IMAGES

It is unlawful for a Muḥammadan to have an image of any kind in his house. ( Mishkāt , book xx. ch. v.) [ PICTURES , IDOLS .] IMĀM ( امام‎ ). One whose leadership or example is to be followed. A pattern; a model; an example of evil. The term is used in the Qurʾān in these senses. Sūrah ii. 118 : “Verily I have set thee (Abraham) as an Imām (or a leader) for mankind.” Sūrah xvii. 73 : “The day when we will call all men by their Imām (or leader).” Sūrah xxxvi. 11 : “Everything we have set down in a clear model .” Sūrah xv. 79 : “They (Sodom and Midian) are an obvious example .” Sūrah xxv . 74: “Make us a model to the pious . ” Muḥammadans use the term in the following senses:— (1) The Imām, or K͟halīfah, of the Muslim people. The author of the Hidāyah says, by the rightful Imām is understood a person in whom all the qualities e ential to magistracy are united, such as Islāmism, freedom, sanity of intellect, and maturity of age, and who has been elected into his office by any tribe of Muslims, with their general consent; whose view and intention is the advancement of the true religion, and the strengthening of the Muslims, and under whom the Muslims enjoy security in person and property; one who levies title and tribute according to law; who, out of the public treasury, pays what is due to learned men , preachers, qāẓīs, muftīs, philosophers, public teachers, and so forth; and who is just in all his dealings with Muslims; for whoever does not answer this description is not the right Imām, whence it is not incumbent to support such a one, but rather it is incumbent to oppose him, and make war upon him until such time as he either adopt a proper mode of conduct, or be slain; as is written in the Maʿdinu ʾl-Ḥaqāʾiq , copied from the Fawāʾid . ( Hidāyah , vol. ii. p. 248.) IMG:3048615538088815629_p203.png:THE IMAM LEADING PRAYERS AND RECITING THE FATIHAH OR FIRST SURAH OF THE QURʾAN. THE IMAM LEADING PRAYERS AND RECITING THE FATIHAH OR FIRST SURAH OF THE QURʾAN. ( E. Campbell .) For a discu ion of this meaning of the title, refer to the article on KHALIFAH , which is the term used for the Imām of the Sunnī Muslims. (2) The Shīʿahs apply the term Imām to the twelve leaders of their sect whom they call the true Imāms [ SHIʿAH ], and not using the term K͟halīfah for this office as the Sunnīs do. The Shīʿah traditions are very wild on the subject of the Imāmate, and contrast unfavourably with those of the Sunnīs. In the Ḥayātu ʾl-Qulūb (Merrick’s edition, p. 203), Muḥammad is said to have related: “On the night of the ascension, the Most High commanded me to inquire of the past prophets for what reason they were exalted to that rank, and they all testified, We were raised up on account of your prophetical office, and the Imāmate of ʿAlī ibn Abī T̤ālib, and of the Imāms of your posterity. A divine voice then commanded, ‘Look on the right side of the empyrean.’ I looked and saw the similitude of ʿAlī and al-Ḥas an, and al-Ḥusain, and ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusain ( alias Zainu ʾl-ʿAbidīn), and Muḥammad al-Bāqir, and Jaʿfar aṣ-Ṣādiq, and Mūsā al-Kāz̤im, and ʿAlī ibn Mūsā ar-Riẓā, and Muḥammad at-Taqī , and ʿAlī an-Naqī, and al-Ḥas an al-ʿAskarī, and al-Mahdī, all performing prayers in a sea of light. These, said the Most High, are my proofs, vicegerents, and friends, and the last of them will take vengeance on my enemies.” (3) The Imām, or leader, of any system of theology or law. Abū Ḥanīfah and the other three doctors of the Sunnīs are called Imāms , and so are other leading doctors of divinity. The term is still used for a religious leader. For example, the head of the Wahhābīs on the North-West frontier of India is called the Imām, and so is the chief of Najd. (4) The Imām or leader of prayers in any Masjid. Mr. Sale says it answers to the Latin Antistes . Each mosque, however small, has its Imām, or priest, who is supported by endowments. The office is not in any sense a sacerdotal one, the Imām not being set apart with any ceremony, as in the case of a Christian presbyter, nor the office being hereditary, as in the case of the Hindu Brahmins. The position of Imām in this sense is not unlike the sheliach , or legatus , of the Jewish synagogue, who acted as the delegate of the congregation, and was the chief reader of prayers in their name. But quite independent of the duly appointed minister of a mosque, who is responsible for its services, and receives its revenues, no congregation of Muslim worshippers can a emble without one of the party taking the lead in the prayers by standing in front, and who is said “ to act as Imām ” for the a embly. The rules laid down on this subject, as given in the Traditions, are as follows ( Mishkāt , book iv. ch. xxvii., xxviii.):— Abū Saʿīd al-K͟hudrī says the Prophet said: “When there are three persons, one of them must act as Imām and the other two follow him, and the most worthy of them to act as such is he who repeats the Qurʾān best.” Abū Masʿūd al-Anṣārī says the Prophet said: “Let him act as Imām to a congregation who knows the Qurʾān thoroughly; and if all present should be equal in that respect, then let him perform who is best informed in the rules of prayer; and if they are equal in this respect also, let him act as Imām who has fled for the sake of Islām; and if equal in this likewise, let that person act who is oldest; but the governed must not act as Imām to the governor.” Abū Hurairah relates that the Prophet said: “When any of you acts as Imām to others, he must be concise in his prayers, because there are decrepit, aged, and sick persons amongst them, and when any one of you says his prayers alone, he may be as prolix as he pleases. [ MASJID .] IMĀM-BĀRAH ( امام باره‎ ). A building in which the festival of the Muḥarram is celebrated, and service held in commemoration of the deaths of ʿAlī and his sons, al-Ḥas an and al-Ḥusain. At other times, the tāzias , or shrines, are preserved in it; sometimes it is used as the mausoleum of the founder of the family. [ MUHARRAM .] IMĀMĪYAH ( امامية‎ ). Lit . “The followers of the Imām.” The chief sect of the Shīʿahs , namely, those who acknowledge the twelve Imāms. [ SHIʿAH .] IMĀM MUBĪN ( امام مبين‎ ). “The clear prototype or model.” The expre ion occurs twice in the Qurʾān, Sūrah xxxvi. 