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4 Vide Poc. Spec. p. 303. 5 Vide Bobov. de Circumcis. p. 22.
6 Philostorg. Hist. Eccl. l. 3.
7 Joseph. Ant. l. I, c. 23. 8 Gen. xvii. 25. 9 Vide Bobov. ubi
sup. and Poc. Spec. p. 319.
10 Vide Reland. de Rel. Moh. l. I, p. 75.
1 This is the substance of the following passage of the Gospel of Barnabas
(cap. 23), viz.,Entonces dixo Jesus; Adam el primer hombre aviendo comido por
eñgano del demonio la comida prohibida por Dios en el parayso, se le rebelò su
carne à su espiritu; por lo qual jurò diziendo, Por Dios que yo te quiero
cortar; y rompiendo una piedra tomò su carne para cortarla con el corte de la
piedra. Por loqual fue reprehendido del angel Gabriel, y el le dixo; Yo he
jurado por Dios que lo he de cortar, y mentiroso no lo serè jamas. Ala hora
el angel le enseño la superfluidad de su earne, y a quella cortò. De manera
que ansi como todo hombre toma carne de Adam, ansi esta obligado a complir
aquello que Adam con juramento prometiò. 2 Shalshel. hakkabala. Vide
Poc. Spec. p. 320; Gagnier not. in Abulfed. Vit. Moh. p. 2. 3 Vide Poc.
Spec. p. 304. 4 See before, p. 14. 5 Abulfed. Vit. Moh. p.
127

That so important a duty, therefore, might not be neglected, Mohammed
obliged his followers to pray five times every twenty-four hours, at certain
state times; viz., I. In the morning, before sunrise; 2. When noon is past,
and the sun begins to decline form the meridian; 3. In the afternoon, before
sunset; 4. In the evening, after sunset, and before day be shut in; and 5.
After the day is shut in, and before the first watch of the night.6 For this
institution he pretended to have received the divine command from the throne
of GOD himself, when he took his night journey to heaven; and the observing of
the stated times of prayer is frequently insisted on in the Korân, though they
be not particularly prescribed therein. Accordingly, at the aforesaid times,
of which public notice is given by the Muedhdhins, or Criers, from the
steeples of their mosques (for they use no bell), every conscientious Moslem
prepares himself for prayer, which he performs either in the mosque or any
other place, provided it be clean, after a prescribed form, and with a certain
number of phrases or ejaculations (which the more scrupulous count by a string
of beads) and using certain postures of worship; all which have been
particularly set down and described, though with some few mistakes, by other
writers,1 and ought not to be abridged, unless in some special cases; as on a
journey, on preparing for battle, &c.
For the regular performance of the duty of prayer among the Mohammedans,
besides the particulars above mentioned, it is also requisite that they turn
their faces, while they pray, towards the temple of Mecca;2 the quarter where
the same is situate being, for that reason, pointed out within their mosques
by a niche, which they call al Mehrâb, and without, by the situation of the
doors opening into the galleries of the steeples: there are also tables
calculated for the ready finding out their Kebla, or part towards which they
ought to pray, in places where they have no other direction.3
But what is principally to be regarded in the discharge of this duty, say
the Moslem doctors, is the inward disposition of the heart, which is the life
and spirit of prayer;4 the most punctual observance of the external rites and
ceremonies before mentioned being of little or no avail, if performed without
due attention, reverence, devotion, and hope:5 so that we must not think the
Mohammedans, or the considerate part of them at least, content themselves with
the mere opu. operatum, or imagine their whole religion to be placed therein.6
I had like to have omitted two things which in my mind deserve mention on
this head, and may, perhaps, be better defended than our contrary practice.
One is, that the Mohammedans never address themselves to GOD in sumptuous
apparel, though they are obliged to be decently clothed; but lay aside their
costly habits and pompous ornaments, if they wear any, when they approach the
divine presence, lest they should seem proud and arrogant.7 The other is,
that they admit not their women to pray with them in public; that sex being

