or MAHOMETISM, the system of religion broached by Mahomet, and still adhered to by his followers. See MAHOMET, and ALCORAN. Mahometanism is professed by the Turks, Persians, and several nations among the Africans, and many among the East Indians.

The Mahometans divide their religion into two general parts, faith and practice; of which the first is divided into six distinct branches: Belief in God, in his angels, in his scriptures, in his prophets, in the resurrection and final judgment, and in God's absolute decrees. The points relating to practice are, prayer, with washings, &c. alms, fasting, pilgrimage to Mecca, and circumcision.

I. Of the Mahometan Faith. 1. That both Mahomet, and those among his followers who are reckoned orthodox, had and continue to have just and true notions of God and his attributes, appears so plain from the Koran itself, and all the Mahometan divines, that it would be loss of time to refute those who suppose the God of Mahomet to be different from the true God, and only a fictitious deity or idol of his own creation.

2. The existence of angels, and their purity, are absolutely required to be believed in the Koran; and he is reckoned an infidel who denies there are such beings, or hates any of them, or affords any distinction of sexes among them. They believe them to have pure and subtle bodies, created of fire; that they neither eat nor drink, nor propagate their species; that they have various forms and offices, some adoring God in different postures, others singing praises to him, or interceding for mankind. They hold, that some of them are employed in writing down the actions of men; others in carrying the throne of God, and other services.

The four angels, whom they look on as more eminently in God's favour, and often mention on account of the offices assigned them, are, Gabriel, to whom they gives several titles, particularly those of the holy spirit, and the angel of revelations, supposing him to be honoured by God with a greater confidence than any other, and to be employed in writing down the divine decrees; Michael, the friend and protector of the Jews; Azrael, the angel of death, who separates men's souls from their bodies; and Irafil, whose office it will be to sound the trumpet at the resurrection. The Mahometans also believe, that two guardian angels attend on every man, to observe and write down his actions, being changed every day, and therefore called al Mookhibat, or "the angels who continually succeed one another."

The devil, whom Mahomet names Elbis, from his despair, was once one of those angels who are nearest to God's presence, called Azazil; and fell, according to the doctrine of the Koran, for refusing to pay homage to Adam at the command of God.

Besides angels and devils, the Mahometans are taught by the Koran to believe an intermediate order of creatures, which they call jin or genii, created also of fire, but of a groser fabric than angels, since they eat and drink, and propagate their species, and are subject to death. Some of these are supposed to be good and others bad, and capable of future salvation or damnation, as men are; whence Mahomet pretended to be sent for the conversion of genii as well as men.

3. As to the Scriptures, the Mahometans are taught by the Koran, that God, in divers ages of the world, gave revelations of his will in writing to several prophets, the whole and every one of which it is absolutely necessary for a good Moslem to believe. The number of these sacred books was, according to them, 104. Of which 10 were given to Adam, 50 to Seth, 30 to Edris or Enoch, 10 to Abraham; and the other four, being the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the Gospel, and the Koran, were successively delivered to Moses, David, Jesus, and Mahomet; which last being the seal of the prophets, those revelations are now closed, and no more are to be expected. All these divine books, except the four last, they agree to be now entirely lost, and their contents unknown; though the Sabians have several books which they attribute to some of the antediluvian prophets. And of those four, the Pentateuch, Psalms, and Gospel, they say, have undergone so many alterations and corruptions, that, though there may possibly be some part of the true word of God therein, yet no credit is to be given to the present copies in the hands of the Jews and Christians. The Mahometans have also a gospel in Arabic, attributed to St Barnabas; wherein the history of Jesus Christ is related in a manner very different from what we find in the true gospels, and correspondent to those traditions which Mahomet has followed in his Koran. Of this gospel the Moriscos in Africa have a translation in Spanish; and there is, in the library of Prince Eugene of Savoy, a manuscript of some antiquity, containing an Italian translation of the same gospel; made, it is to be supposed, for the use of renegades. This book appears to be no original forgery of the Mahometans; though they have, no doubt, interpolated and altered it since, the better to serve their purpose; and in particular, instead of the Paraclete, or Comforter, they have in this apocryphal gospel inserted the word Perietyte, that is, the "famous," or "illustrious;" by which they pretend their prophet was foretold by name, that being the signification of Mohammed in Arabic: and this they lay to justify that passage of the Koran, where Jesus Christ is formally asserted to have foretold his coming, under his other name of Ahmed, which is derived from the same root as Mohammed, and of the same import. From these, or some other forgeries of the same stamp, it is that the Mahometans quote several passages, of which there are not the least footsteps in the New Testament.

4. The number of the prophets, which have been from time to time sent by God into the world, amounts to no less than 224,000, according to one Mahometan tradition; or to 124,000, according to another; among whom 313 were apostles, sent with special commissions to reclaim mankind from infidelity and superstition; and fix of them brought new laws or dispensations, which successively abrogated the preceding; these were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mahomet. All the prophets in general, the Mahometans believe to have been free from great sins and errors of consequence, and professors of one and the same religion, that is, Islam, notwithstanding the different laws and institutions which they observed. They allow of degrees among them; and hold some of them to be more excellent and honourable than others. The first place they give to the revealers and establishers of new dispensations, and the next to the apostles.

