for that which they have said shall they be cursed. Nay! outstretched are both His hands! At His own pleasure does He bestow gifts. That which hath been sent down to thee from thy Lord will surely increase the rebellion and unbelief of many of them; and we have put enmity and hatred between them that shall last till the day of the Resurrection. Oft as they kindle a beacon fire for war shall God quench it! and their aim will be to abet disorder on the earth: but God loveth not the abettors of disorder.”

Nearly all the leading scripture characters connected with Old Testament history are either mentioned by name in the Qurʾān or are referred to in the Traditions and commentaries:—

(a) In the Qurʾān we have Adam (Ādam), Abel (Hābīl), Cain (Qābīl), Enoch (Idrīs), Noah (Nūḥ), Abraham (Ibrāhīm), Lot (Lūt̤), Isaac (Isḥāq), Ishmael (Ismāʿīl), Jacob (Yaʿqūb), Joseph (Yūsuf), Job (Aiyūb), Moses (Mūsā), Aaron (Hārūn), Korah (Qārūn), Pharaoh (Firʿaun), Haman (Hāmān), David (Dāʾūd), Goliath (Jālūt), Solomon (Sulaimān), Saul (T̤ālūt), Jonah (Yūnus), Elisha (Alyasaʿ).

(b) In the Traditions and in the earliest commentaries on the Qurʾān, are mentioned: Eve (Ḥawwāʾ), Hagar (Hājar), Nebuchadnezzar (Buk͟htnaṣṣar), Joshua (Yūshaʿ), Jeremiah (Armiyā), Isaiah (Shaʿyāʾ), Benjamin (Binyāmīn), Ezekiel (Ḥizqīl), Balaam (Balʿam), Daniel (Dāniyāl), Sarah (Sārah), and many others. But it is remarkable that after Solomon, there is no mention of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

(c) The chief incidents of Jewish history are recorded in the Qurʾān with a strange and curious admixture of Rabbinical fable. The creation of the world, the formation of Adam and Eve, the fall, the expulsion from Eden, Cain’s and Abel’s sacrifices, the death of Abel; Noah’s preaching, the Ark built, the deluge, the tower of Babel; Abraham, the friend of God, his call from idolatry, Isaac the son of promise, Sarah’s incredulity, Hagar and Ishmael, the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son, Lot and the cities of the plain; Jacob and the tribes, Joseph sold into Egypt, Potiphar’s wife, Joseph tempted, the dreams of the baker and butler, and of the king; Moses, his preservation in infancy, kills an Egyptian, flies to Midian, works miracles in the presence of Pharaoh, manna from heaven, the giving of the law, Aaron’s rod, the golden calf, the passage of the Red Sea; Job’s patience; Balaam cursing the Israelites; David’s psalms, his sin and repentance; Solomon’s wisdom, the Queen of Sheba, the building of the temple; Jonah’s preaching, his escape from the fish: these and many other incidents, evidently taken from the Old Testament, and worked up into a narrative with the assistance of Talmudic interpretations, form the chief historical portion of the Qurʾān.

(d) Many of the doctrines and social precepts of the Qurʾān are also from Judaism. The Unity of God, the ministry of angels, the inspired law, the law of marriage and divorce, domestic slavery, the day of Sacrifice, prayer and ablution, the lex talionis, the degrees of affinity, the stoning of the adulterer, and many other injunctions, are precisely those of the Mosaic code, with some modifications to meet the requirements of Arabian social life.

Whilst, therefore, Muḥammad took little of his religious system from Christianity, he was vastly indebted to Judaism both for his historical narratives and his doctrines and precepts. Islām is nothing more nor less than Judaism plus the Apostleship of Muḥammad. The teachings of Jesus form no part of his religious system. [CHRISTIANITY.]

(e) The Quraish charged Muḥammad with want of originality in his revelations. For even at the end of his career, and when he was uttering his latest Sūrahs, “they said, as our verses were rehearsed to them—‘This is nothing but tales of yore.’ ” (Sūrah viii. 31.) “And when it was said to them, What is it your Lord sent down? They said, ‘Old folk’s tales.’ ” (Sūrah xvi. 25.) The Quraish even charged him with having obtained assistance, “They said it is only some mortal who teaches him.” And Muḥammad admits there was someone who might be suspected of helping him, for he replies, “The tongue of him whom they lean towards is barbarous and this (Qurʾān) is plain Arabic.” (Sūrah xvi. 105.) Ḥusain, the commentator, in remarking upon this verse, says, “It is related that there was a slave belonging to ʿAmr ibn ʿAbdi ʾllāh al-Ḥaẓramī, named Jabr (and according to some a second slave named Yasār), who used to read the Law and the Gospel, and Muḥammad used, when he passed, to stand and listen.”

And the whole construction of the Qurʾān bears out the supposition that its subject matter was received orally and worked into poetical Arabic by a man of genius. Whatever he may have heard from the readings of Jabr and Yasār of the text of the Old and New Testament scriptures, it is very evident that he obtained his explanations from one well versed in Talmudic lore. A Jewish Rabbi, Abraham Geiger, in A.D. 1833, wrote a prize essay in answer to the question put by the university: “Inquiratur in fontes Alcorani seu legis Muhammedicæ eos, qui ex Judæismo derivandi sunt.” His essay in reply is entitled, “Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen?” In this treatise it is clearly demonstrated how much the whole system of Islām is indebted to Talmudic Judaism for its teachings. Its narratives, its doctrines, and its theological terms, are chiefly derived from those of the Talmud.

The works of Geiger, J. M. Arnold, Hershom, McCaul, Bishop Barclay, Deutsch, Lightfoot, Schottgen, Ugolini, Meuschen (which pending a complete translation of the Talmud, can be consulted), will, upon comparison with the teachings of the Qurʾān, reveal how entirely Muḥammad constructed his religious system on the lines of Talmudic Judaism. We are indebted to the late Dr. J. M. Arnold’s Islam and Christianity, for the following review of the subject, he having largely availed himself of the facts given in Geiger’s celebrated essay, already referred to.

(See Arnold’s Islam and Christianity, Longmans, London, 1874, p. 116 seqq. Dr. J. M. Arnold gives in many instances the original Hebrew of his quotations from the Talmud.)

In the Qurʾān there are several Hebrew and Talmudic terms which seem to indicate that its author had become familiar with Talmudic teaching. The following are the most noticeable:—

(1) The Qurʾān, قران‎, from qaraʾ, “to read,” Heb. ‏קָרָא‎, and equivalent to ‏מִקְרָא‎, “reading.” See Neh. viii. 8: “And caused them to understand the reading.”

(2) The Mas̤ānī, مثانى‎, “repetitions,” Sūrah xv. 86, which is the Talmudic ‏מִשְׁנֶה‎.

(3) The Taurāt, توراة‎, used for the Books of Moses, the Heb. ‏תּוֹרָה‎ of the Old Testament.

(4) The Shechinah, or Sakīnah, سكينة‎, Sūrah ii. 249: “The sign of his kingdom is that there shall come to you the ARK (Tābūt), and SHECHINA (Sakīnah) in it from the Lord.” Heb. ‏שְׁכִינָה‎. A term not used in the Bible, but used by the Rabbinical writers to express the visible presence of God between the Cherubim on the Mercy seat of the Tabernacle.