6 Vide Ibid. p. 38, 39. 1 Vide Hotting. Hist. Eccles. tom. viii.
p. 470-529; Bobov. in Liturg. Turcic p. I, &c.; Grelot, Voyage de Constant. p.
253-264; Chardin, Voy. de Perse, tom. ii. p. 388, &c.; and Smith, de Moribus
ac Instit. Turcar. Ep. I, p. 33, &c.
2 Kor. c. 2, p. 16. See the notes there. 3 Vide Hyde, de Rel.
Vet. Pers. p. 8, 9, and 126. 4 Al Ghazâli.
5 Vide Poc. Spec. p. 305. 6 Vide Smith, ubi sup. p. 40.
7 Reland. de Rel. Moh. p. 96. See Kor. c.7. p. 107.

obliged to perform their devotions at home, or if they visit the mosques, it
must be at a time when the men are not there: for the Moslems are of opinion
that their presence inspires a different kind of devotion from that which is
requisite in a place dedicated to the worship of GOD.8
The greater part of the particulars comprised in the Mohammedan institution
of prayer, their prophet seems to have copied from others, and especially the
Jews; exceeding their institutions only in the number of daily prayer.1 The
Jews are directed to pray three times a day,2 in the morning, in the evening,
and within night; in imitation of Abraham,3 Isaac,4 and Jacob;5 and the
practice was as early, at least, as the time of Daniel.6 The several postures
used by the Mohammedans in their prayers are also the same with those
prescribed by the Jewish Rabbins, and particularly the most solemn act of
adoration, by prostrating themselves so as to touch the ground with their
forehead;7 notwithstanding, the latter pretend the practice of the former, in
this respect, to be a relic of their ancient manner of paying their devotions
to Baal-Peor.8 The Jews likewise constantly pray with their faces turned
towards the temple of Jerusalem,9 which has been their Kebla from the time it
was first dedicated by Solomon;10 for which reason Daniel, praying in Chaldea,
had the windows of his chamber open towards that city:11 and the same was the
Kebla of Mohammed and his followers for six or seven months,12 and till he
found himself obliged to change it for the Caaba. The Jews, moreover, are
obliged by the precepts of their religion to be careful that the place they
pray in, and the garments they have on when they perform their duty, be
clean:13 the men and women also among them pray apart (in which particular
they were imitated by the eastern Christians); and several other conformities
might be remarked between the Jewish public worship and that of the
Mohammedans.14
The next point of the Mohammedan religion is the giving of alms, which are
of two sorts, legal and voluntary. The legal alms are of indispensable
obligation, being commanded by the law, which directs and determines both the
portion which is to be given, and of what things it ought to be given; but the
voluntary alms are left to every one's liberty, to give more or less, as he
shall see fit. The former kind of alms some think to be properly called
Zacât, and the latter Sadakat;

8 A Moor, named Ahmed Ebn Abdalla, in a Latin epistle by him, written to
Maurice, Prince of Orange, and Emanuel, Prince of Portugal, containing a
censure of the Christian religion (a copy of which, once belonging to Mr.
Selden, who has thence transcribed a considerable passage in his treatise De
Synedriis vett. Ebræor. l. I, c. 12, is now in the Bodleian Library), finds
great fault with the unedifying manner in which mass is said among the Roman
Catholics, for this very reason, among others. His words are: Ubicunque
congregantur simul viri et fomino, ibi mens non est intenta et devota: nam
inter celebrandum missam et sacrificia, fomino et viri mutuis aspectibus,
signis, ac nutibus accendunt pravorum appetitum, et desideriorum suorum ignes:
et quando hoc non fieret, saltem humana fragilitas delectatur mutuo et
reciproco aspectu; et ita non potest esse mens quieta, attenta, et devota.
1 The Sabians, according to some, exceed the Mohammedans in this point,
praying seven times a day. See before, p. 11.
2 Gemar. Berachoth. 3 Gen. xix. 27. 4 Gen. xxiv. 63.
5 Gen. xxviii. II, &c.
6 Dan. vi. 10. 7 Vide Millium, de Mohammedismo ante Moham. p. 427,
&c., and Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 5, &c.
8 Maimonid. in Epist. ad Proselyt. Relig. Vide Poc. Spec. p. 306.
9 Gemar. Bava Bathra, and Berachoth.
10 I Kings viii. 29, &c. 11 Dan. vi. 10. 12 Some say
eighteen months. Vide Abulfed. Vit. Moh. p. 54.
13 Maimon. in Halachoth Tephilla, c.9, § 8, 9. Menura hammeor, fol. 28, 2.
14 Vide Millium, ubi supra, p. 424, et seq.

