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

In the Qāmūs, it is said that a qint̤ār was a gold coin of the value of 200 dīnārs, but Muḥammad T̤āhir, the author of the Majmaʿu ʾl-Biḥār (p. 173), says it implies a very considerable sum of money, as much gold as will go into the hide of a cow. It is generally translated talent.

Mr. Prinsep says: “The silver rupee (rupya, silver piece), now current in Muslim countries, was introduced, according to Abulfazel, by Sher Shah, who usurped the throne of Delhi from Humayoon in the year 1542. Previous to his time, the Arabic dirhim (silver drachma), the gold dinar (denarius auri), and the copper fuloos (follis), formed the currency of the Moghul dominions. Sher Shah’s rupee had on one side the Muḥammadan creed, on the other the emperor’s name and the date in Persian, both encircled in an annular Hindee inscription. Since ‘the same coin was revived and made more pure,’ in Akber’s reign, we may assume the original weight of the rupee, from Abulfazel’s statement, to have been 11¼ máshas. Akber’s square rupee, called from its inscription the jilály, was of the same weight and value. This coin was also called the chahár-yáree, from the four friends of the Prophet, Abubekr, Omar, Osman, Ali, whose names are inscribed on the margin. This rupee is supposed by the vulgar to have talismanic power.”

MONOGAMY. Although polygamy is sanctioned in the Qurʾān, the words, “and if ye fear that ye cannot be equitable, then only one” (Sūrah iv. 3), would seem to imply a leaning to monogamy, as the safest and most discreet form of matrimony. The author of the Ak͟hlāq-i-Jalālī says: “Excepting, indeed, in the case of kings, who marry to multiply offspring, and towards whom the wife has no alternative but obedience, plurality of wives is not defensible. Even in their case it were better to be cautious; for husband and wife are like heart and body, and like as one heart cannot supply life to two bodies, one man can hardly provide for the management of two homes.” (Thompson’s English Translation, p. 266.)

MONTH. Arabic shahr (شهر), pl. shuhūr. The months of the Muḥammadan year are lunar, and the first of the month is reckoned from the sunset immediately succeeding the appearance of the new moon (hilāl). The names of the months are: (1) Muḥarram محرّم; (2) Ṣafar صفر; (3) Rabīʿu ʾl-Awwal ربيع الاول; (4) Rabīʿu ʾl-Āk͟hir ربيع الاخر; (5) Jumādā ʾl-Ūlā جمادى الاولى; (6) Jumādā ʾl-Uk͟hrā جمادى الاخرى; (7) Rajab رجب; (8) Shaʿbān شعبان; (9) Ramaẓān رمضان; (10) Shawwāl شوّال; (11) Ẕū ʾl-Qaʿdah ذو القعدة; (12) Ẕū ʾl-Ḥijjah ذو الحجة.

Four of these months are held to be sacred, namely, Muḥarram, Rajab, Ẕū ʾl-Qaʿdah, Ẕū ʾl-Ḥijjah, and according to the teaching of the Qurʾān (Sūrah ix. 36), it is not lawful for Muslims to fight during these months, except when they attack those “who join other gods with God, even as they attack you one and all.”

The names of the months seem to have been given at a time when the intercalary year was in force, although Muslim writers assume that the names were merely given to the months as they then stood at the time when they were so named. For a discussion of the formation of the Muḥammadan year, the reader is referred to that article. [YEAR.]

(1) Muḥarram is the first month in the Muḥammadan calendar, and is so called because, both in the pagan age and in the time of Muḥammad, it was held unlawful (ḥarām) to go to war in this month. It is considered a most auspicious month, and Muḥammad is related to have said, “Whosoever shall fast on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in this month, shall be removed from hell fire a distance of seven hundred years journey; and that he who shall keep awake the first night of this month, shall be forgiven all the sins of the past year; and he who shall fast the whole of the first day, shall be kept from sin for the next two years.” (Hanīsu ʾl-Waizīn, p. 154.) The first ten days of this month are observed in commemoration of the martyrdom of al-Ḥusain, and the tenth day is the ʿĀshūrāʾ fast.

(2) Ṣafar, the second month, is supposed to derive its name from ṣafir, “empty,” either because in it the Arabians went forth to war and left their homes empty, or, according to Rubeh, because they left whom they attacked empty. According to some writers, it was so named from ṣufār, “yellowness,” because when it was first so called, it was autumn, when the leaves bore a yellowish tint. (Vide Lane’s Arabic Dict.; G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hah.) It is held to be the most unlucky and inauspicious month in the whole year, for in it, it is said, Adam was turned out of Eden. (See Hanīsu ʾl-Waizīn.) It was during this month that the Prophet was taken ill, but his partial recovery took place on the last Wednesday.