(5) The Ark, Tābūt, تابوت‎. In Sūrah ii. 249, for the Ark of the Covenant, and in Sūrah xx. 39, for Noah’s Ark. The Heb. ‏תֵּבָה‎ (which is used in the Bible for Noah’s Ark and the ark of bulrushes), and not the Heb. ‏אֲרוֹן‎; the former being Rabbinical.

(6) Angel, Malak, ملك‎, Heb. ‏מַלְאָךְ‎, an angel or messenger of God.

(7) Spirit, Ruḥ, روح‎, Heb. ‏רוּחַ‎. A term used both for the angel Gabriel and for Jesus Christ.

(8) The Sabbath, Sabt, سبت‎. Sūrah vii. 164; ii. 62. Heb. ‏שַׁבָּת‎.

(9) Jahannam, γέεννα, hell, جهنم‎. The Rabbinical ‏גֵּיהִנֹּם‎, and not the ‏שְׁאוֹל‎, of the Old Testament. The final letter م‎ proves that it was adopted from the Talmudic Hebrew and not from the Greek.

JIBRĀʾĪL (جبرائيل‎). The angel Gabriel. [GABRIEL.]

JIBT (جبت‎). An idol of the Quraish mentioned in the Qurʾān, Sūrah iv. 54: “They (certain renegade Jews) believe in Jibt and T̤āg͟hūt, and say of the infidels, These are guided in a better path than those who hold the faith.” The Jalālān say certain Jews used to do homage to these idols in order to please the Quraish.

JIHĀD (جهاد‎). Lit. “An effort, or a striving.” A religious war with those who are unbelievers in the mission of Muḥammad. It is an incumbent religious duty, established in the Qurʾān and in the Traditions as a divine institution, and enjoined specially for the purpose of advancing Islām and of repelling evil from Muslims.

When an infidel’s country is conquered by a Muslim ruler, its inhabitants are offered three alternatives:—

(1) The reception of Islām, in which case the conquered become enfranchised citizens of the Muslim state.

(2) The payment of a poll-tax (Jizyah), by which unbelievers in Islām obtain protection, and become Ẕimmīs, provided they are not the idolaters of Arabia.

(3) Death by the sword, to those who will not pay the poll tax.

Ṣūfī writers say that there are two Jihāds: al-Jihādu ʾl-Akbar, or “the greater warfare,” which is against one’s own lusts; and al-Jihādu ʾl-Aṣg͟har, or “the lesser warfare,” against infidels.

The duty of religious war (which all commentators agree is a duty extending to all time) is laid down in the Qurʾān in the following verses, and it is remarkable that all the verses occur in the al-Madīnah Sūrahs, being those given after Muḥammad had established himself as a paramount ruler, and was in a position to dictate terms to his enemies.

Sūrah ix. 5, 6: “And when the sacred months are passed, kill those who join other gods with God wherever ye shall find them; and seize them, besiege them, and lay wait for them with every kind of ambush: but if they shall convert, and observe prayer, and pay the obligatory alms, then let them go their way, for God is Gracious, Merciful. If any one of those who join gods with God ask an asylum of thee, grant him an asylum, that he may hear the Word of God, and then let him reach his place of safety. This, for that they are people devoid of knowledge.”

Sūrah ix. 29: “Make war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been given as believe not in God, or in the last day, and who forbid not that which God and His Apostle have forbidden, and who profess not the profession of the truth, until they pay tribute (jizyah) out of hand, and they be humbled.”

Sūrah iv. 76–79: “Let those then fight on the path of God, who exchange this present life for that which is to come; for whoever fighteth on God’s path, whether he be slain or conquer, we will in the end give him a great reward. But what hath come to you that ye fight not on the path of God, and for the weak among men, women, and children, who say, ‘O our Lord! bring us forth from this city whose inhabitants are oppressors; give us a champion from Thy presence; and give us from thy presence a defender.’ They who believe, fight on the path of God; and they who believe not, fight on the path of T̤āg͟hūt: Fight therefore against the friends of Satan. Verily the craft of Satan shall be powerless! Hast thou not marked those to whom it was said, ‘Withhold your hands awhile from war; and observe prayer, and pay the stated alms.’ But when war is commanded them, lo! a portion of them fear men as with the fear of God, or with a yet greater fear, and say: ‘O our Lord! why hast Thou commanded us war? Couldst thou not have given us respite till our not distant end?’ Say: Small the fruition of this world; but the next life is the true good for him who feareth God! and ye shall not be wronged so much as the skin of a date-stone.”

Sūrah ii. 214, 215: “They will ask thee concerning war in the Sacred Month. Say: To war therein is bad, but to turn aside from the cause of God, and to have no faith in Him, and in the Sacred Temple, and to drive out its people, is worse in the sight of God; and civil strife is worse than bloodshed. They will not cease to war against you until they turn you from your religion, if they be able: but whoever of you shall turn from his religion and die an infidel, their works shall be fruitless in this world, and in the next: they shall be consigned to the fire; therein to abide for aye. But they who believe, and who fly their country, and fight in the cause of God may hope for God’s mercy: and God is Gracious, Merciful.”

Sūrah viii. 39–42: “Say to the infidels: If they desist from their unbelief, what is now past shall be forgiven them; but if they return to it, they have already before them the doom of the ancients! Fight then against them till strife be at an end, and the religion be all of it God’s. If they desist, verily God beholdeth what they do: but if they turn their back, know ye that God is your protector: Excellent protector! excellent helper! And know ye, that when ye have taken any booty, a fifth part belongeth to God and to the Apostle, and to the near of kin, and to orphans, and to the poor, and to the wayfarer.”

Long chapters in the Traditions are devoted to the subject of Jihād (see Ṣaḥīḥu ʾ-Buk͟hārī and Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, Arabic editions, Bābu ʾl-Jihād), from which the following are quotations of the sayings of the Prophet:—

“God is sponsor for him who goeth forth to fight on the road of God (Sabīlu ʾllāh). If he be not killed, he shall return to his house with rewards and booty, but if he be slain, he shall be taken to Paradise.”

“I swear by God I should like to be killed on the road of God, then be killed and brought to life again, then killed again and then brought to life again, so that I may obtain new rewards every time.”

“Guarding the frontiers of Islām for even one day is worth more than the whole world and all that is in it.”

“The fire of hell shall not touch the legs of him who shall be covered with the dust of battle in the road of God.”

“He who assists another with arms to fight in the way of God, is as the champion, and is a sharer of the rewards. And he who stayeth behind to take charge of the family of a warrior is even as a champion in war.”

“This religion will ever be established, even to the Day of Resurrection, as long as Muslims fight for it.”

“In the last day the wounds of those who have been wounded in the way of God will be evident, and will drop with blood, but their smell will be as the perfume of musk.”

“Being killed in the road of God covers all sins, but the sin of debt.”

“He who dies and has not fought for the religion of Islām, nor has even said in his heart, ‘Would to God I were a champion that could die in the road of God,’ is even as a hypocrite.”

“Fighting in the road of God, or resolving to do so, is a divine duty. When your Imām orders you to go forth to fight, then obey him.”