though this name be also frequently given to the legal alms. They are called
Zacât, either because they increase a man's store, by drawing down a blessing
thereon, and produce in his soul the virtue of liberality,1 or because they
purify the remaining part of one's substance from pollution, and the soul from
the filth of avarice;2 and Sadakat, because they are a proof of a man's
sincerity in the worship of GOD. Some writers have called the legal alms
tithes, but improperly, since in some cases they fall short, and in others
exceed that proportion.
The giving of alms is frequently commanded in the Korân, and often
recommended therein jointly with prayer; the former being held of great
efficacy in causing the latter to be heard of GOD: for which reason the Khalîf
Omar Ebn Abd'alaziz used to say, "that prayer and alms carries us half-way to
GOD, fasting brings us to the door of his palace, and alms procures us
admission."3 The Mohammedans, therefore, esteem almsdeeds to be highly
meritorious, and many of them have been illustrious for the exercise thereof.
Hasan, the son of Ali, and grandson of Mohammed, in particular is related to
have thrice in his life divided his substance equally between himself and the
poor, and twice to have given away all he had:4 and the generality are so
addicted to the doing of good, that they extend their charity even to brutes.5
Alms, according to the prescriptions of the Mohammedan law, are to be given
of five things-I. Of cattle, that is to say, of camels, kine, and sheep. 2.
Of money. 3. Of corn. 4. Of fruits, viz., dates and raisins. And 5. Of wares
sold. Of each of these a certain portion is to be given in alms, usually one
part in forty, or two and a half per cent of the value. But no alms are due
for them, unless they amount to a certain quantity or number; nor until a man
has been in possession of them eleven months, he not being obliged to give
alms thereout before the twelfth month is begun: nor are alms due for cattle
employed in tilling the ground, or in carrying of burdens. In some cases a
much larger portion than the before-mentioned is reckoned due for alms: thus
of what is gotten out of mines, or the sea, or by any art or profession over
and above what is sufficient for the reasonable support of a man's family, and
especially where there is a mixture or suspicion of unjust gain, a fifth part
ought to be given in alms. Moreover, at the end of the fast of Ramadân, every
Moslem is obliged to give in alms for himself and for every one of his family,
if he has any, a measure1 of wheat, barley, dates, raisins, rice, or other
provisions commonly eaten.2
The legal alms were at first collected by Mohammed himself, who employed
them as he thought fit, in the relief of his poor relations and followers, but
chiefly applied them to the maintenance of those who served in his wars, and
fought, as he termed it, in the way of GOD. His successors continued to do
the same, till, in the process of time, other taxes and tributes being imposed
for the support of the government,

1 Al Beidâwi. See Kor. c. 2, p. 29. 2 Idem. Compare this with
what our Saviour says (Luke xi. 41), "Give alms of such things as ye have; and
behold, all things are clean unto you." 3 D'Herbel. Bibl.
Orient. p. 5. 4 Ibid. p. 422. 5 Vide Busbeq. Epist. 3, p.
178. Smith, de Morib. Turc. Ep. I, p. 66, &c. Compare Eccles. xi. I. and
Prov. xii. 10.
1 This measure is a Saá, and contains about six or seven pounds weight.
2 Vide Reland. de Rel. Mahommed. lib. i., p. 99, &c. Chardin, Voy. de
Perse. tom. 2, p. 415, &c.

