ARMS

The Sale of. The sale of armour or warlike stores to rebels, or in their camp, is forbidden, because selling arms into the hands of rebels is an a istance to defection. But it is not forbidden to sell the materials for making arms to such persons. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah , vol. ii. 225.) ARSH ( ارش‎ ). (1.) A legal term for compensation. (2.) A mulct; a fine; particularly that which is paid for shedding of blood. (3.) A gift for conciliating the favour of a judge; a bribe. (4.) Whatever a purchaser receives from a seller after discovering a fault in the article bought. ʿARSH ( عرش‎ ). The term used in the Qurʾān for the throne of God. Sūrah ix. 131 , “He is the Lord of the mighty throne .” Husainī, the commentator, says the throne has 8,000 pillars, and the distance between each pillar is 3,000,000 miles. ʿAṢABAH ( عصبة‎ ). A legal term for male relatives by the father’s side, agnates. ĀṢAF ( اصف‎ ). The wazīr or prime minister of Solomon. Alluded to in the Qurʾān, Sūrah xxvii. 40 , as “He with whom was knowledge of the scripture.” Muḥammadan commentators say he was the son of Bark͟hīya. AS̤AR ( اثر‎ ). Relating; handing down by tradition. Generally used for a Ḥadīs̤ related by one of the Companions, as distinguished from one of the Prophet’s own. AL -AS̤ARU ʾSH-SHARĪF ( الاثر الشريف‎ ). The sacred relic. A hair of either the beard or mustachios of Muḥammad, or a foot-print of the Prophet. One of these sacred relics (a hair of his beard) is exhibited in the great mosque at Delhi, another in a mosque in Cashmere. AṢḤĀB ( اصحاب‎ ), pl. of Ṣāḥib . The Companions or A ociates of Muḥammad. The term used for a single companion is ṣaḥābī . Concerning the title of “Companion,” there is considerable controversy as to the persons to whom it can be applied. Saʿīd ibn al-Musaiyab reckoned none a “Companion,” but those who had been a year or more with Muḥammad, and had gone on a warlike expedition with him. Some say that everyone who had attained puberty, had embraced Islām, and had seen the Prophet, was a “Companion,” even though he had attended Muḥammad but an hour. Others, however, affirm that none could be a “Companion” unle Muḥammad chose him and he chose Muḥammad, and he adhered to the Prophet at all times. The general opinion is that every one who embraced Islām, saw the Prophet, and accompanied him, even for a short time, was a “Companion.” It is related that the Prophet marched to Makkah with 10,000 Muslims, to Ḥuna in with 12,000, and that 40,000 accompanied him on the farewell pilgrimage. The number of the “Companions” at his death is said to have been 144,000. In point of merit, the refugees ( Muhājirūn ) are more worthy than the auxiliaries ( Anṣār ); but by way of precedence, the auxiliaries are more worthy than the later refugees. The “Companions” have been arranged in thirteen cla es, which are given by Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ as follows:—I. Those who first embraced Islām, such as K͟hadījah, ʿAlī, Zaid, and Abū Bakr, and those who did not delay till he had established his mi ion. II. The Companions who believed in him after his mi ion had been fully established, amongst whom was ʿUmar. III. Those who fled to Aby in i a. IV. The first Companions of ʿAqabah, who preceded the Auxiliaries. V. The second Companions of ʿAqabah. VI. The third Companions of ʿAqabah, who were seventy. VII. The refugees who went to the Prophet after his flight, when he was at Qubā, before the erection of the temple. VIII. The soldiers of the great battle of Badr. IX. Those who joined Islām between Badr and Hudaibiyah. X. Those who took the oath of fealty under the acacia tree at Hudaibiyah. XI. Those who joined after the treaty of Hudaibiyah, but before the conquest. XII. Those that embraced Islām on the day of conquest. XIII. Those who were children in the time of the Prophet, and had seen him. Muḥammad frequently commended the “Companions,” and spoke of their excellences and virtues, a chapter in the Traditions being devoted to this subject. ( Mishkāt , xxiv. c. xiii.) He is related to have said, “My companions are like stars by which roads are found, for which ever companion you follow you will find the right road.” AL -AṢḤĀBU ʾL-FĪL ( اصحاب الفيل‎ ). “The Companions of the Elephant.” A term used in the Chapter of the Elephant, or the CV th Sūrah:—“Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant ? Did He not cause their stratagem to miscarry? And He sent against them birds in flocks, small stones did they hurl down upon them, and he made them like stubble eaten down!” This refers to the army of Abrahah, the Christian king of Aby in i a and Arabia Felix, said to have been lost, in the year of Muḥammad’s birth, in an expedition against Makkah for the purpose of destroying the Kaʿbah. This army was cut off by small-pox, and there is no doubt, as the Arabic word for small-pox also means “small stones,” in reference to the hard gravelly feeling of the pustules, what is the true interpretation of the fourth verse of this Sūrah, which, like many other poetical pa ages in the Qurʾān, has formed the starting point for the most puerile and extravagant legends. AṢḤĀBU ʾL-KAHF ( اصحاب الكهف‎ ). “The Companions of the Cave,” i.e . the Seven Sleepers, mentioned in the Sūratu ʾl-kahf, or Chapter xviii. of the Qurʾān. The story, as told by early Christian writers, is given by Gibbon ( Rise and Fall , Chapter xxx i.). When the Emperor Decius persecuted the Christians, seven noble youths of Ephesus are said to have concealed themselves in a cave in the side of a mountain, where they were doomed to perish by the tyrant, who gave orders that the entrance should be firmly secured with a pile of huge stones. They immediately fell into a deep slumber, which was miraculously prolonged, without injuring the powers of life, during a period of 187 years. This