The following is the teaching of the Ḥanafī school of Sunnīs on the subject of Jihād, as given in the Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 140:—

“The sacred injunction concerning war is sufficiently observed when it is carried on by any one party or tribe of Muslims, and it is then no longer of any force with respect to the rest. It is established as a divine ordinance, by the word of God, who said in the Qurʾān, ‘Slay the infidels,’ and also by a saying of the Prophet, ‘War is permanently established until the Day of Judgment’ (meaning the ordinance respecting war). The observance, however, in the degree above mentioned, suffices, because war is not a positive injunction, as it is in its nature murderous and destructive, and is enjoined only for the purpose of advancing the true faith or repelling evil from the servants of God; and when this end is answered by any single tribe or party of Muslims making war, the obligation is no longer binding upon the rest, in the same manner as in the prayers for the dead—(if, however, no one Muslim were to make war, the whole of the Muslim, would incur the criminality of neglecting it)—and also because if the injunction were positive, the whole of the Muslims must consequently engage in war, in which case the materials for war (such as horses, armour, and so forth) could not be procured. Thus it appears that the observance of war as aforesaid suffices, except where there is a general summons (that is, where the infidels invade a Muslim territory, and the Imām for the time being issues a general proclamation requiring all persons to go forth to fight), for in this case war becomes a positive injunction with respect to the whole of the inhabitants, whether men or women, and whether the Imām be a just or an unjust person; and if the people of that territory be unable to repulse the infidels, then war becomes a positive injunction with respect to all in that neighbourhood; and if these also do not suffice it, then comes a positive injunction with respect to the next neighbours; and in same manner with respect to all the Muslims from east to west.

“The destruction of the sword is incurred by infidels, although they be not the first aggressors, as appears from various passages in the traditions which are generally received to this effect.

“It is not incumbent upon infants to make war, as they are objects of compassion; neither is it incumbent upon slaves or women, as the rights of the master, or of the husband, have precedence; nor is it so upon the blind, the maimed, or the decrepid, as such are incapable. If, however, the infidels make an attack upon a city or territory, in this case the repulsion of them is incumbent upon all Muslims, insomuch that a wife may go forth without the consent of her husband, and a slave without the leave of his master, because war then becomes a positive injunction; and possession, either by bondage or by marriage, cannot come in competition with a positive injunction, as in prayer (for instance) or fasting. This is supposing a general summons; for without that it is not lawful for a woman or slave to go forth to make war without the consent of the husband or master, as there is in this case no necessity for their assistance, since others suffice, and hence no reason exists for destroying the right of the husband or master on that account. If there be any fund in the public treasury, so long as the fund lasts any extraordinary exaction for the support of the warriors is abominable, because such exaction resembles a hire for that which is a service of God as much as prayer or fasting, and, hire being forbidden in these instances, so is it in that which resembles them. In this case, moreover, there is no occasion for any extraordinary exactions, since the funds of the public treasury are prepared to answer all emergencies of the Muslims, such as war, and so forth. If, however, there be no funds in the public treasury, in this case the Imām need not hesitate to levy contributions for the better support of the warriors, because in levying a contribution the greater evil (namely, the destruction of the person) is repelled, and the contribution is the smaller evil, and the imposition of a smaller evil to remedy a greater is of no consequence. A confirmation of this is found in what is related of the Prophet, that he took various articles of armour, and so forth, from Ṣafwān and ʿUmar; in the same manner also he took property from married men, and bestowed it upon the unmarried, in order to encourage them and enable them to go forth to fight with cheerfulness; and he also used to take the horses from those who remained at home, and bestowed them upon those who went forth to fight on foot. When the Muslims enter the enemy’s country and besiege the cities or strongholds of the infidels, it is necessary to invite them to embrace the faith, because Ibn ʿAbbās relates of the Prophet that he never destroyed any without previously inviting them to embrace the faith. If, therefore, they embrace the faith, it is unnecessary to war with them, because that which was the design of the war is then obtained without war. The Prophet, moreover, has said we are directed to make war upon men only until such time as they shall confess, ‘There is no God but one God.’ But when they repeat this creed, their persons and properties are in protection (amān). If they do not accept the call to the faith, they must then be called upon to pay jizyah, or capitation tax, because the Prophet directed the commanders of his armies so to do, and also because by submitting to this tax war is forbidden and terminated upon the authority of the Qurʾān. (This call to pay capitation tax, however, respects only those from whom the capitation tax is acceptable, for, as to apostates and the idolaters of Arabia, to call upon them to pay the tax is useless, since nothing is accepted from them but embracing the faith, as it is thus commanded in the Qurʾān). If those who are called upon to pay capitation tax consent to do so, they then become entitled to the same protection and subject to the same rules as Muslims, because ʿAlī has declared infidels agree to a capitation tax only in order to render their blood the same as Muslims’ blood, and their property the same as Muslims’ property.

“It is not lawful to make war upon any people who have never before been called to the faith, without previously requiring them to embrace it, because the Prophet so instructed his commanders, directing them to call the infidels to the faith, and also because the people will hence perceive that they are attacked for the sake of religion, and not for the sake of taking their property, or making slaves of their children, and on this consideration it is possible that they may be induced to agree to the call, in order to save themselves from the troubles of war.

“If a Muslim attack infidels without previously calling them to the faith, he is an offender, because this is forbidden; but yet if he do attack them before thus inviting them and slay them, and take their property, neither fine, expiation, nor atonement are due, because that which protects (namely, Islām) does not exist in them, nor are they under protection by place (namely, the Dāru ʾl-Islām, or Muslim territory), and the mere prohibition of the act is not sufficient to sanction the exaction either of fine or of atonement for property; in the same manner as the slaying of the women or infant children of infidels is forbidden, but if, notwithstanding, a person were to slay such, he is not liable to a fine. It is laudable to call to the faith a people to whom a call has already come, in order that they may have the more full and ample warning; but yet this is not incumbent, as it appears in the Traditions that the Prophet plundered and despoiled the tribe of al-Muṣt̤aliq by surprise, and he also agreed with Asāmah to make a predatory attack upon Qubnā at an early hour, and to set it on fire, and such attacks are not preceded by a call. (Qubnā is a place in Syria: some assert it is the name of a tribe.)

“If the infidels, upon receiving the call, neither consent to it nor agree to pay capitation tax, it is then incumbent on the Muslims to call upon God for assistance, and to make war upon them, because God is the assistant of those who serve Him, and the destroyer of His enemies, the infidels, and it is necessary to implore His aid upon every occasion; the Prophet, moreover, commands us so to do. And having so done, the Muslims must then with God’s assistance attack the infidels with all manner of warlike engines (as the Prophet did by the people of T̤āʾif), and must also set fire to their habitations (in the same manner as the Prophet fired Baweera), and must inundate them with water and tear up their plantations and tread down their grain, because by these means they will become weakened, and their resolution will fail and their force be broken; these means are, therefore, all sanctified by the law.

