A Dictionary of Islam Being a cyclopedia of the...

AL-MAʿĀRIJ (المعارج). Lit. “The Ascents.” The title of the LXXth chapter of the Qurʾān, in the second verse of which occurs the sentence, “God, the possessor of the Ascents (or Steps) by which the angels ascend unto Him, and the Spirit (i.e. Gabriel), in a day whose space is fifty thousand years.”

Sale, translating from al-Baiẓāwī and Zamak͟hsharī, says: “This is supposed to be the space which would be required for their ascent from the lowest part of the creation to the throne of God, if it were to be measured, or the time which it would take a man to perform a journey; and this is not contradictory to what is said elsewhere (if it be to be interpreted of the ascent of the angels), that the length of the day whereon they ascend is 1,000 years, because that is meant only of their ascent from earth to the lower heaven, including also the time of their descent.

“But the commentators, generally taking the day spoken of in both these passages to be the Day of Judgment, have recourse to several expedients to reconcile them, and as both passages seem to contradict what Muḥammadan doctors teach, that God will judge all creatures in the space of half-a-day, they suppose those large numbers of years are designed to express the time of the previous attendance of those who are to be judged, or else to the space wherein God will judge the unbelieving nations, of which, they say, there will be fifty, the trial of each nation taking up 1,000 years, though that of the true believers will be over in the short space above mentioned.”

MABNĀ ʾT-TAṢAWWUF (مبنى التصوف). Lit. “The Foundation of Ṣūfīism.” A term used by the Ṣūfīs to embrace the three principles of their system. (1) The choice of the ascetic life; (2) The intention to bestow freely upon others; (3) The giving up of one’s own will and desires, and desiring only the will of God. (See ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)

AL-MADĪNAH (المدينة). Lit. “The city.” The city celebrated as the burial place of Muḥammad. It was called Yas̤rib (see Qurʾān, Sūrah xxxiii. 13), but was distinguished as al-Madīnah, “the city,” and Madīnatu ʾn-Nabī, “the city of the Prophet,” after it had become famous by giving shelter to Muḥammad. It is esteemed only second to Makkah in point of sanctity. Muḥammad is related to have said, “There are angels guarding the roads to al-Madīnah, on account of which neither plague, or the Dajjāl (Antichrist) can enter it.” “I was ordered,” he said, “to flee to a city which shall eat up (conquer) all other cities, and its name is now al-Madīnah (the city); verily she puts away evil from man, like as the forge purifies iron.” “God has made the name of al-Madīnah both t̤ābah and t̤aiyibah,” i.e. both good and odoriferous.

Al-Madīnah is built on the elevated plain of Arabia, not far from the eastern base of the ridge of mountains which divide the table-land from the lower country between it and the Red Sea. The town stands on the lowest part, on the plain where the watercourses unite, which produce in the rainy season numerous pools of stagnant water, and render the climate unhealthy. Gardens and date-plantations, interspersed with fields, inclose the town on three sides; on the side towards Makkah the rocky nature of the soil renders cultivation impossible. The city forms an oval about 2,800 paces in circuit, ending in a point. The castle is built at the point on a small rocky elevation. The whole is inclosed by a thick wall of stone, between 35 and 40 feet high, flanked by about 30 towers and surrounded by a ditch. Three well-built gates lead into the town. The houses are well built of stone, and generally two stories high. As this stone is of a dark colour, the streets have a gloomy aspect, and are for the most part very narrow, often only two or three paces across; a few of the principal streets are paved with stone. There are only two large streets which contain shops. The principal buildings within the city are the great mosque containing the tomb of Muḥammad, two fine colleges, and the castle, standing at the western extremity of the city, which is surrounded by strong walls and several high and solid towers, and contains a deep well of good water.

The town is well supplied with sweet water by a subterraneous canal which runs from the village of Qubāʾ, about three-quarters of a mile distant in a southern direction. In several parts of the town steps are made down to the canal, where the inhabitants supply themselves with water which, however, contains nitre, and produces indigestion in persons not accustomed to it. There are also many wells scattered over the town; every garden has one by which it is irrigated; and when the ground is bored to the depth of twenty-five or thirty feet, water is found in plenty. During the rainy season, many torrents descend from the higher grounds to the lower depression in which al-Madīnah is built, and part of the city is inundated. This plentiful supply of water made this site a considerable settlement of Arabs long before it became sacred among the Muḥammadans, by the flight, residence, and death of the Prophet, to which it owes its name of Madīnatu ʾn-Nabī, or the City of the Prophet (See Burckhardt’s Travels in Arabia.)

