Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/622

Rh MOHAMMEDANISM [LAW. founded by Abdallah soon had a great number of mem bers, and its missionaries spread themselves over the Moslem world. Towards 887 A.D. an Ismailian, Hamdan, surnamed Karmat, founded the branch sect of the Carma- thians, whose exploits have been recorded above. The Ismailian preachers also made numerous proselytes in Africa and in Egypt; and in A.D. 909, Obaid Allah, a descendant of the founder of the sect, but who passed as a member of the family of All, founded the Fatimite dynasty. Fati- Under the Fatimite Caliph Hakim, a new religion sprang mites, out of Ismailism, that of the Druses, so called from its inventor, a certain Darazf or Dorzi. This religion differs little from Ismailism, except that it introduces the dogma of the incarnation of God himself on earth, under the form of the Caliph Hakim. This heresy did not survive the reign of Hakim in Egypt. When the Fatimite Caliph Mostansir ascended the throne, he re-established the Ismailian belief ; and the Druses, driven from Egypt, took refuge in the Lebanon, where they still exist. As for the Egyptian Ismailians, they disappeared at the time of the conquest of that province by the pious and orthodox Ayyubite Saladin. This, however, was not a final deliverance of Islam from that formidable heresy. A hundred years before the return of Egypt to orthodoxy, a Persian named Hasan Sabbah, who had been initiated into Ismailism at Cairo, in the household of the Caliph Mostansir, had founded at Alamut, on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, that Persian branch of the Ismailians known to all Assas- the world under the name of the Assassins, 1 who held in sins. check the most powerful princes of Islam, till they were destroyed by the Mongol invasion. From Persia, Hasan Sabbah succeeded in filling Syria with his Assassins, and every one knows the part they played during the Crusades. The Assassins of Syria have never entirely disappeared. Even at this day some are to be found in the Lebanon. There are also some representatives of the sect in Persia, in India, and even in Zanzibar ; but since the 13th century they have become completely inoffensive. To conclude this sketch of the development of religious beliefs, it remains to say a few words on one of the most remarkable manifestations of Islam its mysticism, or Siifism. Sufism. In principle, mysticism is rather a mode of practising religion than a distinct religion ; it depends on the character of the believer s mind, and adapts itself to all dogmas. 2 It is the especial tendency of tender and dreamy spirits. Thus among the Moslems it is a woman who is considered to have founded mysticism. This woman, named Rabfa, lived in the first century of the Hijra, and was buried at Jerusalem. Her doctrine was simply the theory of Divine love. She taught that God must be loved above all things, because he alone is worthy of love ; and that everything here below must be sacrificed in the hope of one day attaining to union with God. These views were too similar to the Neo-Platonic ideas respecting the union of the human intellect with the Universal Reason not to have an attraction for the Gnostics, who abounded in the Shfite sects. Mysticism therefore made great pro gress in Persia, and assumed the character of a sect towards the year 200 of the Flight. A certain Abu Sa id b. Abf 1- Khair was the first who advised his disciples to forsake the world and embrace a monastic life, in order to devote themselves exclusively to meditation and contemplation ; a practice which may very probably have been borrowed from India. The disci] ties of Abu Sa id wore a garment of wool (Stif), whence they received the name of Sufis. Sufism spread more and more in Persia, and was enthusi- 1 From HasJi ishin, or eaters of Hash ish that is, Cannabis Indica, 2 See Guyard, &quot; Abd ar-Raz/iik et son traite de la predestination et &amp;lt;lu libre arbitre,&quot; Jonm. a suit., Feb. -liar. 1873 ; Dozy, Ilet Islamisnie, 2d ed. 1880. astically embraced by those who wished to give themselves up undisturbed to philosophical speculation. Thus, under the colour of Siifism, opinions entirely subversive of the faith of Islam were professed. In its first form Sufi.sm was quite compatible with Moslem dogma. It was satis fied to profess a contempt for life, and an exclusive love of God, and to extol ascetic practices, as the fittest means of procuring those states of ecstasy during which the soul was supposed to contemplate the Supreme Being face to face. But by degrees, thanks to the adepts whom it drew from the ranks of heterodoxy, Sufism departed from its original purpose, and entered on discussions respecting the Divine nature, which in some cases finally led to Pantheism. The principal argument of these Pantheistic Sufis was that God being one, the creation must make a part of his being ; since otherwise it would exist externally to him, and would form a principle distinct from him ; which would be equivalent to looking on the universe as a deity opposed to God. In the reign of Moktadir, a Persian Sufi named Hallaj, who taught publicly that every man is God, was tortured and put to death. After this the Sufis showed more caution, and veiled their teachings under oratorical phrases. Moreover, it was not all the Sufis who pushed logical results so far as to assert that man is God. They maintained that God is all, but not that all is God. Sufism exists in Persia even in our own day. It has been explained that, under the Abbasids, four Law. orthodox sects were established, and that these sects differed among themselves principally with regard to juris prudence. The law of Islam is one of its most original creations, and can only be compared in history with the development of Roman law. The laws laid down by Mohammed in the Koran might suffice for the Arabs as long as they were confined within the bounds of their peninsula. When their empire was extended beyond these limits, it was inevitable that this first code should become insufficient for their wants. As early as the time of the first four Caliphs it was necessary, in giving judgment on the new cases which presented themselves, to have re course to analogy, and to draw inspiration from decisions given by Mohammed, but not recorded in the Koran. The first fountains, therefore, of law were, besides the sacred book, the traditions of Mohammed, or Hadith, the collective T body of which constitutes the Sunna, or custom. These 9 traditions were for a long time preserved only in the memory of the companions of Mohammed, and of those to whom they had been orally communicated. But at the beginning of the second century of the Flight the need was felt of fixing tradition in writing ; and it was at Medina that the first collection of them was made. It was due to the jurisconsult Malik b. Anas. He rejected Malik from his collection with the greatest care all traditions an&amp;lt;1 tlie which appeared doubtful, and only preserved about seven- teen hundred, which he arranged in the order of their subjects. To this collection he gave the name of Mowatfft, or Beaten Path. 3 After him came the celebrated Bokhari, the compiler of the Sahih, 4 in which he brought together about seven thousand traditions, carefully chosen. The Sahih has continued to be the standard work on the subject of tradition. The traditions did not always supply the means of deciding difficult causes. The first four Caliphs were often obliged to have recourse to their own judgment in the administration of justice. Their decisions (^Athdr) The were also collected at Medina, and helped to swell the store of juridical matter. 3 Published at Tunis, in India, and at Cairo, A.H. 1280, with tin: commentary of Zarkani. 4 Kreld s edition (Leyden) is still unfinished. An edition, fully vocalised, in 8 vols., appeared at Biilak, A.H. 1296.