“It is no objection to shooting arrows or other missiles against the infidels that there may chance to be among them a Muslim in the way either of bondage or of traffic, because the shooting of arrows and so forth among the infidels remedies a general evil in the repulsion thereof from the whole body of Muslims, whereas the slaying of a Muslim slave or trader is only a particular evil, and to repel a general evil a particular evil must be adopted, and also because it seldom happens that the strongholds of the infidels are destitute of Muslims, since it is most probable that there are Muslims residing in them, either in the way of bondage or of traffic, and hence, if the use of missile weapons were prohibited on account of these Muslims, war would be obstructed. If the infidels in time of battle should make shields of Muslim children, or of Muslims, who are prisoners in their hands, yet there is no need on that account to refrain from the use of missile weapons, for the reason already mentioned. It is requisite, however, that the Muslims in using such weapons aim at the infidels, and not at the children or the Muslim captives, because, as it is impossible in shooting to distinguish precisely between them and the infidels, the person who discharges the weapon must make this distinction in his intention and design by aiming at the infidels, and not at the others, since thus much is practicable, and the distinction must be made as far as is practicable.

“There is also neither fine nor expiation upon the warriors on account of such of their arrows or other missiles as happen to hit the children or the Muslims, because the war is in observance of a divine ordinance, and atonement is not due for anything which may happen in the fulfilment of a divine ordinance, for otherwise men would neglect the fulfilment of the ordinance from an apprehension of becoming liable to atonement. It is otherwise in the case of a person eating the bread of another when perishing for hunger, as in that instance atonement is due; although eating the bread of other people, in such a situation, be a divine ordinance, because a person perishing for hunger will not refrain from eating the provision of another, from the apprehension of atonement, since his life depends upon it; whereas war is attended with trouble and dangerous to life, whence men would be deterred, by apprehension of atonement, from engaging in it. There is no objection to the warriors carrying their Qurʾāns and their women along with them, where the Muslim force is considerable, to such a degree as to afford a protection from the enemy, and not to admit of any apprehension from them, because in that case safety is most probable, and a thing which is most probable stands and is accounted as a thing certain. If the force of the warriors be small (such as is termed a Sarrīyah), so as not to afford security from the enemy, in this case their carrying their women or Qurʾāns along with them is reprobated, because in such a situation taking those with them is exposing them to dishonour; and taking the Qurʾān with them, in particular, is exposing it to contempt, since infidels scoff at the Qurʾān, with a view of insulting the Muslims; and this is the true meaning of the saying of the Prophet, ‘Carry not the Qurʾān along with you into the territory of the enemy’ (that is, of the infidels). If a Muslim go into an infidel camp under a protection, there is no objection to his taking his Qurʾān along with him, provided these infidels be such as observe their engagements, because from these no violence is to be apprehended.

“It is lawful for aged women to accompany an army, for the performance of such business as suits them, such as dressing victuals, administering water, and preparing medicines for the sick and wounded; but with respect to young women, it is better that they stay at home, as this may prevent perplexity or disturbance. The women, however, must not engage in fight, as this argues weakness in the Muslims. Women, therefore, must not take any personal concern in battle unless in a case of absolute necessity; and it is not laudable to carry young women along with the army, either for the purpose of carnal gratification, or for service; if, however, the necessity be very urgent, female slaves may be taken, but not wives. A wife must not engage in a fight but with the consent of her husband, nor a slave but with the consent of his owner (according to what was already stated, that the right of the husband and the master has precedence), unless from necessity where an attack is made by the enemy.

“It does not become Muslims to break treaties or to act unfairly with respect to plunder or to disfigure people (by cutting off their ears and noses, and so forth); for as to what is related of the Prophet, that he disfigured the Oorneans, it is abrogated by subsequent prohibitions. In the same manner it does not become Muslims to slay women or children, or men aged, bedridden, or blind, because opposition and fighting are the only occasions which make slaughter allowable (according to our doctors), and such persons are incapable of these. For the same reason also the paralytic are not to be slain, nor those who are dismembered of the right hand, or of the right hand and left foot. Ash-Shāfiʿī maintains that aged men, or persons bedridden or blind, may be slain, because (according to him) infidelity is an occasion of slaughter being allowable, and this appears in these persons. What was before observed, however, that the paralytic or dismembered are not to be slain, is in proof against him, as infidelity appears in these also, yet still they are not slain, whence it is evident that mere infidelity is not a justifiable occasion of slaughter. The Prophet, moreover, forbade the slaying of infants or single persons, and once, when the Prophet saw a woman who was slain, he said, ‘Alas! this woman did not fight, why, therefore, was she slain?’ But yet, if any of these persons be killed in war, or if a woman be a queen or chief, in this case it is allowable to slay them, they being qualified to molest the servants of God. So, also, if such persons as the above should attempt to fight, they may be slain, for the purpose of removing evil, and because fighting renders slaying allowable.

“A lunatic must not be slain unless he fight, as such a person is not responsible for his faith, but yet where he is found fighting it is necessary to slay him, for the removal of evil. It is also to be observed that infants or lunatics may be slain so long as they are actually engaged in fight, but it is not allowed to kill them after they are taken prisoners, contrary to the case of others, who may be slain even after they are taken, as they are liable to punishment because they are responsible for their faith.

“A person who is insane occasionally stands, during his lucid intervals, in the same predicament as a sane person.

“It is abominable in a Muslim to begin fighting with his father, who happens to be among the infidels, nor must he slay him, because God has said in the Qurʾān, ‘Honour thy father and thy mother,’ and also because the preservation of the father’s life is incumbent upon the son, according to all the doctors, and the permission to fight with him would be repugnant to that sentiment. If, also, the son should find the father, he must not slay him himself, but must hold him in view until some other come and slay him: for thus the end is answered without the son slaying his father, which is an offence.

“If, however, the father attempt to slay the son, insomuch that the son is unable to repel him but by killing him, in this case the son need not hesitate to slay him, because the design of the son is merely to repel him, which is lawful; for if a Muslim were to draw his sword with a design of killing his son, in such a way that the son is unable to repel him but by killing him, it is then lawful for the son to slay his father, because his design is merely repulsion. In a case, therefore, where the father is an infidel, and attempts to slay his son, it is lawful for the son to slay the father in self-defence à fortiori.

“If the Imām make peace with aliens, or with any particular tribe or body of them, and perceive it to be eligible for the Muslims, there need be no hesitation, because it is said in the Qurʾān: ‘If the infidels be inclined to peace do ye likewise consent thereto,’ and also because the Prophet in the year of the punishment of Eubea, made a peace between the Muslims and the people of Mecca for the space of ten years; peace, moreover is war in effect where the interest of the Muslims requires it, since the design of war is the removal of evil, and this is obtained by means of peace: contrary to where peace is not to the interest of the Muslims, for it is not in that case lawful, as this would be abandoning war both apparently and in effect. It is here, however, proper to observe that it is not absolutely necessary to restrict a peace to the term above recorded (namely, ten years), because the end for which peace is made may be sometimes more effectually obtained by extending it to a longer term. If the Imām make peace with the aliens for a single term (namely, ten years), and afterwards perceive that it is most advantageous for the Muslim’s interest to break it, he may in that case lawfully renew the war after giving them due notice, because, upon a change of the circumstances which rendered peace advisable, the breach of peace is war, and the observance of it a desertion of war, both in appearance and also in effect, and war is an ordinance of God, and the forsaking of it is not becoming (to Muslims). It is to be observed that giving due notice to the enemy is in this case indispensably requisite in such a manner that treachery may not be induced, since this is forbidden. It is also requisite that such a delay be made in renewing the war with them, as may allow intelligence of the peace being broken off to be universally received among them, and for this such a time suffices as may admit of the king or chief of the enemy communicating the same to the different parts of their dominion, since by such a delay the charge of treachery is avoided.