In this great number of prophets, they not only reckon divers patriarchs and persons named in scripture, but not recorded to have been prophets, (wherein the Jewish and Christian writers have sometimes led the way), as Adam, Seth, Lot, Ishmael, Nun, Johuha, &c. and introduce some of them under different names, as Enoch, Heber, and Jethro, who are called, in the Koran, Edris, Hud, and Shoaib: but several others whose very names do not appear in Scripture (though they endeavour to find some persons there to fix them on), as Saleh, Khedr, Dhu'kefl, &c.

5. The belief of a general resurrection and a future judgment.

When a corpse is laid in the grave, they say he is received by an angel, who gives him notice of the coming of the two examiners; who are two black livid angels, of a terrible appearance, named Monker and Nakir. These order the dead person to sit upright; and examine him concerning his faith, as to the unity of God, and the mission of Mahomet: if he answer rightly, they suffer the body to rest in peace, and it is refreshed by the air of paradise; but, if not, they beat him on the temples with iron maces, till he roars out for anguish so loud, that he is heard by all from east to west, except men and genii. They then press the earth on the corpse, which is gnawed and flung till the resurrection by 99 dragons, with seven heads each; or, as others say, their fins will become venomous beasts, the grievous ones stinging like dragons, the smaller like scorpions, and the others like serpents: circumstances which some understand in a figurative sense.

As to the soul, they hold, that, when it is separated from the body by the angel of death, who performs his office with ease and gentleness towards the good, and with violence towards the wicked, it enters into that which they call al berszah, or the interval between death and the resurrection. If the departed person was a believer, they say two angels meet it, who convey it to heaven, that its place there may be assigned, according to its merit and degree. For they distinguish the souls of the faithful into three classes: The first of prophets, whose souls are admitted into paradise immediately; the second of martyrs, whose spirits, according to a tradition of Mahomet, rest in the crops of green birds, which eat of the fruits and drink of the rivers of paradise; and the third of other believers, concerning the fate of whose souls before the resurrection there are various opinions.

Though some among the Mahometans have thought that the resurrection will be merely spiritual, and no more than the returning of the soul to the place whence it first came (an opinion defended by Ebn Sina, and called by some the opinion of the philosophers); and others, who allow man to consist of body only, that it will be merely corporeal; the received opinion is, that both body and soul will be raised: and their doctors argue strenuously for the possibility of the resurrection of the body, and dispute with great subtlety concerning the manner of it. But Mahomet has taken care to preserve one part of the body, whatever becomes of the rest, to serve for a basis of the future edifice, or rather a leaven for the mass which is to be joined to it. For he taught, that a man's body was entirely consumed by the earth, except only the bone called at qiy, which we name the or coccygis, or rumpbone; and that, as it was the first formed in the human body, it will also remain uncorrupted till the last day, as a seed from whence the whole is to be renewed; and this, he said, would be effected by a forty years rain, which God should send, and which would cover the earth to the height of 12 cubits, and cause the bodies to sprout forth like plants. Herein, also, is Mahomet beholden to the Jews; who say the fame things of the bone Luz, excepting that what he attributes to a great rain, will be effected, according to them, by a dew impregnating the dust of the earth.

The time of the resurrection the Mahometans allow to be a perfect secret to all but God alone; the angel Gabriel himself acknowledging his ignorance in this point, when Mahomet asked him about it. However, they say, the approach of that day may be known from certain signs which are to precede it. These signs they distinguish into two sorts, the lesser and the greater.

The lesser signs are, 1. The decay of faith among men. 2. The advancing of the meanest persons to eminent dignity. 3. That a maid servant shall become the mother of her mistress (or master); by which is meant, either that towards the end of the world men shall be much given to sensuality, or that the Mahometans shall then take many captives. 4. Tumults and seditions. 5. A war with the Turks. 6. Great distress in the world, so that a man, when he passes by another's grave, shall say, Would to God I were in his place! 7. That the provinces of Iraq and Syria shall refuse to pay their tribute. And, 8. That the buildings of Medina shall reach to Ahab, or Yahab.

