KING

The term used in the Qurʾān for a king is generally malik ( ملك‎ ), Heb. ‏מֶלֶךְ‎ , e.g . when the Israeli tes “said to a prophet of theirs, ‘Raise up for us a king.’ ” ( Sūrah ii. 246 .) (1) The word malik is now merely used in Arabia and in Central Asia for a petty chief. (2) Sult̤ān occurs in the Qurʾān for “authority,” or “power,” and not for a king. Sūrah lxix. 29 , “My authority has perished from me.” But it is now the title a umed by the Emperor of Turkey. (3) Pādshāh and Shāh are Persian words, the ruler of Persia having a umed the title of Shāh or King. The word Pādshāh is derived from pād , “a throne,” and shāh , “a lord or po e or,” i.e . “the lord of the throne.” In Hindu stan i it is Bādshāh . (4) Wālī , is a title a umed by Muḥammadan rulers, the title being held by the Barakzai rulers of Afg͟hānistān in all legal documents. The word simply means a po e or, or one in authority. (5) Amīr has a similar meaning to Wālī , and is a title which is a umed by Muslim rulers, as the Amīrs of Buk͟harah and of Kabūl. It is derived from ʿamr , “to rule.” (6) Saiyid , “a lord,” is a title given to the descendants of Muḥammad, and is a regal title a umed by the ruler of Zanzibār. (7) Imām , “a leader,” is the legal title of the head of the Muslims, and it is that given to the succe ors of Muḥammad, who are so called in the Traditions and in Muḥammadan works of law. [ IMAM .] (8) K͟halīfah , “a vicegerent.” K͟halīfah, or Caliph, is used for the same regal personage as Imām. [ KHALIFAH , RULERS .] KIRĀMAH ( كرامة‎ ). The miracles of any saint other than a Prophet, as distinguished from muʿjiz ah , which is always used for the miracles of an apostle or prophet. [ MIRACLES .] KIRĀMĪYAH ( كرامية‎ ). A sect of Muslims founded by Muḥammad ibn Karīm, and called also the Muja īyah, or Corporealists, because they admitted not only a resemblance between God and created beings, but declared him to be corporeal in substance. “The more sober among them, indeed, when they applied the word body to God, would be understood to mean that He is a self-subsisting being, which with them is the definition of body; but yet some of them affirmed him to be finite, and circumscribed either on all sides, or on some only (as beneath, for example), according to different opinions; and others allowed that He might be felt by the hand, and seen by the eye. Nay, one David al-Jawâri went so far as to say that His deity was a body composed of flesh and blood, and that He had members, as hands, feet, a head, a tongue, eyes, and ears; but that he was a body, however, not like other bodies, neither was he like to any created being. He is also said, further, to have affirmed that from the crown of the head to the breast he was hollow, and from the breast downward solid, and that He had black curled hair. These most blasphemous and monstrous notions were the consequence of the literal acceptation of those pa ages in the Koran ( Sūrahs xl. 10 ; xx. 4 ; ii. 109 ), which figuratively attribute corporeal actions to God, and of the words of Muḥammad, when he said that God created man in His own image, and that he himself had felt the fingers of God, which He laid on his back, to be cold; besides which, this sect are charged with fathering on their Prophet a great number of spurious and forged traditions to support their opinion, the greater part whereof they borrowed from the Jews, who are accused as naturally prone to a imilate God to men, so that they describe Him as weeping for Noah’s flood till His eyes were sore.” (Sale.) KIRĀMUN KĀTIBŪN ( كـرام كاتبون‎ ). Lit . “Illustrious writers.” The two recording angels who are said to be with every man, one on the right hand to record his good deeds, and one on his left to record the evil deeds. They are mentioned in the Qurʾān, Sūratu ʾl-Infit̤ār (lxxxii.): “Yet truly there are guardians over you, illustrious recorders ( kirāman kātibīn ) cognizant of your actions.” It is related that the Prophet enjoined his people not to spit in front, or on the right, but on the left, as on that side stands the recording angel of evil. ( Mishkāt , book iv. ch. viii. pt. 1.) As these angels are supposed to be changed every day, they are called the muʿaqqibāt , or those who succeed each other. KISRĀ ( كسرى‎ ), pl. Akāsir ah . The Chosroes, or Cyrus, a name given to almost every king of Persia of the Sa ānian dynasty (like Cæsar among the Romans and Pharaoh among the Egyptians). The kings of Persia, prior to Islām, according to Arab historians, composed four dynasties, namely, the Peshdādians, the chronology of which is unknown; the Kayānians, which ended B.C . 