“If the infidels act with perfidy in a peace, it is in such case lawful for the Imām to attack them without any previous notice, since the breach of treaty in this instance originates with them, whence there is no occasion to commence the war on the part of the Muslims by giving them notice. It would be otherwise, however, if only a small party of them were to violate the treaty by entering the Muslim territory and there committing robberies upon the Muslims, since this does not amount to a breach of treaty. If, moreover, this party be in force so as to be capable of opposition, and openly fight with the Muslims, this is a breach of treaty with respect to that party only, but not with respect to the rest of their nation or tribe, because, as this party have violated the treaty without any permission from their prince, the rest are not answerable for their act; whereas if they made their attack by permission of their prince, the breach of treaty would be regarded as by the whole, all being virtually implicated in it.

“If the Imām make peace with the aliens in return for property, there is no scruple; because since peace may be lawfully made without any such gratification, it is also lawful in return for a gratification. This, however, is only where the Muslims stand in need of the property thus to be acquired; for if they be not in necessity, making peace for property is not lawful, since peace is a desertion of war both in appearance and in effect. It is to be observed that if the Imām receive this property by sending a messenger and making peace without the Muslim troops entering the enemy’s territory, the object of disbursement of it is the same as that of jizyah or capitation-tax; that is, it is to be expended upon the warriors and not upon the poor. If, however, the property be taken after the Muslims have invaded the enemy, in this case it is as plunder, one-fifth going to the Imām and the remainder to be divided among the troops, as the property has in fact been taken by force in this instance. It is incumbent on the Imām to keep peace with apostates, and not to make war upon them, in order that they may have time to consider their situation, since it is to be hoped that they may again return to the faith. It is, therefore, lawful to delay fighting with them in a hope that they may again embrace Islām; but it is not lawful to take property from them. If, however, the Imām should take property from them, it is not incumbent upon him to return it, as such property is not in protection. If infidels harass the Muslims, and offer them peace in return for property, the Imām must not accede thereto, as this would be a degradation of the Muslim honour, and disgrace would be attached to all the parties concerned in it; this, therefore, is not lawful except where destruction is to be apprehended, in which case the purchasing a peace with property is lawful, because it is a duty to repel destruction in every possible mode.”

[For K͟halīfah ʿUmar’s treatment of the garrison of Jerusalem when captured, see the treaty given in the article JERUSALEM.]

JIHĀZ (جهاز‎). (1) The wedding trousseau of a Muḥammadan wife. Those vestments and furniture which a bride brings to her husband’s house, and which ever remain the property of the wife. (Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 100.) (2) The word is also used for the shroud of a dead Muslim.

JINĀYAH (جناية‎), pl. Jināyāt. The legal term for all offences committed against the person, such as murder, wounding, drowning, &c.

JINN (جن‎). [GENII.]

JĪRĀN (جيران‎). “Neighbours.” “If a person make a bequest to his neighbours (jīrān) it includes, according to some doctors, all those houses which are within forty cubits of his house in every direction. Some say it is forty houses on either side of his.” (See Baillie’s Digest of Imāmīyah Law, pp. 216, 246.) [NEIGHBOURS.]

JIRJĪS (جرجيس‎). George. St. George of England. The author of the G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hah says that, “Jirjīs Bāqiyā is the name of a prophet who was on several occasions killed by his people, and was again raised to life by God, and over and over again instructed and preached the way of God. He is called Bāqiyā on account of his being raised up from the dead.” This seems to be a wild and exaggerated account of the story of George of Cappadocia, who suffered death in the first year of the reign of Julian. It is a mystery how this George ever was admitted into the Christian Calendar at all, and still more marvellous how he became a Muḥammadan prophet as well as the patron saint of England. Jalālu ʾd-dīn as-Suyūt̤ī, in his History of the Temple of Jerusalem, says Jirjīs was at Damascus in the time of Muʿāwiyah the K͟halīfah. [AL-KHIZR.]

JIZYAH (جزية‎). The capitation tax, which is levied by Muḥammadan rulers upon subjects who are of a different faith, but claim protection (amān). It is founded upon a direct injunction of the Qurʾān: “Make war upon such of those, to whom the Scriptures have been given, as believe not in God or in the last day, and forbid not that which God and his Apostles have forbidden, and who profess not the profession of truth, until they pay tribute (jizyah) out of their hand, and they be humbled.”

According to the Hidāyah (vol. ii. p. 211), jizyah is of two kinds: that which is established voluntarily, and that which is enforced. The usual rate is one dīnār for every male person, females and children being exempt according to Abū Ḥanīfah, but included by Ash-Shāfiʿī. It should be imposed upon Jews, and Christians, and Magians, but it should not be accepted from the Arabian idolators, or from apostates, who should be killed. But from idolators of other countries than Arabia it may be accepted. It should not be levied upon monks, or hermits, or paupers, or slaves. He who pays the capitation tax and obtains protection from the Muḥammadan state is called a ẕimmī.

JOB. Arabic Aiyūb (ايوب‎). Mentioned in the Qurʾān as a prophet and an example of patience.

Sūrah xxi. 83, 84: “And remember Job: when he cried to his Lord, ‘Truly evil hath touched me: but Thou art the most merciful of those who show mercy.’ So we heard him, and lightened the burden of his woe; and we gave him back his family, and as many more with them,—a mercy from us, and a memorial for those who serve us.”

Sūrah xxxviii. 40–44: “And remember our servant Job when he cried to his Lord, ‘Verily, Satan hath laid on me disease and pain.’ ‘Stamp,’ said we, ‘with thy foot. This is to wash with; cool, and to drink.’ And we gave him back his family, and as many more with them in our mercy; and for a monition to men of judgment. And we said, ‘Take in thine hand a rod, and strike with it, nor break thine oath.’ Verily, we found him patient! How excellent a servant, one who turned to us, was he!”

Sūrah iv. 161: “And we have inspired thee as we inspired … Jesus and Job and Jonah, and Aaron, and Solomon.”

Sūrah vi. 84: “And we have guided … David and Solomon, and Job, and Joseph.”

Mr. Sale, following the commentators al-Jalālān and al-Baiẓāwī, says: “The Muḥammadan writers tell us that Job was of the race of Esau, and was blessed with a numerous family and abundant riches; but that God proved him by taking away all that he had, even his children, who were killed by the fall of a house: notwithstanding which, he continued to serve God and to return Him thanks as usual; that he was then struck with a filthy disease, his body being full of worms and so offensive that as he lay on the dunghill none could bear to come near him: that his wife, however (whom some call Raḥmeh the daughter of Ephraim the son of Joseph, and others Makhir the daughter of Manasses), attended him with great patience, supporting him with what she earned by her labour; but that the devil appearing to her one day, after having reminded her of her past prosperity, promised her that if she would worship him he would restore all they had lost: whereupon she asked her husband’s consent, who was so angry at the proposal, that he swore, if he recovered, to give his wife a hundred stripes; and that after his affliction his wealth increased, his wife also becoming young and handsome again, and bearing him twenty-six sons. Some, to express the great riches which were bestowed on Job after his sufferings, say he had two threshing-floors, one for wheat and the other for barley, and that God sent two clouds, which rained gold on the one and silver on the other till they ran over. The traditions differ as to the continuance of Job’s calamities: one will have it to be eighteen years: another, thirteen; another, three; and another, exactly seven years seven months and seven hours.”