The greater signs are, 1. The sun's rising in the west; which some have imagined it originally did. 2. The appearance of the beast, which shall rise out of the earth, in the temple of Mecca, or on Mount Safa, or in the territory of Tayef, or some other place. This beast, they say, is to be 60 cubits high; though others, not satisfied with so small a size, will have her reach to the clouds and to heaven, when her head only is out; and that she will appear for three days, but show only a third part of her body. They describe this monster, as to her form, to be a compound of various species; having the head of a bull, the eyes of a hog, the ears of an elephant, the horns of a stag, the neck of an ostrich, the breast of a lion, the colour of a tiger, the back of a cat, the tail of a ram, the legs of a camel, and the voice of an ass. Some say this beast is to appear three times in several places, and that she will bring with her the rod of Moles and the seal of Solomon; and, being so swift that none can overtake or escape her, will with the first strike all the believers on the face, and mark them with the word mumem, i.e. believer; and with the latter will mark the unbelievers on the face likewise, with the word Cafer, i.e. infidel, that every person may be known for what he really is. They add, that the fame beast is to demonstrate the vanity of all religions except Islam, and to speak Arabic. All this stuff seems to be the result of a confused idea of the beast in the Revelation. 3. War with the Greeks, and the taking Constantinople by 70,000 of the poverties of Isaac, who shall not win that city by force of arms, but the walls shall fall down while they cry out, There is no God but God, God is most great! As they are dividing the spoil, news will come to them of the appearance of Antichrist; whereupon they shall leave all, and return back. 4. The coming of Antichrist, whom the Mahometans call Mahsh al Dajjal, i.e. the false or lying Christ, and simply al Dajjal. He is to be one-eyed, and marked on the forehead with the letters C. F. R., signifying Cafer, or infidel. They say that the Jews give him the name of Messiah Ben David; and pretend he is to come in the last days, and to be lord both of land and sea, and that he will restore the kingdom to them. 5. The descent of Jesus on earth. They pretend that he is to descend near the white tower to the east of Damascus, when the people are returned from the taking of Constantinople: that he is to embrace the Mahometan religion, marry a wife, get children, kill Antichrist; and at length die after 40 years, or, according to others, 24 years continuance on earth. Under him, they say, there will be great security and plenty in the world, all hatred and malice being laid aside; when lions and camels, bears and sheep, shall live in peace, and a child shall play with serpents unhurt. 6. War with the Jews; of whom the Mahometans are to make a prodigious slaughter, the very trees and stones discovering such of them as hide themselves, except only the tree called gharkad, which is the tree of the Jews. 7. The irruption of Gog and Magog, or, as they are called in the east, Tajiy and Majiy; of whom many things are related in the Koran and the traditions of Mahomet. These barbarians, they tell us, having passed the lake of Tiberias, which the vanguard of their vast army will drink dry, will come to Jerusalem, and there greatly distress Jesus and his companions; till, at his request, God will destroy them, and fill the earth with their carcases, which, after some time, God will send birds to carry away, at the prayers of Jesus and his followers. Their bows, arrows, and quivers, the Molems will burn for seven years together; and at last God will send a rain to cleanse the earth and to make it fertile. 8. A smoke which shall fill the whole earth. 9. An eclipse of the moon. Mahomet is reported to have said, that there would be three eclipses before the last hour; one to be seen in the east, another in the west, and the third in Arabia. 10. The returning of the Arabs to the worship of Allat and Al Uzza, and the rest of their ancient idols, after the decease of every one in whose heart there was faith equal to a grain of mustard seed, none but the very worst of men being left alive. For God, they say, will send a cold odorous wind, blowing from Syria Damascena, which shall sweep away the souls of all the faithful, and the Koran itself, so that men will remain in the grossest ignorance for 100 years. 11. The discovery of a vast heap of gold and silver by the retreating of the Euphrates, which will be the destruction of many. 12. The demolition of the Caaba, or temple of Mecca, by the Ethiopians. 13. The speaking of beasts and inanimate things. 14. The breaking out of fire in the province of Hejaz; or, according to others, in Yaman. 15. The appearance of a man of the descendants of Kahtan, who shall drive men before him with his staff. 16. The coming of the Mohdi, or director; concerning whom Mahomet prophesied, that the world should not have an end till one Mahomet of his own family should govern the Arabians, whose name should be the same with his own name, and whose father's name should also be the same with his father's name; and who should fill the earth with righteousnels. This person the Shiites believe to be now alive, and concealed in some secret place till the time of his manifestation; for they suppose him no other than the last of the 12 imams, named Mahomet Zul'kafam, as their prophet was; and the son of Hassan al Askeri, the 11th of that succession. He was born at Sermaurai, in the 255th year of the Hegira. From this tradition, it is to be presumed, an opinion pretty current among the Christians took its rise, that the Mahometans are in expectation of their prophet's return. 17. A wind which shall sweep away the souls of all who have but a grain of faith in their hearts, as has been mentioned under the tenth sign.

These are the greater signs, which, according to their doctrine, are to precede the resurrection, but still leave the hour of it uncertain: for the immediate sign of its being come will be the first blast of the trumpet, which they believe will be sounded three times. The first they call the blast of conformation; at the hearing of which all creatures in heaven and earth shall be struck with terror, except those whom God shall please to exempt from it. The effects attributed to this first sound of the trumpet are very wonderful: for they say the earth will be thaken, and not only all buildings, but the very mountains levelled; that the heavens shall melt, the sun be darkened, the stars fall, on the death of the angels, who, as some imagine, hold them suspended between heaven and earth; and the sea shall be troubled and dried up, or, according to others, turned into flames, the sun, moon, and stars being thrown into it: the Koran to express the greatness of the terror of that day, adds, that women who give suck shall abandon the care of their infants, and even the she camels which have gone 10 months with young (a most valuable part of the substance of that nation) shall be utterly neglected. A farther effect of this blast will be that concourse of beasts mentioned in the Koran, though some doubt whether it be to precede the resurrection or not. They who suppose it will precede, think that all kinds of animals, forgetting their respective natural fiercenes and timidity, will run together into one place, being terrified by the sound of the trumpet and the sudden shock of nature.