popular tale, which Muḥammad must have heard when he drove his camels to the fairs of Syria, is introduced into the Qurʾān as a divine revelation. AṢḤĀBU ʾṢ-ṢUFFAH ( اصحاب الصفة‎ ). “The sitters on the bench” of the temple at Makkah. They are thus described by Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ : “They were poor strangers, without friends or place of abode, who claimed the promises of the Apostle of God and implored his protection. Thus the porch of the temple became their mansion, and thence they obtained their name. When Muḥammad went to meals, he used to call some of them to partake with him; and he selected others to eat with his companions.” ʾASHARAH MUBASHSHARAH ( عشرة مبشرة‎ ). “The ten who received glad tidings.” Ten of the most distinguished of Muḥammad’s followers, whose certain entrance into Paradise he is said to have foretold. They are Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, Us̤mān, ʿAlī, T̤alḥah, az-Zubair, ʿAbdu ʾr-Raḥmān, Saʿd-ibn-Abū-Waqqāṣ, Saʿīd ibn Zaid, Abū ʿUbaidah ibn al-Jarrāḥ. ( Mishkāt , book xxiv. c. xx., part ii.) Muḥammad declared it presumption for anyone to count upon an entrance into heaven with absolute certainty, but he made an exception in favour of these ten distinguished persons. AL -ASHʿARĪYAH ( الاشعرية‎ ). A sect formed by Abū ʾl-Ḥas an ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl al-Ashʿarī, born A.H . 260 ( A.D . 873–4). They hold that the attributes of God are distinct from His e ence, yet in such a way as to forbid any comparison being made between God and His creatures. They say they are not “ ʿain nor g͟hair :” not of His e ence, nor distinct from it: i.e . they cannot be compared with any other things. They also hold that God has one eternal will, from which proceed all things, the good and the evil, the useful and the hurtful. The destiny of man was written on the eternal table before the world was created. So far they go with the Ṣifātīs, but in order to preserve the moral responsibility of man, they say that he has power to convert will into action. But this power cannot create anything new, for then God’s sovereignty would be impaired; so they say that God in His providence so orders matters that whenever “a man desires to do a certain thing, good or bad, the action corresponding to the desire is, there and then, created by God, and, as it were, fitted on to the desire.” Thus it seems as if it came naturally from the will of the man, whereas it does not. This action is called Kasb (acquisition), because it is acquired by a special creative act of God. It is an act directed to the obtaining of profit or the removing of injury: the term is therefore inapplicable to the Deity. Abū Bakr al-Bakil­lānī, a disciple of al-Ashʿarī, says: “ The e ence or substance of the action is the effect of the power of God, but its being a action of obedience, such as prayer, or an action of disobedience, such as fornication, are qualities of the action, which proceed from the power of man.” The Imām Al-Ḥaramain ( A.H . 419–478) held “that the actions of men were effected by the power which God has created in man.” Abū Isḥaq al-Isfarāyinī says: “That which maketh impre ion, or hath influence on action, is a compound of the power of God and the power of man.” They also believe that the word of God is eternal, though they acknowledge that the vocal sounds used in the Qurʾān, which are the manifestation of that word, are created. They say, in short, that the Qurʾān contains (1) the eternal word which existed in the e ence of God before time was; and (2) the word which consists of sounds and combinations of letters. This last they call the created word. Thus Al-Ashʿarī traversed the main positions of the Mutazilites, denying that man can, by the aid of his reason alone, rise to the knowledge of good and evil. He must exercise no judgment, but accept all that is revealed. He has no right to apply the moral laws which affect men to the actions of God. It cannot be a erted by the human reason that the good will be rewarded or the bad punished in a future world. Man must always approach God as a slave, in whom there is no light or knowledge to judge of the actions of the Supreme. Whether God will accept the penitent sinner or not cannot be a erted, for He is an absolute Sovereign, above all law. (Sale, from Ibn K͟haldun ; Die Muʿtaziliten oder die Freidenker in Islām , von H. Steiner, 1865; Zur Geschichte Abu ʾl-Ḥas an al-ashʿarīsh , von W. Spitta, 1876; De Strijd over het Dogma in den Islām tot op El-ashʿarī , door Dr. M. Th. Houtsma, Leiden, 1875; and Exposé de la Réforme de l’Islam is me , by M. A. F. Mehren , Leiden, 1878.) ʿĀSHŪRĀʾ ( عاشوراء‎ ). Lit . “the tenth.” A voluntary fast day, observed on the tenth of the month of Muḥarram. It is related that Muḥammad observed it, and said it was a day respected by Jews and Christians. ( Mishkāt , vii. c. vii. 1.) It is the only day of Muḥarram observed by the Sunnī Muslims, being the day on which it is said God created Adam and Eve, heaven and hell, the tablet of decree, the pen, life, and death. It is kept by the Sunnīs as a fast. [ MUHARRAM .] ĀSIYAH ( آسية‎ ). The wife of Pharaoh. One of the four perfect women (the Virgin Mary, K͟hadījah, and Fāt̤imah, being the other three). See Mishkātu ʾl-Masābīḥ , xxiv. c. 22. She is mentioned in the Qurʾān ( Sūrah lxvi. 11 ): “And God striketh out a parable for those who believe: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, ‘My Lord, build for me a house with Thee in Paradise, and save me from Pharaoh and his works, and save me from the unjust people. ’ ” AṢL ( اصل‎ ). Cause, first principle, foundation. Aṣl-wafarʿ , “cause and effect,” “fundamental and derivative principle.” ASMĀʾU ʾLLĀH ( آسماء الله‎ ). [ GOD, NAMES OF .] ʿASR ( عصر‎ ). The afternoon prayer. [ PRAYERS .] The title of the CIII rd Sūrah of the Qurʾān.