JOHN BAPTIST. Arabic Yaḥyā (يحيى‎). Mentioned three times in the Qurʾān.

The XIXth Sūrah opens with an account of the Birth of John the Baptist:—

“A recital of thy Lord’s mercy to his servant Zacharias; when he called upon his Lord with secret calling, and said: ‘O Lord, verily my bones are weakened, and the hoar hairs glisten on my head, and never, Lord, have I prayed to Thee with ill success. But now I have fears for my kindred after me; and my wife is barren: give me, then, a successor as Thy special gift, who shall be my heir and an heir of the family of Jacob: and make him, Lord, well pleasing to Thee.’ ‘O Zacharias! verily we announce to thee a son,—his name John: that name We have given to none before him.’ He said: ‘O my Lord! how when my wife is barren shall I have a son, and when I have now reached old age, failing in my powers?’ He said: ‘So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said, Easy is this to me, for I created thee aforetime when thou wast nothing.’ He said: ‘Vouchsafe me, O my Lord! a sign.’ He said: ‘Thy sign shall be that for three nights, though sound in health, thou speakest not to man.’ And he came forth from the sanctuary to his people, and made signs to them to sing praises morn and even. We said: ‘O John! receive the Book with purpose of heart’:—and We bestowed on him wisdom while yet a child; and mercifulness from Ourself, and purity; and pious was he, and duteous to his parents; and not proud, rebellious. And peace was on him on the day he was born, and the day of his death, and shall be on the day when he shall be raised to life!”

Sūrah xxi. 89: “And Zacharias; when he called upon his Lord saying, ‘O my Lord, leave me not childless: but there is no better heir than Thyself.’ So we heard him, and gave him John, and we made his wife fit for child-bearing. Verily, these vied in goodness, and called upon us with love and fear, and humbled themselves before us.”

Sūrah vi. 85: “And we guided … Zacharias, and John, and Jesus, and Elias, all righteous ones.”

JOKING. Arabic Mizāḥ (مزاح‎). It is said Muḥammad was fond of jesting, but Ibn ʿAbbās relates that the Prophet said, “Do not joke with your brother Muslim to hurt him.”

Anas relates that the Prophet said to an old woman, “No old woman will enter Paradise.” The old woman said “Why?” And the Prophet said, “Because it is written in the Qurʾān (Sūrah lvi. 35) ‘We have made them virgins.’ There will be no old women in heaven.” (Mishkāt, book xxii. ch. xii.)

JONAH. Arabic Yūnus (يونس‎). Mentioned in the Qurʾān as a prophet, and as Sāḥibu ʾl-Ḥūt and Ẕū ʾn-Nūn, “He of the Fish.”

Sūrah xxxvii. 139–148: “Jonas, too, was one of the Apostles (mursalīn), when he fled unto the laden ship, and lots were cast, and he was doomed, and the fish swallowed him, for he was blameworthy. But had he not been of those who praise Us, in its belly had he surely remained, till the day of resurrection. And we cast him on the bare shore—and he was sick;—and we caused a gourd-plant to grow up over him, and we sent him to a hundred thousand persons, or even more, and because they believed, we continued their enjoyments for a season.”

Sūrah lxviii. 48–50: “Patiently then await the judgment of thy Lord, and be not like him who was in the fish (Ṣāḥibu ʾl-Ḥūt), when in deep distress he cried to God. Had not favour from his Lord reached him, cast forth would he have been on the naked shore, overwhelmed with shame: but his Lord chose him and made him of the just.”

Sūrah x. 98 (called the Sūratu Yūnus): “Verily they against whom the decree of thy Lord is pronounced, shall not believe, even though every kind of sign come unto them, till they behold the dolorous torment! Were it otherwise, any city, had it believed, might have found its safety in its faith. But it was so, only with the people of Jonas. When they believed, we delivered them from the penalty of shame in this world, and provided for them for a time. But if thy Lord had pleased, verily all who are in the earth would have believed together. What! wilt thou compel men to become believers?”

Sūrah vi. 86: “We guided … Ishmael and Elisha, and Jonah, and Lot.”

Sūrah xxi. 87: “And Ẕū ʾn-Nūn (he of the fish), when he went on his way in anger, and thought that we had no power over him. But in the darkness he cried, ‘There is no God but Thou: Glory be unto Thee! Verily, I have been one of the evil doers’: so we heard him and rescued him from misery: for thus rescue we the faithful.”

[Sale, in his Notes on the Qurʾān, quoting from al-Jalālān and al-Baiẓāwī, says: “When Jonah first began to exhort the people to repentance, instead of hearkening to him, they used him very ill, so that he was obliged to leave the city, threatening them at his departure that they should be destroyed within three days, or, as others say, within forty. But when the time drew near, and they saw the heavens overcast with a black cloud which shot forth fire and filled the air with smoke and hung directly over the city, they were in a terrible consternation, and getting into the fields, with their families and cattle, they put on sackcloth and humbled themselves before God, calling aloud for pardon and sincerely repenting of their past wickedness. Whereupon God was pleased to forgive them, and the storm blew over. It is said that the fish, after it had swallowed Jonah, swam after the ship with its head above water, that the prophet might breathe; who continued to praise God till the fish came to land and vomited him out. Some imagine Jonah’s plant to have been a fig; and others, the móz (or banana), which bears very large leaves and excellent fruit, and that this plant withered the next morning, and that Jonah being much concerned at it God made a remonstrance to him in behalf of the Ninevites, agreeably to what is recorded in Scripture.”]

JORDAN. Arabic Ardan, Urdunn (اردن‎). Referring to Sūrah iii. 39, the legend is that the priests threw lots, by casting arrows into the river Jordan, as to which should take charge of the Virgin Mary after the Annunciation. “Thou wert not by them when they threw their lots which of them should take care of Mary, nor wert thou by them when they did dispute.”

JOSEPH. Arabic Yūsuf (يوسف‎). The son of Jacob, and, according to the Qurʾān, an inspired prophet. (Sūrahs vi. 84; xl. 36.)

The account of Joseph occupies a whole chapter in the Qurʾān, entitled the Chapter of Yūsuf (Sūrah xii.). Al-Baiẓāwī says that certain Jews instigated the Quraish to inquire of Muḥammad the story of Joseph and his family going into Egypt, and that in order to prove the truth of his mission, God sent Muḥammad this chapter, the Sūratu Yūsuf, from heaven. The same writer says it is a most meritorious chapter, for whosoever shall read it and teach it to others shall have an easy death. (See al-Baiẓāwī in loco.)