(3) Rabīʿu ʾl-Awwal, and (4) Rabīʿu ʾl-Āk͟hir, the first and second spring months, are said to have been so named when the calendar was first formed, and when these months occurred in the spring. Muḥammad died on the 12th day of the Rabīʿu ʾl-Awwal.

(5) Jumādā ʾl-Ūlā, and (6) Jumādā ʾl-Uk͟hrā, are the fifth and sixth months, about which there is some discussion as to the origin of the name. Mr. Lane, in his Dictionary, says the two months to which the name Jamādā (freezing) is applied, are said to be so called because, when they were so named, they fell in the season of freezing water; but this derivation seems to have been invented when the two months thus named had fallen back into, or beyond, the winter, for when they received this appellation, the former of them evidently commenced in March, and the latter ended in May. Therefore, I hold the opinion of M. Caussin de Perceval, that they were thus called because falling in a period when the earth had become dry and hard, by reason of paucity of rain, jamād being an epithet applied to land upon which rain has not fallen, which opinion is confirmed by the obvious derivation of the names of other months. (See Lane’s Arabic Dict. in loco.)

(7) Rajab, the “honoured” month, so called because of the honour in which the month was held in the Times of Ignorance, inasmuch as war was not permitted during this month. The Prophet is related to have said that the month Rajab was like a snowy white fountain flowing from heaven itself, and that he who fasts on this month will drink of the waters of life. It is called Rajab-i-Muẓar, because the Muẓar tribe held it in high esteem. It is usual for religious Muslims to spend the first Friday night (i.e. our Thursday night) of this month in prayer.

(8) Shaʿbān, the month of separation (called also the Shahru ʾn-Nabī, “the Prophet’s month”), is so called because the ancient Arabians used to separate, or disperse themselves, in this month in search of water (for when the months were regulated by the solar year, this month corresponded partly to June and partly to July), or, as some say, for predatory expeditions. On the fifteenth day of this month is the Shab-i-Barāt, or “Night of Record,” upon which it is said that God registers annually all the actions of mankind which they are to perform during the year, and upon which Muḥammad enjoined his followers to keep awake the whole night and to repeat one hundred rakʿah prayers. [SHAB-I-BARAT.]

(9) Ramaẓān, the ninth month of the Muḥammadan year, is that which is observed as a strict fast. The word is derived from ramẓ, “to burn,” because it is said that, when the month was first named, it occurred in the hot season; or because the month’s fast is supposed to burn away the sins of men. (See G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hah.) The excellence of this month is much extolled by Muḥammad, who said that during this month the gates of Paradise are opened, and the gates of Hell shut. (Mishkāt, book vii. chap. i. sec. 1.) [RAMAZAN.]

(10) Shawwāl, lit. “a tail,” is the tenth month of the lunar year, and, according to Arabic lexicons (see G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hah, Qāmūs, &c.), it is so called because, when first named, it coincided with the season when the she-camels, being seven or eight months gone with young, raised their tails; or, because it was the month for hunting. The Arabs used to say that it was an unlucky month in which to make marriage contracts, but the Prophet ignored their thus auguring, and married ʿĀyishah in this month. The ʿĪdu ʾl-Fit̤r, or “the Feast of Breaking the Fast,” occurs on the first of this month.

(12) Ẕū ʾl-Ḥijjah, the month of the Pilgrimage, is the last month of the Muḥammadan calendar. It is the month in which the pilgrimage to Makkah must be made, a visit to the sacred city at another time having in no way the merits of a pilgrimage. The Ḥajj, or “Pilgrimage,” is performed upon the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth of this month. The ʿĪdu ʾl-Aẓḥā, or “Feast of Sacrifice,” is held on the tenth. [HAJJ.]

MOON. Arabic qamar (قمر). The moon is frequently mentioned in the Qurʾān. Muḥammad on three occasions swears by it (Sūrahs lxxiv. 35; lxxxiv. 18; xci. 2), and it is said to have been set in the heavens for a light (Sūrahs x. 5; lxxi. 15), to run to its appointed goal (Sūrahs xxxv. 14; xxxi. 7), and that it will be eclipsed at the Day of Judgment (Sūrah lxxv. 8). The LIVth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, which is entitled the Sūratu ʾl-Qamar, begins with a reference to the splitting of the moon, which is a matter of controversy. It reads: “The hour draws nigh and the moon is split asunder. But if they see a sign, they turn aside and say magic continues.”