they seem to have been weary of acting as almoners to their subjects, and to
have left the paying them to their consciences.
In the foregoing rules concerning alms, we may observe also footsteps of
what the Jews taught and practised in respect thereto. Alms, which they also
call Sedaka, i.e., justice, or righteousness,3 are greatly recommended by
their Rabbins, and preferred even to sacrifices;4 as a duty, the frequent
exercise whereof will effectually free a man from hell fire,5 and merit
everlasting life:6 wherefore, besides the corners of the field, and the
gleanings of their harvest and vineyard, commanded to be left for the poor and
the stranger by the law of Moses,7 a certain portion of their corn and fruits
is directed to be set apart for their relief, which portion is called the
tithes of the poor.8 The Jews likewise were formerly very conspicuous for
their charity. Zaccheus gave the half of his goods to the poor;9 and we are
told that some gave their whole substance: so that their doctors, at length,
decreed that no man should give above a fifth part of his goods in alms.10
There were also persons publicly appointed in every synagogue to collect and
distribute the people's contributions.11
The third point of religious practice is fasting; a duty of so great
moment, that Mohammed used to say it was "the gate of religion," and that "the
odour of the mouth of him who fasteth is more grateful to GOD than that of
musk;" and al Ghazâli reckons fasting one-fourth part of the faith. According
to the Mohammedan divines, there are three degrees of fasting: I. The
restraining the belly and other parts of the body from satisfying their lusts;
2. The restraining the ears, eyes, tongue, hands, feet, and other members from
sin; and 3. The fasting of the heart from worldly cares, and refraining the
thoughts from everything besides GOD.1
The Mohammedans are obliged, by the express command of the Korân, to fast
the whole month of Ramadân, from the time the new moon first appears, till the
appearance of the next new moon; during which time they must abstain from
eating, drinking, and women, from daybreak till night,2 or sunset. And this
injunction they observe so strictly, that while they fast they suffer nothing
to enter their mouths, or other parts of their body, esteeming the fast broken
and null if they smell perfumes, take a clyster or injection, bathe, or even
purposely swallow their spittle; some being so cautious that they will not
open their mouths to speak, lest they should breathe the air too freely:3 the
fast is also deemed void if a man kiss or touch a woman, or if he vomit
designedly. But after sunset they are allowed to refresh themselves, and to
eat and drink, and enjoy the company of their wives till daybreak;4

3 Hence alms are in the New Testament termed [Greek text]. Matth. vi. I
(Ed. Steph.), and 2 Cor. ix. 10. 4 Gemar. in Bava Bathra.
5 Ibid. in Gittin. 6 Ibid. in Rosh hashana. 7
Levit. xix. 9, 10; Deut. xxiv. 19, &c. 8 Vide Gemar. Hierosol. in
Peah, and Maimon. in Halachoth matanoth Aniyyim. c.6. Confer Pirke Avoth, v.
9.
9 Luke xix. 8. 10 Vide Reland. Ant. Sacr. Vet. Hebr. p. 402.
11 Vide Ibid. p. 138.
1 Al Ghazâli, Al Mostatraf. 2 Kor. c. 2, p. 19, 20. 3 Hence we
read that the Virgin Mary, to avoid answering the reflections cast on her for
bringing home a child, was advised by the angel Gabriel to feign she had vowed
a fast, and therefore she ought not to speak. See Kor. c. 19.
4 The words of the Korân (cap. 2, p. 20) are: "Until ye can distinguish a
white thread from a black thread by the daybreak"-a form of speaking borrowed
by Mohammed from the Jews, who determine the time when they are to begin their
morning lesson, to be so soon as a man can discern blue form white, i.e., the
blue threads from the white threads in the fringes of their garments. But
this explication the commentators do not approve, pretending that by the white