The Mahometans believe that this first blast will be followed by a second, which they call the blast of exination; by which all creatures both in heaven and earth shall die or be annihilated, except those which God shall please to exempt from the common fate; and this, they say, shall happen in the twinkling of an eye, nay in an instant; nothing surviving except God alone, with paradise and hell, and the inhabitants of those two places, and the throne of glory. The last who shall die will be the angel of death.

Forty years after this will be heard the blast of resurrection, when the trumpet shall be sounded the third time by Irafil, who, together with Gabriel and Michael, will be previously restored to life, and, standing on the rock of the temple of Jerusalem, shall, at God's command, call together all the dry and rotten bones, and other dispersed parts of the bodies, and the very hairs to judgment. This angel having, by the divine order, set the trumpet to his mouth, and called together all the souls from all parts, will throw them into his trumpet, from whence, on his giving the last sound, at the command of God, they will fly forth like bees, and fill the whole space between heaven and earth, and then repair to their respective bodies, which the opening earth will suffer to arise; and the first who shall so arise, according to a tradition of Mahomet, will be himself. For this birth the earth will be prepared by the rain above mentioned, which is to fall continually for 40 years, and will resemble the seed of a man, and be supplied from the water under the throne of God, which is called living water; by the efficacy and virtue of which the dead bodies shall spring forth from their graves as they did in their mother's womb, or as corn sprouts forth by common rain, till they become perfect; after which breath will be breathed into them, and they will sleep in their sepulchres till they are raised to life at the last trumpet.

When those who have risen shall have waited the limited time, the Mahometans believe God will at length appear to judge them; Mahomet undertaking the office of intercessor, after it shall have been declined by Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Jesus, who shall beg deliverance only for their own souls. They say, that on this solemn occasion God will come in the clouds surrounded by angels, and will produce the books wherein the actions of every person are recorded by their guardian angels, and will command the prophets to bear witness against those to whom they have been respectively sent. Then every one will be examined concerning all his words and actions uttered and done by him in this life; not as if God needed any information in these respects, but to oblige the person to make public confession and acknowledgment of God's justice. The particulars, of which they shall give an account, as Mahomet himself enumerated them, are, of their time, how they spent it; of their wealth, by what means they acquired it, and how they employed it; of their bodies, wherein they exercised them; of their knowledge and learning, what use they made of them. To the questions we have mentioned each person shall answer, and make his defence in the best manner he can, endeavouring to excuse himself by casting the blame of his evil deeds on others; so that a dispute shall arise even between the soul and the body, to which of them their guilt ought to be imputed: The foul saying, O Lord, my body I received from thee; for thou createdst me without a hand to lay hold with, a foot to walk with, an eye to see with, or an understanding to apprehend with, till I came and entered into this body; therefore punish it eternally, but deliver me. The body, on the other side, will make this apology: O Lord, thou createdst me like a flock of swod, having neither hand that I could lay hold with, nor foot that I could walk with, till this soul, like a ray of light, entered into me, and my tongue began to speak, my eye to see, and my foot to walk; therefore punish it eternally, but deliver me. But God will propound to them the following parable of the blind man and the lame man, which, as well as the preceding dispute, was borrowed by the Mahometans from the Jews. A certain king, having a pleasant garden, in which were ripe fruits, set two persons to keep it, one of whom was blind, and the other lame; the former not being able to see the fruit, Mahomet nor the latter to gather it: the lame man, however, tasting the fruit, persuaded the blind man to take him upon his shoulders, and by that means he easily gathered the fruit, which they divided between them. The lord of the garden coming some time after, and inquiring after his fruit, each began to excuse himself: the blind man said he had no eyes to see with; and the lame man, that he had no feet to approach the trees. But the king, ordering the lame man to be set on the blind, passed sentence on and punished them both. And in the same manner will God deal with the body and the soul. As these apologies will not avail on that day, so it will be in vain for any one to deny his evil actions; since men and angels, and his own members, nay, the very earth itself, will be ready to bear witness against him.

At this examination, they also believe, that each person will have the book wherein all the actions of his life are written delivered to him: which books the righteous will receive into their right hand, and read with great pleasure and satisfaction; but the ungodly will be obliged to take them, against their wills, in their left, which will be bound behind their backs, their right hand being tied up to their necks.

To show the exact justice which will be observed on this great day of trial, the next thing they describe is the balance, wherein all things shall be weighed. They say it will be held by Gabriel; and that it is of so vast a size, that its two scales, one of which hangs over paradise, and the other over hell, are capacious enough to contain both heaven and hell. Though some are willing to understand what is said in the Koran concerning this balance allegorically, and only as a figurative representation of God's equity; yet the more ancient and orthodox opinion is, that they are to be taken literally; and since words and actions, being mere accidents, are not capable of being themselves weighed, they say that the books wherein they are written will be thrown into the scales, and according as those wherein the good or evil actions are recorded shall preponderate, sentence will be given: those whose balances laden with good works shall be heavy, will be saved; but those whose balances are light, will be condemned. Nor will any one have cause to complain that God suffers any good action to pass unrewarded, because the wicked for the good they do have their reward in this life, and therefore can expect no favour in the next.