The story of Yūsuf wa Zulaik͟hah is one of the most popular love songs in the East. It was produced in Persian verse by Nūru ʾd-dīn ʿAbdu ʾr-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad Jāmī, A.H. 898. And the Shaik͟h Ḥamdu ʾllāh ibn Shamsi ʾd-dīn Muḥammad (A.H. 909), rendered it into Turkī verse.

The author of the Ak͟hlāq-i-Jalālī says: “We have it amongst the sayings of Muḥammad that women should be forbidden to read or listen to the history of Joseph (as told in the Qurʾān), lest it lead to their swerving from the rule of chastity.” (Thompson’s edition.)

We give the account as told in the Qurʾān, with the commentators’ remarks in italics, as rendered by Mr. Lane in his Selections from the Kuran (new ed. by Mr. S. Lane Poole), the account of Joseph’s temptation, which Mr. Lane omits, being added from Rodwell’s translation of the Qurʾān:—

“Remember, when Joseph said unto his father, O my father, verily I saw in sleep eleven stars and the sun and the moon: I saw them making obeisance unto me. He replied, O my child, relate not thy vision to thy brethren, lest they contrive a plot against thee, knowing its interpretation to be that they are the stars and that the sun is thy mother and the moon thy father; for the devil is unto man a manifest enemy. And thus, as thou sawest, thy Lord will choose thee, and teach thee the interpretation of events, or dreams, and will accomplish his favour upon thee by the gift of prophecy, and upon the family of Jacob, as He accomplished it upon thy fathers before, Abraham and Isaac; for thy Lord is knowing and wise.—Verily in the history of Joseph and his brethren are signs to the inquirers.—When they (the brethren of Joseph) said, one to another, Verily Joseph and his brother Benjamin are dearer unto our father than we, and we are a number of men; verily our father is in a manifest error; slay ye Joseph, or drive him away into a distant land; so the face of your father shall be directed alone unto you, regarding no other, and ye shall be after it a just people:—a speaker among them, namely, Judah, said, Slay not Joseph, but throw him to the bottom of the well; then some of the travellers may light upon him, if ye do this. And they were satisfied therewith. They said, O our father, wherefore dost thou not intrust us with Joseph, when verily we are faithful unto him? Send him with us to-morrow into the plain, that he may divert himself and sport; and we will surely take care of him.—He replied, Verily your taking him away will grieve me, and I fear lest the wolf devour him while ye are heedless of him. They said, Surely if the wolf devour him, when we are a number of men, we shall in that case be indeed weak. So he sent him with them. And when they went away with him, and agreed to put him at the bottom of the well, they did so. They pulled off his shirt, after they had beaten him, and had treated him with contempt and had desired to slay him; and they let him down; and when he had arrived half-way down the well they let him fall, that he might die; and he fell into the water. He then betook himself to a mass of rock; and they called to him; so he answered them, imagining that they would have mercy upon him. They however desired to crush him with a piece of rock; but Judah prevented them. And We said unto him by revelation, while he was in the well (and he was seventeen years of age, or less), to quiet his heart, Thou shalt assuredly declare unto them this their action, and they shall not know thee at the time. And they came to their father at nightfall weeping. They said, O our father, we went to run races, and left Joseph with our clothes, and the wolf devoured him; and thou wilt not believe us, though we speak truth. And they brought false blood upon his shirt. Jacob said unto them, Nay, your minds have made a thing seem pleasant unto you, and ye have done it; but patience is seemly, and God’s assistance is implored with respect to that which ye relate.

“And travellers came on their way from Midian to Egypt, and alighted near the well; and they sent their drawer of water, and he let down his bucket into the well: so Joseph caught hold upon it, and the man drew him forth; and when he saw him, he said, O good news! This is a young man!—And his brethren thereupon knew his case: wherefore they came unto him, and they concealed his case, making him as a piece of merchandise; for they said, He is our slave who hath absconded. And Joseph was silent, fearing lest they should slay him. And God knew that which they did. And they sold him for a mean price, [for] some dirhems counted down, twenty, or two-and-twenty; and they were indifferent to him. The travellers then brought him to Egypt, and he who had bought him sold him for twenty deenárs and a pair of shoes and two garments. And the Egyptian who bought him, namely, Kit̤feer (Qit̤fīr or It̤fīr), said unto his wife Zeleekha (Zalīk͟hā), Treat him hospitably; peradventure he may be advantageous to us or we may adopt him as a son. For he was childless. And thus We prepared an establishment for Joseph in the land of Egypt, to teach him the interpretation of events, or dreams; for God is well able to effect His purpose; but the greater number of men, namely, the unbelievers, know not this. And when he had attained his age of strength (thirty years, or three-and-thirty), We bestowed on him wisdom and knowledge in matters of religion, before he was sent as a prophet; for thus do We recompense the well-doers.” (Sūrah xii. 4–22.)

“And she in whose house he was, conceived a passion for him, and she shut the doors and said, ‘Come hither.’ He said, ‘God keep me! Verily, my lord hath given me a good home: and the injurious shall not prosper.’

“But she longed for him; and he had longed for her had he not seen a token from his Lord. Thus we averted evil and defilement from him, for he was one of our sincere servants.

“And they both made for the door, and she rent his shirt behind; and at the door they met her lord. ‘What,’ said she, ‘shall be the recompense of him who would do evil to thy family, but a prison or a sore punishment?’

“He said, ‘She solicited me to evil.’ And a witness out of her own family witnessed: ‘If his shirt be rent in front she speaketh truth, and he is a liar:

“ ‘But if his shirt be rent behind, she lieth and he is true.’

“And when his lord saw his shirt torn behind, he said, ‘This is one of your devices! verily your devices are great!

“ ‘Joseph! leave this affair. And thou, O wife, ask pardon for thy crime, for thou hast sinned.’

“And in the city, the women said, ‘The wife of the Prince hath solicited her servant: he hath fired her with his love: but we clearly see her manifest error.’

“And when she heard of their cabal, she sent to them and got ready a banquet for them, and gave each one of them a knife, and said, ‘Joseph shew thyself to them.’ And when they saw him they were amazed at him, and cut their hands, and said, ‘God keep us! This is no man! This is no other than a noble angel!’

“She said, ‘This is he about whom ye blamed me. I wished him to yield to my desires, but he stood firm. But if he obey not my command, he shall surely be cast into prison, and become one of the despised.’

“He said, ‘O my Lord! I prefer the prison to compliance with their bidding: but unless thou turn away their snares from me, I shall play the youth with them, and become one of the unwise.’

“And his Lord heard him and turned aside their snares from him: for He is the Hearer, the Knower.” (Rodwell, Sūrah xii. 23–34.)