though the more rigid begin the fast again at midnight.5 This fast is
extremely rigorous and mortifying when the month of Ramadân happens to fall in
summer, for the Arabian year being lunar,6 each month runs through all the
different seasons in the course of thirty-three years, the length and heat of
the days making the observance of it much more difficult and uneasy then than
in winter.
The reason given why the month of Ramadân was pitched on for this purpose
is, that on the month the Korân was sent down from heaven.1 Some pretend that
Abraham, Moses, and Jesus received their respective revelations in the same
month.2
From the fast of Ramadân none are excused, except only travellers and sick
persons (under which last denomination the doctors comprehend all whose health
would manifestly be injured by their keeping the fast; as women with child and
giving suck, ancient people, and young children); but then they are obliged,
as soon as the impediment is removed, to fast an equal number of other days:
and the breaking the fast is ordered to be expiated by giving alms to the
poor.3
Mohammed seems to have followed the guidance of the Jews in his ordinances
concerning fasting, no less than in the former particulars. That nation, when
they fast, abstain not only from eating and drinking, but from women, and from
anointing themselves,4 from daybreak until sunset, and the stars begin to
appear;5 spending the night in taking what refreshments they please.6 And
they allow women with child and giving suck, old persons, and young children
to be exempted from keeping most of the public fasts.7
Though my design here be briefly to treat of those points only which are of
indispensable obligation on a Moslem, and expressly required by the Korân,
without entering into their practice as to voluntary and supererogatory works;
yet to show how closely Mohammed's institutions follow the Jewish, I shall add
a word or two of the voluntary fasts of the Mohammedans. These are such as
have been recommended either by the example or approbation of their prophet;
and especially certain days of those months which they esteem sacred: there
being a tradition that he used to say, That a fast of one day in a sacred
month was better than a fast of thirty days in another month; and that the
fast of one day in Ramadân was more meritorious than a fast of thirty days in
a sacred month.8 Among the more commendable days is that of Ashûra, the tenth
of Moharram; which, though some writers tell us it was observed by the Arabs,
and particularly the tribe of Koreish, before Mohammed's time,9 yet, as others
assure us, that prophet borrowed both the name and the fast from the Jews; it
being with them the tenth of

thread and the black thread are to be understood the light and dark streaks of
the daybreak; and they say the passage was at first revealed without the words
"of the daybreak;" but Mohammed's followers, taking the expression in the
first sense, regulated their practice accordingly, and continued eating and
drinking till they could distinguish a white thread from a black thread, as
they lay before them-to prevent which for the future, the words "of the
daybreak" were added as explanatory of the former. Al Beidâwi. Vide Pocock.
not. in Carmen Tograi, p. 89, &c. Chardin, Voy. de Perse, tom. 2, p. 423.
5 Vide Chardin, ib. p. 421, &c. Reland. de Relig. Moh. p. 109, &c.
6 See hereafter, Sect. VI. 1 Kor. c. 2, p. 19. See also c.
97. 2 Al Beidâwi, ex Trad. Mohammedis. 3 See Kor. c. 2, p. 20.

4 Siphra, f. 252, 2. 5 Tosephoth ad Gemar. Yoma, f. 34. 6
Vide Gemar. Yoma, f. 40, and maimon. in Halachoth Tánioth, c. 5, § 5.
7 Vide Gemar. Tánith, f. 12, and Yoma, f. 83, and Es Hayim, Tánith, c.
I. 8 Al Ghazâli. 9 Al Bârezi in Comment. ad Orat. Ebn
Nobâtæ.

the seventh month, or Tisri, and the great day of expiation commanded to be
kept by the law of Moses.1 Al Kazwîni relates that when Mohammed came to
Medina, and found the Jews there fasted on the day of Ashûra, he asked them
the reason of it; and they told him it was because on that day Pharaoh and his
people were drowned, Moses and those who were with him escaping: whereupon he
said that he bore a nearer relation to Moses than they, and ordered his
followers to fast on that day. However, it seems afterwards he was not so
well pleased in having imitated the Jews herein; and therefore declared that,
if he lived another year, he would alter the day, and fast on the ninth,
abhorring so near an agreement with them.2
The pilgrimage to Mecca is so necessary a point of practice that, according
to a tradition of Mohammed, he who dies without performing it, may as well die
a Jew or a Christian;3 and the same is expressly commanded in the Korân.4
Before I speak of the time and manner of performing this pilgrimage, it may be
proper to give a short account of the temple of Mecca, the chief scene of the
Mohammedan worship; in doing which I need be the less prolix, because that
edifice has been already described by several writers,5 though they, following
different relations, have been led into some mistakes, and agree not with one
another in several particulars: nor, indeed, do the Arab authors agree in all
things, one great reason whereof is their speaking of different times.
The temple of Mecca stands in the midst of the city, and is honoured with
the title of Masjad al alharâm, i.e., the sacred or inviolable temple. What
is principally reverenced in this place, and gives sanctity to the whole, is a
square stone building, called the Caaba, as some fancy, from its height, which
surpasses that of the other buildings in Mecca,6 but more probably from its
quadrangular form, and Beit Allah, i.e., the house of GOD, being peculiarly
hallowed and set apart for his worship. The length of this edifice, from
north to south, is twenty-four cubits, its breadth from east to west twenty-
three cubits, and its height twenty-seven cubits: the door, which is on the
east side, stands about four cubits from the ground; the floor being level
with the bottom of the door.7 In the corner next this door is the black
stone, of which I shall take notice by-and-bye. On the north side of the
Caaba, within a semicircular enclosure fifty cubits long, lies the white
stone, said to be the sepulchre of Ismael, which receives the rain-water that
falls off the Caaba by a spout, formerly of wood,1 but now of gold. The Caaba
has a double roof, supported within by three octangular pillars of aloes wood;
between which, on a bar of iron, hang some silver lamps. The outside is
covered with rich black damask, adorned with an embroidered band of gold,
which is changed every year, and was formerly sent by the Khalîfs, afterwards
by the Soltâns of Egypt, and is now provided by the Turkish emperors. At a
small distance from the Caaba, on the east side, is the Station or Place of
Abraham, where is another stone