This examination being past, and every one's works weighed in a just balance, that mutual retaliation will follow, according to which every creature will take vengeance one of another, or have satisfaction made them for the injuries which they have suffered. And, since there will then be no other way of returning like for like, the manner of giving this satisfaction will be by taking away a proportional part of the good works of him who offered the injury, and adding it to those of him who suffered it. Which being done, if the angels (by whose ministry this is to be performed) say, Lord, we have given to every one his due, and there remaineth of this person's good works so much as equalleth the weight of an ant, God will, of his mercy, cause it be doubled unto him, that he may be admitted into paradise; but if, on the contrary, his good works be exhausted, hausted, and there remain evil works only, and there be any who have not yet received satisfaction from him, God will order that an equal weight of their sins be added unto his, that he may be punished for them in their stead, and he will be sent to hell laden with both. This will be the method of God's dealing with mankind. As to brutes, after they shall have likewise taken vengeance of one another, he will command them to be changed into dust; wicked men being referred to more grievous punishment, so that they shall cry out, on hearing this sentence passed on the brutes, Would to God that we were dust also! As to the genii, many Mahometans are of opinion, that such of them as are true believers, will undergo the same fate as the irrational animals, and have no other reward than the favour of being converted into dust: and for this they quote the authority of their prophet.

The trials being over, and the assembly dissolved, the Mahometans hold, that those who are to be admitted into paradise will take the right hand way, and those who are destined to hell-fire will take the left; but both of them must first pass the bridge called in Arabic al Sirat, which they say is laid over the midst of hell, and describe to be finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge of a sword; so that it seems very difficult to conceive how any one shall be able to stand upon it; for which reason, most of the sect of the Motazalites reject it as a fable; though the orthodox think it a sufficient proof of the truth of this article, that it was seriously affirmed by him who never affected a falsehood, meaning their prophet: who, to add to the difficulty of the passage, has likewise declared, that this bridge is beset on each side with briars and hooked thorns; which will however be no impediment to the good; for they shall pass with wonderful ease and swiftness, like lightning, or the wind, Mahomet and his Molems leading the way; whereas the wicked, what with the slipperiness and extreme narrowness of the path, the entangling of the thorns, and the extinction of the light which directed the former to paradise, will soon miss their footing, and fall down headlong into hell, which is gaping beneath them.

As to the punishment of the wicked, the Mahometans are taught, that hell is divided into seven stories or apartments, one below another, designed for the reception of as many distinct classes of the damned.

The first, which they call Jehennam, they say, will be the receptacle of those who acknowledge one God, that is, the wicked Mahometans; who, after having there been punished according to their demerits, will at length be released. The second, named Ladha, they assign to the Jews; the third named al Hotama, to the Christians; the fourth, named al Sair, to the Sabians; the fifth, named Sakar, to the Magians; the sixth, named al Jahim, to the idolaters; and the seventh, which is the lowest and worst of all, and is called al Hawyat, to the hypocrites, or those who outwardly professed some religion, but in their hearts were of none. Over each of these apartments they believe there will be set a guard of angels, 19 in number; to whom the damned will confess the just judgment of God, and beg them to intercede with him for some alleviation of their pain, or that they may be delivered by being annihilated.

Mahomet has, in his Koran and traditions, been very exact in describing the various torments of hell, which, according to him, the wicked will suffer both from intense heat and excessive cold. We shall, however, enter into no detail of them here; but only observe, that the degrees of these pains will also vary in proportion to the crimes of the sufferer, and the apartment he is condemned to; and that he who is punished the most lightly of all will be shod with shoes of fire, the fervour of which will cause his skull to boil like a cauldron. The condition of these unhappy wretches, as the same prophet teaches, cannot be properly called either life or death; and their misery will be greatly increased by their despair of being ever delivered from that place, since, according to that frequent expression in the Koran, they must remain therein for ever. It must be remarked, however, that the infidels alone will be liable to eternity of damnation; for the Molems, or those who have embraced the true religion, and have been guilty of heinous sins, will be delivered thence after they shall have expiated their crimes by their sufferings. The time which these believers shall be detained there, according to a tradition handed down from their prophet, will not be less than 900 years, nor more than 7000. And, as to the manner of their delivery, they say that they shall be distinguished by the marks of prostration on those parts of their bodies with which they used to touch the ground in prayer, and over which the fire will therefore have no power; and that, being known by this characteristic, they will be released by the mercy of God, at the intercession of Mahomet and the blessed: whereupon those who shall have been dead, will be restored to life, as has been said; and those whose bodies shall have contracted any footstains or filth from the flames and smoke of hell, will be immersed in one of the rivers of paradise, called the river of life, which will wash them whiter than pearls.