Al-Baiẓāwī refers it to a miracle, and says the unbelievers having asked Muḥammad for a sign, the moon appeared to be cloven in twain. But the most natural explanation of the passage is, that the expression refers to one of the signs of the Resurrection.

MOORS. The name given to the Muḥammadan conquerors of Spain, on account of their having come from the ancient Mauri, or Mauretania, now known as the Empire of Morocco. The word Mauri is supposed to have been derived from the Alexandrian word μαυροί, “blacks.” (See Smith’s Dict. of Greek and Roman Geography: Mauretania.)

MOSES. Arabic Mūsā (موسى). Heb. מֹשֶׁח. According to Muḥammadanism, he is one of the six great prophets who founded dispensations, and to whom the Taurāt was revealed. His special title, or kalimah, is Kalīmu ʾllāh, “One who conversed with God.” A lengthy account is given of his intercourse with Pharaoh and his dealings with the Children of Israel in the Qurʾān, which we take from Mr. Lane’s Selections, together with the remarks of the Jalālān, al-Baiẓāwī, and other commentators, in italics. (Stanley Lane-Poole’s new ed. of Lane’s Selections, p. 97.)

“We will rehearse unto thee of the history of Moses and Pharaoh with truth, for the sake of people who believe. Verily Pharaoh exalted himself in the land of Egypt, and divided its inhabitants into parties to serve him. He rendered weak one class of them, namely the children of Israel, slaughtering their male children, and preserving alive their females, because one of the diviners said unto him, A child will be born among the children of Israel, who will be the means of the loss of thy kingdom;—for he was one of the corrupt doers. And We desired to be gracious unto those who had been deemed weak in the land, and to make them models of religion, and to make them the heirs of the possessions of Pharaoh, and to establish them in the land of Egypt, and in Syria, and to show Pharaoh and Hāmān and their forces what they feared from them. And We said, by revelation, unto the mother of Moses, the child above-mentioned, of whose birth none knew save his sister, Suckle him; and when thou fearest for him cast him in the river Nile, and fear not his being drowned, nor mourn for his separation; for We will restore him unto thee, and will make him one of the apostles. So she suckled him three months, during which he wept not; and then she feared for him, wherefore she put him into an ark pitched within and furnished with a bed for him, and she closed it and cast it in the river Nile by night.

And the family of Pharaoh lighted upon him in the ark on the morrow of that night; so they put it before him, and it was opened, and Moses was taken forth from it, sucking milk from his thumb: that he might be unto them eventually an enemy and an affliction; for Pharaoh and Hāmān (his Wezeer) and their forces were sinners; wherefore they were punished by his hand. And the wife of Pharaoh said, when he and his servants had proposed to kill him, He is delight of the eye unto me and unto thee: do not ye kill him: peradventure he may be serviceable unto us, or we may adopt him as a son. And they complied with her desire; and they knew not the consequence.

“And the heart of the mother of Moses, when she knew of his having been lighted upon, became disquieted; and she had almost made him known to be her son, had We not fortified her heart with patience, that she might be one of the believers in Our promise. And she said unto his sister Maryam (Mary), Trace him, that thou mayest know his case. And she watched him from a distance, while they knew not that she was his sister and that she was watching him. And We forbade him the breasts, preventing him from taking the breast of any nurse except his mother, before his restoration to her; so his sister said, Shall I direct you unto the people of a house who will nurse him for you, and who will be faithful unto him? And her offer was accepted; therefore she brought his mother, and he took her breast: so she returned with him to her house, as God hath said,—And We restored him to his mother, that her eye might be cheerful and that she might not grieve, and that she might know that the promise of God to restore him unto her was true: but the greater number of them (that is, of mankind) know not this. And it appeared not that this was his sister and this his mother; and he remained with her until she had weaned him; and her hire was paid her, for every day a deenár, which she took because it was the wealth of a hostile person.

She then brought him unto Pharaoh, and he was brought up in his abode, as God hath related of him in the Chapter of the Poets (Sūrah xxvi. 17), where Pharaoh said unto Moses, Have we not brought thee up among us a child, and hast thou not dwelt among us thirty years of thy life?