1 Levit. xvi. 29, and xxiii. 27. 2 Ebn al Athîr. Vide Poc.
Spec. p. 309. 3 Al Ghazâli.
4 Cap. 3, p. 42. See also c. 22, p. 252 and c. 2, p. 14, &c. 5
Chardin, Voy. de Perse, t. 2, p. 428, &c.; Bremond, Descrittioni dell' Eitto,
&c., l. r, c. 29; Pitts' Account of the Rel. &c. of the Mohammedans, p. 98,
&c.;and Boulainvilliers, Vie de Mahomed, p. 54, &c., which last author is the
most particular. 6 Ahmed Ebn Yusef. 7 Sharif al Edrisi, and
Kitab Masalec, apud Poc. Spec. p. 125, &c. 1 Sharif al Edrisi,
ibid.

much respected by the Mohammedans, of which something will be said hereafter.
The Caaba, at some distance, is surrounded but not entirely, by a circular
enclosure of pillars, joined towards the bottom by a low balustrade, and
towards the top by bars of silver. Just without this inner enclosure, on the
south, north, and west sides of the Caaba, are three buildings, which are the
oratories, or places where three of the orthodox sects assemble to perform
their devotions (the fourth sect, viz., that of al Shâfeï, making use of the
station of Abraham for that purpose), and towards the south-east stands the
edifice which covers the well Zemzem, the treasury, and cupola of al Abbas.2
All these buildings are enclosed, a considerable distance, by a magnificent
piazza, or square colonnade, like that of the Royal Exchange in London, but
much larger, covered with small domes or cupolas, from the four corners
whereof rise as many minârets or steeples, with double galleries, and adorned
with gilded spires and crescents, as are the cupolas which cover the piazza
and the other buildings. Between the pillars of both enclosures hang a great
number of lamps, which are constantly lighted at night. The first foundations
of this outward enclosure were laid by Omar, the second Khalîf, who built no
more than a low wall to prevent the court of the Caaba, which before lay open,
from being encroached on by private buildings; but the structure has been
since raised, by the liberality of many succeeding princes and great men, to
its present lustre.3
This is properly all that is called the temple, but the whole territory of
Mecca being also Harâm, or sacred, there is a third enclosure, distinguished
at certain distances by small turrets, some five, some seven, and others ten
miles distant from the city.1 Within this compass of ground it is not lawful
to attack an enemy, or even to hunt or fowl, or cut a branch from a tree:
which is the true reason why the pigeons at Mecca are reckoned sacred, and not
that they are supposed to be of the race of that imaginary pigeon which some
authors, who should have known better, would persuade us Mohammed made pass
for the Holy Ghost.2
The temple of Mecca was a place of worship, and in singular veneration with
the Arabs from great antiquity, and many centuries before Mohammed. Though it
was most probably dedicated at first to an idolatrous use,3 yet the
Mohammedans are generally persuaded that the Caaba is almost coeval with the
world: for they say that Adam, after his expulsion from paradise, begged of
GOD that he might erect a building like that he had seen there, called Beit al
Mámûr, or the frequented house, and al Dorâh, towards which he might direct
his prayers, and which he might compass, as the angels do the celestial one.
Whereupon GOD let down a representation of that house in curtains of light,4
and set it in Mecca, perpendicularly under its original,5 order-