The righteous, as the Mahometans are taught to believe, having surmounted the difficulties, and passed the sharp bridge above mentioned, before they enter paradise, will be refreshed by drinking at the pond of their prophet, who describes it to be an exact square of a month's journey in compass; its water, which is supplied by two pipes from Al Cawthar, one of the rivers of paradise, being whiter than milk or silver, and more odoriferous than musk, with as many cups set around it as there are stars in the firmament; of which water whoever drinks will thirst no more for ever. This is the first taste which the blest will have of their future and now near approaching felicity.

Though paradise be so very frequently mentioned in the Koran, yet it is a dispute among the Mahometans whether it be already created, or to be created hereafter; the Motazalites and some other sectaries asserting, that there is not at present any such place in nature, and that the paradise which the righteous will inhabit in the next life will be different from that from which Adam was expelled. However, the orthodox profess the contrary, maintaining that it was created even before the world, and describe it, from their prophet's traditions, in the following manner:

They say it is situated above the seven heavens (or in the seventh heaven), and next under the throne of God; and, to express the amenity of the place, tell us, that the earth of it is of the finest wheat flour, or of the purest musk, or, as others will have it, of saffron: that its stones are pearls and jacinths, the walls of its buildings enriched with gold and silver; and that the trunks of all its trees are of gold, among which the most remarkable is the tree call Tuba, or the tree of happiness. Concerning this tree, they fable, that it stands in the palace of Mahomet, though a branch of it will reach to the house of every true believer; that it will be laden with pomegranates, grapes, dates, and other fruits, of surprising bigness, and of tastes unknown to mortals. So that if a man desire to eat of any particular kind of fruit, it will immediately be presented him; or, if he choose flesh, birds ready dressed will be set before him, according to his wish. They add, that the boughs of this tree will spontaneously bend down to the hand of the person who would gather of its fruits, and that it will supply the blessed not only with food, but also with silken garments, and beasts to ride on ready saddled and bridled, and adorned with rich trappings, which will burst forth from its fruits; and that this tree is so large, that a person, mounted on the fleetest horse, would not be able to gallop from one end of its shade to the other in 100 years.

As plenty of water is one of the greatest additions to the pleasantness of any place, the Koran often speaks of the rivers of paradise as a principal ornament thereof: some of these rivers, they say, flow with water, some with milk, some with wine, and others with honey; all taking their rise from the root of the tree Tuba.

But all these glories will be eclipsed by the resplendent and ravishing girls of paradise, called from their large black eyes Hur al oyun, the enjoyment of whose company will be a principal felicity of the faithful. These, they say, are created, not of clay, as mortal women are, but of pure musk; being, as their prophet often affirms in his Koran, free from all natural impurities, defects, and inconveniences incident to the sex, of the strictest modesty, and secluded from public view in pavilions of hollow pearls, so large, that as some traditions have it, one of them will be no less than four parasangs (or, as others say, 60 miles) long, and as many broad.

The name which the Mahometans usually give to this happy mansion, is al Jannat, or "the garden;" and sometimes they call it, with an addition, Jannat al Ferdaws, "the garden of paradise;" Jannat Aden, "the garden of Eden," (though they generally interpret the word Eden, not according to its acceptation in Hebrew, but according to its meaning in their own tongue, wherein it signifies "a settled or perpetual habitation"); Jannat al Mawa, "the garden of abode;" Jannat al Naim, "the garden of pleasure;" and the like: by which several appellations some understand so many different gardens, or at least places of different degrees of felicity (for they reckon no less than 100 such in all), the very meanest whereof will afford its inhabitants so many pleasures and delights, that one would conclude they must even sink under them, had not Mahomet declared, that, in order to qualify the blessed for a full enjoyment of them, God will give to every one the abilities of 100 men.

6. God's absolute decree and predestination both of good and evil. The orthodox doctrine is, that whatever bath or shall come to pass in this world, whether it be good, or whether it be bad, proceedeth entirely from the divine will, and is irreversibly fixed and recorded from all eternity in the preferred table: God having secretly predetermined not only the adverse and prosperous fortune of every person in this world, in the inmost minute particulars, but also his faith or infidelity, his obedience or disobedience, and consequently his everlasting happiness or misery after death; which fate or predestination it is not possible by any foresight or wisdom to avoid.

Of this doctrine Mahomet makes great use in his Koran for the advancement of his delusions: encouraging his followers to fight without fear, and even desperately, for the propagation of their faith, by representing to them, that all their caution could not avert their inevitable destiny, or prolong their lives for a moment; and deterring them from disobeying or rejecting him as an impostor, by setting before them the danger they might thereby incur of being, by the just judgment of God, abandoned to seduction, hardness of heart, and a reprobate mind, as a punishment for their obstinacy.

II. Religious practice. 1. The first point is prayer, under which are also comprehended those legal washings or purifications which are necessary preparations thereto.

