Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/620

Rh 592 MOHAMMEDANISM [THEOLOGY. Koran. Slaves and beasts of burden were placed under his guardianship, and he protected them from ill-treatment on the part of their masters. The Mohtasib was also commissioned to prevent public scandals, such as the sale of wine ; to forbid Christians and Jews from building houses higher than those of the Faithful ; and to enforce their wearing on their dress a distinctive mark (Ghiydr). Besides the offices already described, there existed three others which require mention those of the Marshals of the Nobility (Nikdbat al-Ashrdf), of the Imams, and of the Emirs of the Pilgrimage. Marshal The Marshals of the Nobility were appointed in the of the different provinces either by the Caliph, by his represent- Nobillty&amp;gt; atives, or by the Grand Marshal. Their functions were to superintend the descendants of the family of the Prophet, who formed the nobility of Islam, and to keep a register of all the births and deaths which occurred in the families of the members of this nobility. In every pro vince there were two Marshals, one for the family of All, the other for the Abbasids. Imam. The duty of the Imam was to recite the public prayers in the mosque. He was appointed by the Caliph or his representatives, and chose in his turn his Mo edhdkins, who called the Faithful to prayer from the tops of the minarets. In the Friday prayers it was the duty of the Imam to invoke publicly the blessings of Heaven on the reigning Caliph. Leader of The leadership of the yearly pilgrimage to the temple the Hajj. o f Mecca was considered a great honour. It was almost always the Caliph himself or one of his near relatives who assumed the function of Amir al-Hajj. The duties of this leader of the pilgrimage were 1. To escort the pilgrims in safety on their journeys to Mecca and back ; 2. To direct the religious ceremonies during the sojourn of the pilgrims at the Holy City. Such, briefly stated, was the organization of the Moslem State. Let us now say a few words on its religion. Religion. We need not now recur to the subject of the doctrines of Mohammed, which are treated of in their own place ; but it is important to show what they became after the time of the Prophet, and what movements they aroused in Islam. The diversity of the conquered races was of itself sufficient to introduce, in the course of ages, serious modifications of the earlier religion. But, from the very first, the Koran contained within itself the germs of discord. As long as men were content to adopt its teachings without discussion, orthodoxy might boast of maintaining itself unbroken. But as soon as they sought to examine deeply into its meaning, difficulties arose, which necessarily led the strongest minds into doubt and uncertainty. In particular, the conception of God, predestination, and free-will, as presented by the Koran, could not bear examination. As early as the first century of the Flight a theological school was founded at Basra, the most renowned master of which, Hasan al- Critical Basrl, introduced the critical study of dogmas. His dis- study of ciples, who were for the most part Persians, could not fail goon Q Discover ti ia t t} ie Koran often contradicted itself, and especially that it left many dogmatic difficulties unre solved. One of the disciples of Hasan, Wasil b. Atd, set forth his scruples publicly, departing on three points from the orthodox doctrine. The Koran affirms the attributes of God ; Wasil b. Ata denied them ; because, he says, if the attributes of God are eternal, they constitute in some sort so many deities. We ought not therefore to affirm the existence of an attribute that of justice, for example but simply to affirm that God is essentially just. The Koran admits the doctrine of predestination ; Wasil rejected it, as incompatible with the theory of rewards and punishments in another life, which presumes absolute doma. free-will in man. The Koran speaks only of paradise and hell ; Wasil admitted a purgatory. The sect founded by Wasil received the name of Mo tazilite (dissident), or Mo tazi- Kadarite, that is to say, which recognizes in man a power lites - (Kadar) over his own actions. Another sect, that of the Jabarites (Partisans of constraint} agreed with the Mo tazi- Jal.a- lites on the question of the attributes, but were diametri- rites. cally opposed to them on that of free-will. The Jabarites denied to man the slightest share in his own actions, and believed the very smallest actions of men to be the effect of predestination. The Koran, not concerning itself with the contradiction involved, admits at the same time the responsibility of man and the absolute predestination of his actions. The Jabarites rejected all responsibility, and believed that man is predestined from all eternity to para dise or to hell, for no other reason than that God has so willed it. A third sect, that of the Sifatites (Partisans of Sifatites. the Attributes), contended energetically against the two former. Keeping to the text of the sacred book, they alleged, for example, that when it is said in the Koran that God is seated on his throne, the expression must be taken literally. They thus fell into the grossest anthropo morphism, a doctrine which was very far from the ideas of Mohammed. In the face of these heterodox sects, the orthodox made but a poor figure. Rejecting, in their commentaries on the Koran, the explanations alike of the Mo tazilites, of the Jabarites, and of the Sifatites, but acknowledging their inability to refute them systemati cally, they merely opposed to them a declaration that the Koran was neither to be explained allegorically nor always taken literally ; and they concluded that, where two con tradictory expressions could not be reconciled, a mystery must be admitted to exist, which it would be vain to attempt to fathom. But they did not always keep within the limits of discussion. Under the reign of Abd al- Melik they succeeded in bringing about a persecution of the sectaries. The Mo tazilites, the Jabarites, and the Sifatites were dangerous only to the Church. Other sects arose, which put the State itself in peril. It will be remembered that, at the time of the dispute between All and Mo awiya, twelve thousand of the partisans of the former deserted him. These revolters, or Kharijites, originated one of the Khari- most formidable sects which ever existed in Islam. TheJ ites - Kharijites rejected in principle the Caliphate and the Imamate. At all events, they did not acknowledge the .exclusive right of the Koraish to the Caliphate, but declared that, if it was absolutely necessary to elect a Caliph, his origin was of little consequence, provided he fulfilled his duties conscientiously and exactly. We have seen for what a length of time they kept the Omayyads in check. When they had been put down in Asia, they passed into Africa, and there made numerous proselytes among the Berbers, disposed as these were, by their independent character, to adopt with enthusiasm the principle of anarchy. The most terrible, however, of the militant sects which were formed in the bosom of Islam was that of the Shi ites. Originally the Shi ites were Shi ites. simply the partisans of All and of his descendants. In the course of time, when the whole of Persia had adopted the cause of the family of All, Shi ism became the recep tacle of all the religious ideas of the Persians, and Dualism, Gnosticism, and Manicheism, were to be seen reflected in it. Even in the lifetime of All, a converted Jew, named Abdallah b. Sabd, had striven to introduce foreign elements into Islam. Thus, he alleged that All was to be adored as an incarnation of the Deity. These ideas, though rejected with horror by All himself, and by the greater part of the first Shi ites, gradually made way ; and all the direct descendants of All became veritable deities in