“And when he had attained his age of strength (thirty years or thirty and three), and had become of full age (forty years), We bestowed on him wisdom and knowledge in religion, before he was sent as a prophet; and thus do We reward the well-doers. And he entered the city of Pharaoh, which was Munf [Memphis], after he had been absent from him a while, at a time when its inhabitants were inadvertent, at the hour of the noon-sleep, and he found therein two men fighting; this being of his party (namely an Israelite), and this of his enemies, an Egyptian, who was compelling the Israelite to carry firewood to the kitchen of Pharaoh without pay: and he who was of his party begged him to aid him against him who was of his enemies. So Moses said unto the latter, Let him go. And it is said that he replied to Moses, I have a mind to put the burden on thee. And Moses struck him with his fist, and killed him. But he intended not to kill him; and he buried him in the sand. He said, This is of the work of the devil, who hath excited my anger; for he is an enemy unto the son of Adam, a manifest misleader of him. He said, in repentance, O my Lord, verily I have acted injuriously unto mine own soul, by killing him; therefore forgive me.

So He forgave him: for He is the Very Forgiving, the Merciful.—He said, O my Lord, by the favours with which Thou hast favoured me, defend me, and I will by no means be an assistant to the sinners after this.—And the next morning he was afraid in the city, watching for what might happen unto him on account of the slain man; and lo, he who had begged his assistance the day before was crying out to him for aid against another Egyptian. Moses said unto him, Verily thou art a person manifestly in error, because of that which thou hast done yesterday and to-day. But when he was about to lay violent hands upon him who was an enemy unto them both (namely unto Moses and him who begged his aid), the latter said, imagining that he would lay violent hands upon him, because of that which he had said unto him, O Moses, dost thou desire to kill me, as thou killedst a soul yesterday? Thou desirest not aught but to be an oppressor in the land, and thou desirest not to be [one] of the reconcilers.—And the Egyptian heard that: so he knew that the killer was Moses; wherefore he departed unto Pharaoh and acquainted him therewith, and Pharaoh commanded the executioners to slay Moses, and they betook themselves to seek him. But a man who was a believer, of the family of Pharaoh, came from the furthest part of the city, running by a way that was nearer than the way by which they had come: he said, O Moses, verily the chiefs of the people of Pharaoh are consulting respecting thee, to slay thee; therefore go forth from the city: verily I am unto thee one of the admonishers.

“And when he was journeying towards Medyen, which was the city of Shoʾeyb (Shuʿaib), eight days journey from Miṣr (named after Medyen [Madyan] the son of Abraham), and he knew not the way unto it, he said, Peradventure my Lord will direct me unto the right way, or the middle way. And God sent unto him an angel, having in his hand a short spear; and he went with him thither. And when he came unto the water (or well) of Medyen, he found at it a company of men watering their animals; and he found besides them two women keeping away their sheep from the water. He said unto them (namely the two women), What is the matter with you that ye water not? They answered, We shall not water until the pastors shall have driven away their animals; and our father is a very old man, who cannot water the sheep. And he watered for them from another well near unto them, from which he lifted a stone that none could lift but ten persons. Then he retired to the shade of an Egyptian thorn-tree on account of the violence of the heat of the sun: and he was hungry, and he said, O my Lord, verily I am in need of the good provision which Thou shalt send down unto me. And the two women returned unto their father in less time than they were accustomed to do: so he asked them the reason thereof; and they informed him of the person who had watered for them; whereupon he said unto one of them, Call him unto me.

“And one of them came unto him, walking bashfully, with the sleeve of her shift over her face, by reason of her abashment at him: she said, My father calleth thee, that he may recompense thee with the reward of thy having watered for us. And he assented to her call, disliking in his mind the receiving of the reward: but it seemeth that she intended the compensation if he were of such as desired it. And she walked before him; and the wind blew her garment, and her legs were discovered: so he said unto her, Walk behind me and direct me in the way. And she did so, until she came unto her father, who was Shoʾeyb, on whom be peace! and with him was prepared a supper. He said unto him, Sit and sup. But he replied, I fear lest it be a compensation for my having watered for them, and we are a family who seek not a compensation for doing good. He said, Nay, it is my custom and hath been the custom of my fathers to entertain the guest and to give food. So he ate; and acquainted him with his case. And when he had come unto him, and had related to him the story of his having killed the Egyptian and their intention to kill him and his fear of Pharaoh, he replied, Fear not: thou hast escaped from the unjust people. (For Pharaoh had no dominion over Medyen.) One of them [namely of the women] said (and she was the one who had been sent), O my father, hire him to tend our sheep in our stead; for the best whom thou canst hire is the strong, the trustworthy.