11 , “Everything we do set down in a clear prototype” ( fī Imāmin Mubīnin ). Here it appears to be used for the Qurʾān as an inspired record. Sūrah xv. 79 , “Verily they became both, Sodom and Midian, a clear example” ( lab i-Imāmin Mubīnin ). Muḥammadan teachers use the word for the Laḥwu ʾl-Maḥfūz̤ , or the Tablet of Decrees. AL -IMĀMU ʾL-MAHDĪ ( الامـام الـمـهـدى‎ ). Lit . “The well-guided Leader.” Umm Salmah relates that the Prophet said, “Strife and disputations will be created among men when a K͟halīfah shall die: and this shall be in the last days. And a man of the people of al-Madīnah will come forth and will flee from al-Madīnah to Makkah, and the men of Makkah will come and try to make him Imām by flattery, but he will not be pleased. Then men shall acknowledge him as Imām . Then an army from Syria shall advance against him, and this army shall be engulphed in an earthquake at Badāʾah, between Makkah and al-Madīnah. Then when the people shall see this the Abdāl, i.e . the Substitutes or good people [ ABDAL ], will come from Syria, and a multitude from al-ʿIrāq. And after that a man shall be born of the Quraish, of the tribe of Kalb, who will also send an army against him i.e . al-Mahdī; but he shall be victorious. Then he will rule people according to the laws of Muḥammad, and will give strength to Islām upon the earth, and he will remain on the earth seven years. Then will he die, and Muslims will say prayers in his behalf.” The Shīʿahs believe that al-Mahdī has already come and is still concealed in some part of the earth. For they suppose him to be the last of the twelve Imāms, named Muḥammad ʿAbdu ʾl-Qāṣim [ SHIʿAHS ], who will again appear in the last days. The Shīʿahs say that Muḥammad said, “O ye people, I am the Prophet and ʿAlī is my heir, and from us will descend al-Mahdī, the seal of the Imāms, who will conquer all religions and will take vengeance on the wicked.” ( Ḥarjātu ʾl-Qulūb , p. 342.) IʾMĀN, ĪMĀN ( ايمان‎ ). “Faith,” which, according to the Muḥammadan doctors, is the belief of the heart and the confe ion of the lips to the truth of the Muslim religion. Faith is of two kinds: Iʾmān Mujmal , or the simple expre ion of faith in the teaching of the Qurʾān and the Aḥādīs̤ , or Traditions; and Iʾmān Mufaṣṣal , or a formal declaration of belief in the six articles of the Muslim Creed: 1, in God; 2, the Angels of God; 3, the Books of God; 4, the Prophets of God; 5, the Day of Judgment; 6, Predestination to good and evil. In the Traditions, Iʾmān includes practice ( ʿAmal ), and all that belongs to the religious life of the Muslim. It is related ( Mishkāt , book i. ch. i.) that Muḥammad said, “That person has tasted the sweets of faith who is pleased with God as his Lord, with Islām as his religion, and with Muḥammad as the Prophet of God.” And again ( ib .), “The most excellent faith is to love him who loves God, and to hate him who hates God, to keep the tongue employed in repeating the name of God [ ZIKR ], and to do unto men as you would wish them to do unto you, and to reject for others what you would reject for yourself.” Salvation by faith without works is clearly taught ( Mishkāt , book i. ch. i.) by Muḥammad, e.g . “When anyone of you shall have believed truly and sincerely, then whatever good action that person may do will be rewarded from ten to seven hundred fold, and every sin he may commit will be expiated one by one before he dies.” Good works, however, are the test of faith. A man asked the Prophet what was the sign whereby he might know the reality of his faith. He said, “If thou dost derive pleasure from the good that thou hast done, and art grieved for the evil which thou hast committed, then thou art a true believer” ( Mishkāt , book i. ch. i.). Some of the Prophet’s friends came to him and said, “Verily, we find in our minds such wicked propensities, that we think it even a sin to speak of them.” The Prophet said, “Do you find them really bad?” They said, “Yes.” He said, “This is an evidence of faith.” By which he meant, if the man had not faith he would not have felt the wickedne of his heart. ʿIMLĪQ ( عمليق‎ ). The grandson of Shem, the son of Noah. The progenitor of the ʿAmāliqah, the A male kites of Scripture. They are said to be some of the earliest inhabitants of Makkah and al-Madīnah. IMMACULATE CONCEPTION of the Virgin Mary. This doctrine was a erted by Muḥammad ( Mishkāt , book i. ch. iii. pt. 1). The Prophet said, “There is not of the sons of Adam, except Mary and her Son, one born but is touched by the Devil at the time of his birth, and the child makes a loud noise from the touch.” When or where the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was first taught is quite unknown. Perrone says that some writers have ascribed its origin to France, and he himself is of opinion that it came from the East , and was recognized in Naples in the ninth century. (Blunt’s Dictionary of Doctrinal and Historical Theology , in loco .) The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was finally imposed as an Article of Faith in the Romish Church, by Pius IX., Dec. 8th, 1854.