Page:The Mohammedan system of theology (IA mohammedansyste00neal).pdf/154

 alms-giving is highly commendable, but the precision with which it is laid down in the Koran renders it more a matter of habit than a spontaneous exercise of charity, emanating from the pure spirit of benevolence.

3. The third practical duty 1s fasting, which is regarded as highly meritorious. "The month of Ramadan shall ye fast, in which the Koran was sent down from heaven, a direction unto men and declarations of directions, and the distinction between good and evil ." This fast 1s strictly observed and is (as Sale observes) very rigorous and mortifying when the month of Ramadan happens to fall in summer; the length and heat of the days rendering its observance far more trying in summer than in winter.

4. The fourth and last duty under this head is the Pilgrimage, to which very great importance is attached, and which is judged