“Then it seemed good unto them, after they had seen the signs of his innocence, to imprison him. They will assuredly imprison him for a time, until the talk of the people respecting him cease. So they imprisoned him. And there entered with him into the prison two young men, servants of the king, one of whom was his cup-bearer and the other was his victualler. And they found that he interpreted dreams; wherefore one of them, namely, the cup-bearer, said, I dreamed that I was pressing grapes: and the other said, I dreamed that I was carrying upon my head some bread, whereof the birds did eat: acquaint us with the interpretation thereof; for we see thee to be one of the beneficent.—He replied, There shall not come unto you any food wherewith ye shall be fed in a dream, but I will acquaint you with the interpretation thereof when ye are awake, before the interpretation of it come unto you. This is a part of that which my Lord hath taught me. Verily I have abandoned the religion of a people who believe not in God and who disbelieve in the world to come; and I follow the religion of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. It is not fit for us to associate anything with God. This knowledge of the unity hath been given us of the bounty of God towards us and towards mankind; but the greater number of men are not thankful. O ye two companions (or inmates) of the prison, are sundry lords better, or is God, the One, the Almighty? Ye worship not, beside Him, aught save names which ye and your fathers have given to idols, concerning which God hath not sent down any convincing proof. Judgment belongeth not [unto any] save unto God alone. He hath commanded that ye worship not any but Him. This is the right religion; but the greater number of men know not. O ye two companions of the prison, as to one of you, namely, the cup-bearer, he will serve wine unto his lord as formerly; and as to the other, he will be crucified, and the birds will eat from off his head.—Upon this they said, We dreamed not aught. He replied, The thing is decreed concerning which ye [did] ask a determination, whether ye have spoken truth or have lied. And he said unto him whom he judged to be the person who should escape of them two, namely the cup-bearer, Mention me unto thy lord, and say unto him, In the prison is a young man imprisoned unjustly.—And he went forth. But the devil caused him to forget to mention Joseph unto his lord: so he remained in the prison some years: it is said, seven; and it is said, twelve.

“And the king of Egypt, Er Reiyán the son of El-Weleed (Raiyān ibn al-Walīd al-ʿImlīqī) said, Verily I saw in a dream seven fat kine which seven lean kine devoured, and seven green ears of corn and seven other ears dried up. O ye nobles, explain unto me my dream, if ye interpret a dream.—They replied, These are confused dreams, and we know not the interpretation of dreams. And he who had escaped, of the two young men, namely the cup-bearer, said (for he remembered after a time the condition of Joseph), I will acquaint you with the interpretation thereof; wherefore send me. So they sent him; and he came unto Joseph, and said, O Joseph, O thou of great veracity, give us an explanation respecting seven fat kine which seven lean kine devoured, and seven green ears of corn and other seven dried up, that I may return unto the men (the king and his companions), that they may know the interpretation thereof. He replied, Ye shall sow seven years as usual: (this is the interpretation of the seven fat kine:) and what ye reap do ye leave in its ear, lest it spoil; except a little, whereof ye shall eat. Then there shall come, after that, seven grievous [years]: (this is the interpretation of the seven lean kine:) they shall consume what ye shall have provided for them, of the grain sown in the seven years of plenty, except a little which ye shall have kept. Then there shall come, after that, a year wherein men shall be aided with rain, and wherein they shall press grapes and other fruits.—And the king said, when the messenger came unto him and acquainted him with the interpretation of the dream, Bring unto me him who hath interpreted it.” (Sūrah xii. 35–50.)

“And when the messenger came to Joseph, he said, ‘Go back to thy lord, and ask him what meant the women who cut their hands, verily my lord knoweth the snare they laid.’ Then, said the Prince to the women, ‘What was your purpose when ye solicited Joseph?’ They said, ‘God keep us! we know not any ill of him.’ The wife of the Prince said, ‘Now doth the truth appear. It was I who would have led him into unlawful love, and he is assuredly one of the truthful.’ ‘This,’ said Joseph, ‘that my lord may learn that I did not in his absence play him false, and that God guideth not the machinations of deceivers. Yet do I not absolve myself: verily the heart is prone to evil, save those on which my Lord has mercy. Lo! my Lord is Gracious, Forgiving, Merciful.’ And the King said, ‘Bring him to me: I will take him for my special service.’ ” (Rodwell, Sūrah xii. 50–54.)

“And when he had spoken unto him, he said unto him, Thou art this day firmly established with us, and intrusted with our affairs. What then seest thou fit for us to do?—He answered, Collect provision, and sow abundant seed in these plentiful years, and store up the grain in its ear: then the people will come unto thee that they may obtain provision from thee. The king said, And who will act for me in this affair? Joseph said, Set me over the granaries of the land; for I am careful and knowing.—Thus did We prepare an establishment for Joseph in the land, that he might take for himself a dwelling therein wherever he pleased.—And it is related that the king crowned him, and put a ring on his finger, and instated him in the place of Kit̤feer, whom he dismissed from his office; after which, Kit̤feer died, and thereupon the king married him to his wife Zeleekha, and she bore him two sons. We bestow Our mercy on whom We please, and We cause not the reward of the well-doers to perish: and certainly the reward of the world to come is better for those who have believed and have feared.

“And the years of scarcity began, and afflicted the land of Canaan and Syria, and the brethren of Joseph came, except Benjamin, to procure provision, having heard that the governor of Egypt gave food for its price. And they went in unto him, and he knew them; but they knew him not; and they spake unto him in the Hebrew language; whereupon he said, as one who distrusted them, What hath brought you to my country? So they answered, For corn. But he said, Perhaps ye are spies. They replied, God preserve us from being spies! He said, Then whence are ye? They answered, From the land of Canaan, and our father is Jacob the prophet of God. He said, And hath he sons beside you? They answered, Yea: we were twelve; but the youngest of us went away, and perished in the desert, and he was the dearest of us unto him; and his uterine brother remained, and he retained him that he might console himself thereby for the loss of the other. And Joseph gave orders to lodge them, and to treat them generously. And when he had furnished them with their provision, and given them their full measure, he said, Bring me your brother from your father, namely, Benjamin, that I may know your veracity in that ye have said. Do ye not see that I give full measure, and that I am the most hospitable of the receivers of guests? But if ye bring him not, there shall be no measuring of corn for you from me, nor shall ye approach me.—They replied, We will solicit his father for him, and we will surely perform that. And he said unto his young men, Put their money, which they brought as the price of the corn, in their sacks, that they may know it when they have returned to their family: peradventure they will return to us; for they will not deem it lawful to keep it.—And when they returned to their father, they said, O our father, the measuring of corn is denied us if thou send not our brother unto him; therefore send with us our brother, that we may obtain measure; and we will surely take care of him. He said, Shall I intrust you with him otherwise than as I intrusted you with his brother Joseph before? But God is the best guardian, and He is the most merciful of those who show mercy.—And when they opened their goods, they found their money had been returned unto them. They said, O our father, what desire we of the generosity of the king greater than this? This our money hath been returned unto us; and we will provide corn for our family, and will take care of our brother, and shall receive a camel-load more, for our brother. This is a quantity easy unto the king, by reason of his munificence.—He said, I will by no means send him with you until ye give me a solemn promise by God that ye will assuredly bring him back unto me unless an inevitable and insuperable impediment encompass you. And they complied with this his desire. And when they had given him their solemn promise, he said, God is witness of what we say. And he sent him with them; and he said, O my sons, enter not the city of Miṣr by one gate; but enter by different gates; lest the evil eye fall upon you. But I shall not avert from you, by my saying this, anything decreed to befall you from God: I only say this from a feeling of compassion. Judgment belongeth not unto any save unto God alone. On Him do I rely, and on Him let those rely who rely.