So he asked her respecting him, and she acquainted him with what hath been above related, his lifting up the stone of the well, and his saying unto her, Walk behind me;—and moreover, that when she had come unto him, and he knew of her presence, he hung down his head and raised it not. He therefore said, Verily I desire to marry thee unto one of these my two daughters, on the condition that thou shalt be a hired servant to me, to tend my sheep, eight years; and if thou fulfil ten years, it shall be of thine own will; and I desire not to lay a difficulty upon thee by imposing as a condition the ten years: thou shalt find me, if God please, one of the just, who are faithful to their covenants. He replied, This be the covenant between me and thee; whichever of the two terms I fulfil, there shall be no injustice against me by demanding an addition thereto; and God is witness of what we say. And the marriage-contract was concluded according to this; and Shoʾeyb ordered his daughter to give unto Moses a rod wherewith to drive away the wild beasts from his sheep: and the rods of the prophets were in his possession; and the rod of Adam, of the myrtle of paradise, fell into her hand; and Moses took it, with the knowledge of Shoʾeyb. (Sūrah xxviii. 21–28.)

“Hath the history of Moses been related to thee? when he saw fire, during his journey from Medyen on his way to Egypt, and said unto his family, or his wife, Tarry ye here; for I have seen fire: perhaps I may bring you a brand from it, or find at the fire a guide to direct me in the way. For he had missed the way in consequence of the darkness of the night. And when he came unto it (and it was a bramble bush), he was called to by a voice saying, O Moses, verily I am thy Lord; therefore pull off thy shoes; for thou art in the holy valley of Tuwa. And I have chosen thee from among thy people; wherefore hearken attentively unto that which is revealed unto thee by Me. Verily I am God: there is no Deity except Me; therefore worship Me, and perform prayer in remembrance of Me. Verily the hour is coming: I will manifest it unto mankind, and its nearness shall appear unto them by its signs, that every soul may be recompensed therein for its good and evil work: therefore let not him who believeth not in it, and followeth his lust, hinder thee from believing in it, lest thou perish. And what is that in thy right hand, O Moses?—He answered, It is my rod, whereon I lean and wherewith I beat down leaves for my sheep that they may eat them; and I have other uses for it, as the carrying of provision and the water-skin, and the driving away of reptiles. He said, Cast it down, O Moses. So he cast it down; and lo, it was a serpent running along. God said, Take it, and fear it not: we will restore it to its former state. And he put his hand into its mouth; whereupon it became again a rod.

And God said, And put thy right hand to thy left arm-pit, and take it forth: it shall come forth white, without evil, (that is without leprosy; shining like the rays of the sun, dazzling the sight,) as another sign, that We may show thee the greatest of our signs of thine apostleship. (And when he desired to restore his hand to its first state, he put it as before described, and drew it forth.) Go as an apostle unto Pharaoh and those who are with him; for he hath acted with exceeding impiety by arrogating to himself divinity.—Moses said, O my Lord, dilate my bosom, that it may bear the message, and make my affair easy unto me, and loose the knot of my tongue (this had arisen from his having been burned in his mouth by a live coal when he was a child), that they may understand my speech when I deliver the message. And appoint unto me a Wezeer of my family, namely Aaron [Haroon] my brother. Strengthen my back by him, and make him a colleague in my affair, that we may glorify Thee much, and remember Thee much; for Thou knowest us.

“God replied, Thou hast obtained thy petition, O Moses, and We have been gracious unto thee another time: forasmuch as We revealed unto thy mother what was revealed, when she gave birth to thee and feared that Pharaoh would kill thee among the others that were born, saying, Cast him into the ark, and then cast him, in the ark, into the river Nile, and the river shall throw him on the shore; then an enemy unto Me and an enemy unto him (namely Pharaoh) shall take him. And I bestowed on thee, after he had taken thee, love from Me, that thou mightest be loved by men, so that Pharaoh and all that saw thee loved thee; and that thou mightest be bred up in Mine eye. Also forasmuch as thy sister Maryam went that she might learn what became of thee, after they had brought nurses and thou hadst refused to take the breast of any one of them, and she said, Shall I direct you unto one who will nurse him? (whereupon her proposal was accepted, and she brought his mother): so We restored thee to thy mother, that her eye might become cheerful and that she might not grieve. And thou slewest a soul, namely the Copt in Egypt, and wast sorry for his slaughter, on account of Pharaoh, and We delivered thee from sorrow; and We tried thee with other trial, and delivered thee from it. And thou stayedst ten years among the people of Medyen, after thou hadst come thither from Egypt, at the abode of Shoʾeyb the prophet, and he married thee to his daughter.