331, when Persia was conquered by Alexander the Great; the Ashkānians, which terminated A.D . 202; and the Sa ānians, the last of whom was overcome by the Arabs, A.D . 636. From the Qurʾān, Sūrah xxx. 1 , it appears that after the taking of Jerusalem by Chosroes, the sympathies of Muḥammad were all enlisted on the side of the Cæsar, and he foretells his ultimate victory over the king of Persia:— “The Greeks have been conquered in the neighbouring coast, but in a few years after their defeat they shall again be victorious.” In the sixth year of the Hijrah, Muḥammad sent a despatch to Chosroes, inviting him to Islām. Sir William Muir says ( Life of Mahomet , new ed. p. 384):— “The despatch for the King of Persia reached the Court probably some months after the acce ion of Siroes. It was delivered to the Monarch, who, on hearing the contents, tore it in pieces. When this was reported to Mahomet, he prayed and said: ‘Even thus, O Lord! rend Thou his kingdom from him.’ Connected with the court of Persia, but of date somewhat earlier than the despatch sent to it, is a remarkable incident, which was followed by results of considerable importance. “A few months before his overthrow, the Chosroes, receiving strange reports of the prophetical claims of Mahomet, and of the depredations committed on the Syrian border by his marauding bands, sent order to Bâdzân, the Persian Governor of Yemen, to despatch two trusty men to Medîna, and procure for him certain information regarding the Pretender. Bâdzân obeyed, and with the me engers sent a courteous despatch to Mahomet. By the time they arrived at Medîna, tidings had reached the Prophet of the deposition and death of Chosroes. When the despatch, therefore, was read before him, he smiled at its contents, and summoned the amba adors to embrace Islâm. He then apprised them of the murder of the Chosroes and the acce ion of his son. ‘Go,’ said he, ‘inform your master of this, and require him to tender his submi ion to the Prophet of the Lord.’ The glory of Persia had now departed. She had long ago relaxed her grasp upon Arabia; and the Governor of Yemen was free to choose a protectorate more congenial to his people. Bâdzân, therefore, gladly recognised the rising fortunes of Islâm , and signified his adhesion to the Prophet. From the distance of this province, its allegiance was at the first little more than nominal; but the acce ion served as a point for further action, and meanwhile added new prestige to the Prophet’s name.” KISWAH ( كسوة‎ ). Lit . “A robe.” The covering of the Kaʿbah , or cube-like building, at Makkah. [ KAʿBAH .] When Captain Burton visited Makkah in 1853, he found it to be a coarse ti ue of mixed silk and cotton, and of eight pieces, two for each face of the building, the seams being concealed by the broad gilt band called the ḥizām . It is lined with white calico, and has cotton ropes to secure the covering to metal rings at the basement. But on the occasion of Captain Burton’s visit, the kiswah was tucked up by ropes from the roof. The whole is of a brilliant black, with the gold band running round it. The burqaʿ , or veil, is a curtain hung before the door of the Kaʿbah, also of black brocade, embroidered with inscriptions, in letters of gold, of verses from the Qurʾān, and lined with green silk. According to Burton, the inscription on the gold band of the kiswah is the ninetieth verse of the third Sūrah of the Qurʾān: “Verily, the first House founded for mankind was surely that at Bakkah, for a ble ing and a guidance to the worlds.” The whole of the kiswah is covered with seven Sūrahs of the Qurʾān, namely, XVIII th, XIX th, III rd, IX th, XX th, XXXIX th, and LXVII th ( i.e . al-Kahf, Maryam, Ālu ʿImrān, at-Taubah, T̤ā Ḥā, Yā