Of these purifications there are two degrees, one called ghafl, being a total immersion or bathing of the body in water; and the other called wodu (by the Persians, abouf), which is the washing of their faces, hands, and feet, after a certain manner. The first is required in some extraordinary cases only, as after having lain with a woman, or being polluted by emission of seed, or by approaching a dead body; women also being obliged to it after their courses or childbirth. The latter is the ordinary ablution in common cases, and before prayer, and must necessarily be used by every person before he can enter upon that duty. It is performed with certain formal ceremonies, which have been described by some writers, but much easier apprehended by seeing them done, than by the best description.

That his followers might be more punctual in this duty, Mahomet is said to have declared, that the practice of religion is founded on cleanliness, which is the one half of the faith, and the key of prayer, without which it will not be heard by God. That these expressions may be the better understood, Al Ghazali reckons four degrees of purification; of which the first is the cleansing of the body from all pollution, filth, and excrements; the second, the cleansing of the members of the body from all wickedness and unjust actions; the third, the cleansing the heart from all blameable inclinations and odious vices; and the fourth, the purging a man's secret thoughts from all affections which may divert their attendance on God; adding, that the body is but as the outward shell, in respect to the heart, which is as the kernel.

Circumcision, though it be not so much as once mentioned in the Koran, is yet held by the Mahometans to be an ancient divine institution, confirmed by the religion of Islam, and though not so absolutely necessary but that it may be dispensed with in some cales, yet highly proper and expedient. The Arabs used this rite for many ages before Mahomet, having probably learned it from Ishmael, though not only his descendants, but the Hamyarites and other tribes practised the fame. The Ishmaelites, we are told, used to circumcise their children, not on the eighth day, as is the custom of the Jews, but when about 12 or 13 years old, at which age their father underwent that operation; and the Mahometans imitate them so far as not to circumcise children before they may be able at least distinctly to pronounce that profession of their faith, There is no God but God; Mahomet is the apostle of God; but pitch on what age they please for the purpose, between 6 and 16 or thereabouts.

Prayer was by Mahomet thought so necessary a duty, that he used to call it the pillar of religion and the key of paradise; and when the Thakifites, who dwelt at Tayef, fending, in the ninth year of the Hegira, to make their submission to the prophet, after the keeping of their favourite idol had been denied them, begged at least that they might be dispensed with as to their paying of their appointed prayers, he answered, That there could be no good in that religion wherein was no prayer.

That so important a duty, therefore, might not be neglected, Mahomet obliged his followers to pray five times every 24 hours, at certain stated times; viz. 1. In the morning before sunrise: 2. When noon is past, and the sun begins to decline from the meridian: 3. In the afternoon, before sunset: 4. In the evening, after sunset, and before the day be shut in; and, 5. After the day is shut in, and before the first watch of the night. 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 Koran, though they be not particularly prescribed therein. Accordingly, at the aforesaid times, of which public notice is given by the Mueedhahins, or Criers, from the steeples of their mosques (for they use no bells), every conscientious Muslim 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 praises 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, 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 Mahometans, besides the particulars above mentioned, it is also requisite that they turn their faces, while they pray, towards the temple of Mecca; the quarter where the same is situated, being, for that reason, pointed out within their mosques by a niche, which they call al Mehrab; 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 Keblah, or part towards which they ought to pray, in places where they have no other direction.

2. Alms are of two sorts, legal and voluntary. The legal alms are of indispensible 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 saqat, and the latter sadakat; though this name be also frequently given to the legal alms. They are called saqat, either because they increase a man's store by drawing down a blessing thereon, and produce in his soul the virtue of liberality; or because they purify the remaining part of one's substance from pollution, and the soul from the filth of avarice; 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.

3. Fasting is a duty of so great moment, that Mahomet 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 Ghazali reckons fasting one-fourth part of the faith. According to the Mahometan divines, there are three degrees of fasting: 1. 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 restraining the thought from every thing besides God.

The Mahometans are obliged, by the express command of the Koran, to fast the whole month of Ramadan 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 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: the fast is also deemed void, if a man kis or touch a woman, or if he vomit indignantly. But after sunset they are allowed to refresh themselves, and to eat and drink, and enjoy the company of their wives till daybreak; though the more rigid begin the fast again at midnight. This fast is extremely rigorous and mortifying when the month of Ramadan happens to fall in summer (for the Arabian year being lunar, each month runs through all the different seasons in the course of 33 years), the length and heat of the days making the observance of it much more difficult and uneasy than in winter.

The reason given why the month of Ramadan was pitched on for this purpose is, that on that month the Koran was sent down from heaven. Some pretend, that Abraham, Moises, and Jesus, received their respective revelations in the same month.

4. The pilgrimage to Mecca is so necessary a point of practice, that, according to a tradition of Mahomet, he who dies without performing it may as well die a Jew or a Christian; and the same is expressly commanded in the Koran.

The temple of Mecca stands in the midst of the city, and is honoured with the title of Masjad al elharam, i.e. the sacred or inviolable temple. What is principal- ly reverenced in this place, and gives sanctity to the whole, is a square stone building, called the CAABA; (see that article).