Although magic (as-siḥr) is condemned in the Qurʾān (Sūrah ii. 96) and in the Traditions (Mishkāt, book xxi. ch. iii. pt. 1), there are still many superstitious practices resembling this occult science, which are clearly permitted according to the sayings of Muḥammad.

The term daʿwah is held to imply a lawful incantation, in which only the assistance of God is invited by the use of either the Ismu ʾl-Aʿz̤am, or great and unknown name of God, or the recital of the ninety-nine names or attributes of the Almighty. As-Siḥr, or the magical use of evil spirits: and kihānah, fortune-telling, are held to be strictly unlawful.

I. Spiritual magic, which is termed “er Roohanee” (ar-rūḥānī), chiefly depends upon the virtues of certain names of God, and passages from the Kurán, and the agency of angels, and jinn, or genii. It is of two kinds, Divine and Satanic (“Rahmanee,” i.e. relating to “the Compassionate” [who is God], and “Sheytanee,” relating to the Devil.)

1. Divine magic is regarded as a sublime science, and is studied only by good men, and practised only for good purposes. Perfection in this branch of magic consists in the knowledge of the most great name of God [ISMU ʾL-AZAM]; but this knowledge is imparted to none but the peculiar favourites of heaven. By virtue of this name, which was engraved on his seal ring, Solomon subjected to his dominion the jinn and the birds and the winds. By pronouncing it, his minister Asaf (Āṣaf), also, transported in an instant, to the presence of his sovereign, in Jerusalem, the throne of the Queen of Sheba. But this was a small miracle to effect by such means, for, by uttering this name, a man may even raise the dead. Other names of the Deity, commonly known, are believed to have particular efficacies when uttered or written; as also are the names of the Prophet, and angels and good jinn are said to be rendered subservient to the purposes of divine magic by means of certain invocations. Of such names and invocations, together with words unintelligible to the uninitiated in this science, passages from the Kurán, mysterious combinations of numbers, and peculiar diagrams and figures, are chiefly composed written charms employed for good purposes. Enchantment, when used for benevolent purposes, is regarded by the vulgar as a branch of lawful or divine magic; but not so by the learned, and the same remark applies to the science of divination.

2. Satanic magic, as its name implies, is a science depending on the agency of the Devil and the inferior evil jinn, whose services are obtained by means similar to those which propitiate, or render subservient, the good jinn. It is condemned by the Prophet and all good Muslims, and only practised for bad purposes. Es sehr (as-Siḥr), or enchantment, is almost universally acknowledged to be a branch of Satanic magic, but some few persons assert (agreeably with several tales in the Arabian Nights), that it may be, and by some has been, studied with good intentions, and practised by the aid of good jinn; consequently, that there is such a science as good enchantment, which is to be regarded as a branch of divine or lawful magic. The metamorphoses are said to be generally effected by means of spells, or invocations to jinn, accompanied by the sprinkling of water or dust, &c., on the object to be transformed. Persons are said to be enchanted in various ways; some paralyzed, or even deprived of life, others, affected with irresistible passion for certain objects, others, again, rendered demoniacs, and some, transformed into brutes, birds, &c. The evil eye is believed to enchant in a very powerful and distressing manner. This was acknowledged even by the Prophet. Diseases and death are often attributed to its influence. Amulets are worn by many Muslims with the view of counteracting or preserving from enchantment; and for the same purpose many ridiculous ceremonies are practised.

Divination, which is termed El-Kihaneh (al-Kihānah), is pronounced on the highest authority to be a branch of Satanic magic; though not believed to be so by all Muslims. According to an assertion of the Prophet, what a fortune-teller says may sometimes be true; because one of the jinn steals away the truth, and carries it to the magician’s ear; for the angels come down to the region next the earth (the lowest heaven), and mention the works that have been pre-ordained in heaven; and the devils (or evil jinn) listen to what the angels say, and hear the orders predestined in heaven, and carry them to the fortune-tellers. It is on such occasions that shooting stars are hurled at the devils. It is said that, “the diviner obtains the services of the Sheytan (Shait̤ān) by magic arts, and by names invoked, and by the burning of perfumes, and he informs him of secret things; for the devils, before the mission of the Apostle of God, it is added, used to ascend to heaven, and hear words by stealth. That the evil jinn are believed still to ascend sufficiently near to the lowest heaven to hear the conversation of the angels, and so to assist magicians, appears from the former quotation, and is asserted by all Muslims. The discovery of hidden treasures is one of the objects for which divination is most studied. The mode of divination called “Darb-el-Mendel” (Ẓarbu ʾl-Mandal), is by some supposed to be effected by the aid of evil jinn; but the more enlightened of the Muslims regard it as a branch of natural magic.