Sīn, and al-Mulk). The character is the ancient Kufic, and legible from a considerable distance. Mr. Lane says that the kiswah is made of a mixture of silk and cotton , because the Prophet expre ly forbade silk as an article of dre . The kiswah and burqaʿ are now manufactured at Cairo, at a manufactory called the K͟hurunfīsh, and is made by a family who po e the hereditary right, and who are called the Baitu ʾs-Saʿd . When they are completed, they are taken to the mosque known as the Sult̤ān Ḥas an, and there kept until they are sent off with a caravan of pilgrims to Makkah. This usually takes place a few days after the ʿĪdu ʾl-Fit̤r, generally about the 6th day of the month of Shawwāl, and two or three weeks before the departure of the regal canopy or Maḥmal. [ MAHMAL .] The proce ion of the kiswah is similar to that of the Maḥmal, and therefore requires no separate description. According to Muslim historians, the Kaʿbah was first dre ed with a kiswah or robe by a Ḥimyarite chief, named Tubbaʿu ʾl-Arqān. From the time of Quṣaiy it was veiled by subscriptions collected from Pagan Arabs, until Abū Rabiyah ibn al-Mug͟hīrah ibn ʿAbdi ʾllāh provided the covering, whereby he obtained the title of al-ʿAdl , “the Just.” When Muḥammad obtained po e ion, he ordered it to be covered with fine Yamānī cloth, and ordered the expense to be defrayed from the public treasury. The K͟halīfah ʿUmar chose Egyptian linen, and ordered the robe to be renewed every year. K͟halīfah ʿUs̤mān, being a man of eminent piety ordered it to be clothed twice a year. For the winter it had a robe of brocade silk, and in the summer a suit of fine linen. Muʿāwiyah, the Umaiyah K͟halīfah, was the first to establish the present kiswah of silk and linen ti ue, but being reminded of the Prophet’s well-known dislike to silken robes he changed it again to the more orthodox covering of Yamānī cloth. The K͟halīfah Maʾmūn ( A.D . 813) ordered the dre to be changed three times a year, the fine Yamānī cloth on the 1st of Rajab, white brocade on the 1st of Shawwāl , for the pilgrimage two months later, and rich red brocade on the 10th of Muḥarram. The K͟halīfah al-Mutawakkil ( A.D . 847) sent a new robe every two months. During the Abbaside dynasty, the investing of the Kaʿbah with the kiswah was regarded as a sign of sovereignty over the holy places. The later K͟halīfahs of Bag͟hdād are said to have sent a kiswah of green and gold. The Fāt̤imide K͟halīfahs made the kiswah at Cairo of black brocade of mixed silk and cotton; and when Sult̤ān Salīm a umed the power of the K͟halīfate ( A.D . 1512), the kiswah still continued to be supplied from Cairo, as is now the case under the Ottoman rule. (Burckhardt’s Arabia , Lane’s Egyptians , Ali Bey’s Pilgrimage , Burton’s Mecca and Medina .) [ KAʿBAH , MASJIDU ʾL-HARAM .] AL -KITĀB ( الكتاب‎ ). “The Book.” A term used for the Qurʾān, and extended to all inspired books of the Jews and Christians, who are called Ahlu ʾl-Kitāb , or believers in the book. KITĀBĪ ( كتابى‎ ). A term used for one of the Ahlu ʾl-Kitāb , “the people of the Book,” or those in po e ion of the inspired word of God, as Jews or Christians. KITĀBĪYAH ( كتابية‎ ). Fem. of Kitābī . A female of the Ahlu ʾl-Kitāb , or those who po e an inspired book, Jews or Christians. KITĀBU ʾL-AʿMĀL ( كتاب الاعمال‎ ). [ SAHIFATU ʾL-AʿMAL .] AL -KITĀBU ʾL-ḤUKMĪ ( الكتاب الحكمى‎ ). A letter transmi ible from one Qāẓī to another when the defendant in a suit resides at a distance. Such letter must be a transcript of real evidence. AL -KITĀBU ʾL-MUBĪN ( الكتاب المبين‎ ). Lit . “The Manifest or clear book.” The term is used in the Qurʾān both for the Tablet of Decrees ( Lauḥu ʾl-Maḥfūz̤ ) , and for the Qurʾān itself. Sūrah vi. 59 : “No leaf falleth but He knoweth it; neither is there a grain in the darkne of the earth, nor a green thing or sere, but it is noted in the clear book .” Sūrah iv. 18 : “Now hath a light and a clear book come to you from God.” KITMĀN ( كتمان‎ ). “Concealing; keeping secret.” The injunction of the Qurʾān is: “ Hide not the truth while ye know it”; and yet the art of concealing profane religious beliefs has been a special characteristic of the Eastern mystics.