To this temple every Mahometan, who has health and means sufficient, ought, once at least in his life, to go on pilgrimage; nor are women excused from the performance of this duty. The pilgrims meet at different places near Mecca, according to the different parts from whence they come, during the months of Shawal and Dhu'lkaada; being obliged to be there by the beginning of Dhu'lhajja; which month, as its name imports, is peculiarly set apart for the celebration of this solemnity.

At the place above mentioned the pilgrims properly commence such; when the men put on the Ibram or sacred habit, which consists only of two woollen wrappers, one wrapped about their middle to cover their privities, and the other thrown over their shoulders, having their heads bare, and a kind of slippers which cover neither the heel nor the instep, and so enter the sacred territory in their way to Mecca. While they have this habit on, they must neither hunt nor fowl, (though they are allowed to fish); which precept is so punctually observed, that they will not kill even a louse or flea if they find them on their bodies: there are some noxious animals, however, which they have permission to kill during the pilgrimage, as kites, ravens, scorpions, mice, and dogs given to bite. During the pilgrimage, it behoves a man to have a constant guard over his words and actions; to avoid all quarrelling or ill language, all converse with women, and all obscene discourse; and to apply his whole attention to the good work he is engaged in.

The pilgrims, being arrived at Mecca, immediately visit the temple; and then enter on the performance of the prescribed ceremonies, which consist chiefly in going in procession round the Caaba, in running between the mounts Safa and Merwa, in making the station on Mount Arafat, and flaying the victims, and shaving their heads in the valley of Mina.

In compassing the Caaba, which they do seven times, beginning at the corner where the black stone is fixed, they use a short quick pace the three first times they go round it, and a grave ordinary pace the four last; which, it is said, was ordered by Mahomet, that his followers might show themselves strong and active, to cut off the hopes of the infidels, who gave out that the immoderate heats of Medina had rendered them weak. But the aforesaid quick pace they are not obliged to use every time they perform this piece of devotion, but only at some particular times. So often as they pass by the black stone, they either kiss it, or touch it with their hand, and kiss that.

The running between Safa and Merwa is also performed seven times, partly with a slow pace and partly running: for they walk gravely till they come to a place between two pillars; and there they run, and afterwards walk again; sometimes looking back, and sometimes stooping, like one who had lost something, to represent Hagar seeking water for her son: for the ceremony is said to be as ancient as her time.

On the ninth of Dhu'lhajja, after morning prayer, the pilgrims leave the valley of Mina, whither they come the day before; and proceed in a tumultuous and rushing manner to Mount Arafat, where they stay to perform their devotions till sunset: then they go to Makome Mozdalia, an oratory between Arafat and Mina; and there spend the night in prayer and reading the Koran. The next morning by daybreak they visit al Mejber al Karam, or "the sacred monument;" and, departing thence before sunrise, haste by Batn Mohaffer to the valley of Mina, where they throw seven stones at three marks or pillars, in imitation of Abraham, who, meeting the devil in that place, and being by him disturbed in his devotions, or tempted to disobedience when he was going to sacrifice his son, was commanded by God to drive him away by throwing stones at him; though others pretend this rite to be as old as Adam, who also put the devil to flight in the same place, and by the same means.

This ceremony being over, on the same day, the tenth of Dhu'lhajja, the pilgrims slay their victims in the said valley of Mina; of which they and their friends eat part, and the rest is given to the poor. These victims must be either sheep, goats, kine, or camels: males, if of either of the two former kinds; and females if of either of the latter; and of a fit age. The sacrifices being over, they shave their heads and cut their nails, burying them in the same place; after which the pilgrimage is looked on as completed: though they again visit the Caaba, to take their leave of that sacred building.

The rapid success which attended the propagation of this new religion was owing to caules that are plain and evident, and must remove, or rather prevent, our surprize, when they are attentively considered. The terror of Mahomet's arms, and the repeated victories which were gained by him and his successors, were, no doubt, the irresistible arguments that persuaded such multitudes to embrace his religion and submit to his dominion. Besides, his law was artfully and marvelously adapted to the corrupt nature of man; and, in a more particular manner, to the manners and opinions of the eastern nations, and the vices to which they were naturally addicted: for the articles of faith which it propounded were few in number, and extremely simple; and the duties it required were neither many nor difficult, nor such as were incompatible with the empire of appetites and passions. It is to be observed farther, that the gross ignorance, under which the Arabians, Syrians, Persians, and the greatest part of the eastern nations, laboured at this time, rendered many an easy prey to the artifice and eloquence of this bold adventurer. To these caules of the progress of Mahometanism, we may add the bitter discontents and cruel animosities that reigned among the Christian sects, particularly the Greeks, Nestorians, Eutychians, and Monophysites; differences that filled a great part of the east with carnage, affinities, and such detestable enormities as rendered the very name of Christianity odious to many. We might add here, that the Monophysites and Nestorians, full of resentment against the Greeks, from whom they had suffered the bitterest and most injurious treatment, assisted the Arabians in the conquest of several provinces, into which, of consequence, the religion of Mahomet was afterwards introduced. Other caules of the sudden progress of that religion will naturally occur to such as consider attentively its spirit and genius, and the state of the world at this time.