There are certain modes of divination which cannot properly be classed under the head of spiritual magic, but require a place between the account of this science and that of natural magic. The most important of these branches of Kihaneh is Astrology, which is called Ilm en Nujoom (ʿIlmu ʾn-Nujūm). This is studied by many Muslims in the present day, and its professors are often employed by the Arabs to determine a fortunate period for laying the foundation of a building, commencing a journey, &c.; but more frequently by the Persians and Turks. The Prophet pronounced Astrology to be a branch of magic. Another branch of Kihaneh is Geomancy, called “Darb er Ramal” (Ẓarbu Raml); a mode of divination from certain marks made on sand (whence its appellation), or on paper; and said to be chiefly founded on astrology. The science called “ez Zijr,” or “el Eyafeh” (al-ʿIyāfah), is a third branch of Kihaneh, being divination or auguration, chiefly from the motions and positions, or postures, of birds, or of gazelles and other beasts of the chase.

Thus what was termed a “Saneh” (Sāniḥ), that is, such an animal standing or passing with its right side towards the spectator, was esteemed among the Arabs as of good omen; and a “Bareh” (Bāriḥ), or an animal of this kind, with its left side towards the spectator, was held as inauspicious. “El Kiyafeh” (al-Qiyāfah), under which term are included Chiromancy and its kindred sciences, is a fourth branch of Kihaneh, “El Tefaul” (at-Tafawwul), or the taking an omen, particularly a good one, from a name or words accidentally heard or seen, or chosen from a book belonging to the same science. The taking a “fál,” or omen, from the Kurán, is generally held to be lawful. Various trifling events are considered as ominous. For instance, a Sultan quitting his palace with his troops, a standard happened to strike a “thureiya” (s̤urayyā, a cluster of lamps so called from resembling the Pleiades), and broke them: he drew from this an evil omen, and would have relinquished the expedition; but one of his chief officers said to him, “O our Lord, thy standard has reached the Pleiades,” and being relieved by this remark, he proceeded, and returned victorious.

AL-MAHDĪ (المهدى). Lit. “The Directed One,” hence, “who is fit to direct others, Guide, Leader.” A ruler who shall in the last days appear upon the earth. According to the Shīʿahs, he has already appeared in the person of Muḥammad Abū ʾl-Qāsim, the twelfth Imām, who is believed to be concealed in some secret place until the day of his manifestation before the end of the world. But the Sunnīs say he has not yet appeared. In the history of Muḥammadanism, there are numerous instances of impostors having assumed the character of this mysterious personage, amongst others, Saiyid Aḥmad, who fought against the Sikhs on the North-West frontier of the Panjāb, A.D. 1826, and still more recently, the Muḥammadan who has claimed to be al-Mahdī in the Sudān in Egypt.

“The Mahdī will be descended from me, he will be a man with an open countenance and with a high nose. He will fill the earth with equity and justice, even as it has been filled with tyranny and oppression, and he will reign over the earth seven years.”

“Quarrelling and disputation shall exist amongst men, and then shall a man of the people of al-Madīnah come forth, and shall go from al-Madīnah to Makkah, and the people of Makkah shall make him Imām. Then shall the ruler of Syria send an army against the Mahdī, but the Syrian army shall perish by an earthquake near Badāʾ, between al-Madīnah and Makkah. And when the people shall see this, the Abdāl [ABDAL] will come from Syria, and also a multitude from al-ʿIrāq. After this an enemy to the Mahdī shall arise from the Quraish tribe, whose uncles shall be of the tribe of Kalb, and this man shall send an army against the Mahdī. The Mahdī shall rule according to the example of your Prophet, and shall give strength and stability to Islām. He shall reign for seven years, and then die.”