LECTURE and to separate those which were authentic from those which were of doubtful authority."

I.

The first attempt to reduce into writing the Sunnah and Ahádís or traditions appears to have been made by Abdullah Bin Abbás. "It is reported," says the author of Al-Ishábah fí Tamízi as-Sihábah,* "by Abdullah Bin Alí from Abú Ráfi,† that Abdullah Ibnu Abbás‡ used to come to the latter (Abú Ráfi), and he used to narrate to him (Abd-ulláh Ibnu Abbás) what the Prophet did on particular days, and Ibnu Abbás used to write down in a book (which he had with him) what was narrated by Abú Ráfi. Abdulláh Ibnu Abbás has also written a brief commentary on the Kurán, which itself was not entirely and systematically reduced to writing (d) until the reign of

ANNOTATIONS.

to retire for safety from Medina to Mecca, where he received an invitation from his father's adherents at Kúfah. Yazíd, understanding that Husén had accepted this invitation and set out from Mecca to Kúfah, despatched Ubéd-ullah, one of his commanders, to intercept him, and Ubéd-ullah, meeting him as he was traversing the plain of Karbala, with only seventy-three of his family and attendants, cut to pieces the Prophet's grandson (Husén), and almost the whole of his small party. In this indiscriminate massacre perished also four other sons of Alí, viz., Abdulla, Abbás, Usmán, and Jáfir, together with one or more of his daughters.§ The wretched remains of his family were afterwards brought before Yazíd, who, however, dismissed the captives with honor to their own place.

(d). The Kurán was entirely and systematically reduced to writing by the persons and under the circumstances stated in the subjoined

*A Biographical Dictionary respecting Muhammad's companions. The first part of this work has been printed by the Asiatic Society of Calcutta. † Abú Ráfi was a companion of the Prophet.

Abd-ullah Ibnu Abbás Bin Abd-ul-Muttalib Bin Hashim Bin Abdul Munaf was a cousin of the Prophet (father's brother's son). He died in A. H. 68, at the age of 72.

The Shíahs still mourn and commemorate the deaths of Hasan and Husén with great solemnity annually, in the month of Muharram, whence the name of the ceremony.

I.

Usmán, the third successor of the Prophet. This LECTURE commentary is still extant and has lately been printed at Delhi. Since that to the time of Abú Hanífah (who was born A. H. 80 and died in 150), collections of traditions appear to have been made by Urwah Bin Zubair (who was one of the then seven famous doctors), Ash-Shábí A'mir Bin Shurahbíl Maimún Bin Mahram, Az-Zuhrí,†

ANNOTATIONS.

passages contained in the most famous and authentic work of Bukhárí
entitled the Jámia-us-Sahíh (post, p. 19), and in the Itkán. "Zayid,
the son of Sábit, said: 'I was sent for by Abú Bakr in the year in which
the battle of Imámah was fought. Upon my arrival, I saw Umar seated
near Abu Bakr, when the latter thus addressed (me) :—' Umar said, that
the battle of Imámah has destroyed several of the readers (who knew the
Kurán by heart), and he is afraid the others also may be destroyed in
other battles, and then many parts of the Kurán will be lost. He is,
therefore, of opinion that I should order (the different parts of) the
Kurán to be collected. To this I replied: How could I do that
which the Prophet of God has not done? But after much discussion,
I have agreed.' Then he said to me: 'You are an intelligent young man :
you had to write, during the Prophet's lifetime, (portions of) the Kurán ;
you must, therefore, make search and collect (the different parts of) the
Kurán.' Thereupon I said in my mind-this task, which is imposed on
me, is more onerous than to lift up a mountain, and replied, 'How do
you two wish me to do an act which the Prophet did not do?' To this
Abú Bakr replied, for God's sake, this is a very laudable act.' Then
I undertook the task, and began to collect (the portions of) the Kurán,
(which were written) on pieces of paper, stone, and on leaves, as well as
from the memory of the persons who had borne the same in heart.
These collections remained with Abú Bakr until he died, and upon
his death they remained with Umar, and when he died, they were in
the possession of the Prophet's widow Hafsá, the daughter of Umar."-
Taisíl-ul-Usúl, page 88.

The reign of Usmán commenced after a little more than thirteen years from the death of Muhammad.

† Az-Zubrí was the family-name of Muhammad Bin Muslim who was the son of Ubedullah Bin Abdullah Bin Shihab Az-Zuhrí. See Ibnu Khallikán, Vol. VI, p. 97, and Asmá-ur-Rijál.

This book was printed in Calcutta by Hakim Maulaví Abd-ul Majid A. H. 1252,

с

I.

LECTURE Muhammad Bin Muslim, Hisám Bin Urwah Bin Zubair and others, all of whom flourished between A. H. 94 and A. H. 124. I have not been able to learn from any of the Arabic works, which I have been able to obtain, whether the collections made by them, and the interpretations and expositions of the law that were then given, were reduced to writing.*

ANNOTATIONS.

"Another Hadís, or tradition, related from Anas (a servant of the Prophet) is, that one Huzaifah (who was a Sihábí†) came to Usmán (the then Khalifah,) and said: 'Oh Amír-ul-Muminín (commander of the faithful)! protect the Ummat (the believers) before they be of different opinions in (respect of) their Book (the Kurán), as the Jews and Christians have been in (respect of) their respective books.' Thereupon Usmán sent a person to Hafsá requesting her to send to him the (already collected) portions of the Kurán that he might copy them out. She accordingly sent them to him. Then Usmán ordered Zayid Ibnu Sábit, Abd-ullah Bin Zubair, Sayíd Bin al-A's, and Abd-ullah Bin Hárith to copy them; he also directed them to use the Kureshí spelling and pronunciation, where they differed in that respect. They were accordingly written, and copies thereof were sent to different countries. Usman then ordered that all (such) writings, except the copies as above, might be destroyed."-Ibid.

It is stated in the Itkán§ that Usmán with his own hand made seven copies (of the Kurán), of which, he sent one copy to Mecca, one to Syria, one to Yaman, one to Bahrain, one to Basrah, one to Kúfah, and one copy he shut up in Medina." Page 141.

* Mr. Morley, however, says :-"The first attempt of this kind appears to have been made by Ibnu Shihab Az-Zuhrí, during the Khilafat of Umar Ibnu Abd-ul-Aziz " (Morl. Introd., p. cclxii); and, as authority for this, he cites De Slane in Ibnu Khall. Vol. I., Introd. p. xviii. But it appears from Asmá-ur-Rijal and some other biographical works that Urwah Ash-Shábí and Maymún, who were born and died before Az-Zubrí, had collected traditions previously to Az-Zubrí, and that Abd-ullah Ibnu Abbás had made a collection of traditions and reduced them to writing before all of them.

Any person who saw the Prophet even for a moment is denominated a "Sihábí," though he may not have conversed with him.-Tahzíbul-ásmá, page 18.

Because the Kurán is said to be revealed in the Kureshí dialect.

§ The full name of this book is " Al-Itkán fí Ilum-ul-Kurán li as-Sayútí." This book has been printed and published by the Asiatic Society of Calcutta.

I.

Although the Kurán was believed and received by all LECTURE the Muhammadans as the words of the Most High, yet the discrepant interpretations of many of the material parts thereof given by the different expositors, the difference of opinion among the learned as to the principles or articles of faith (usúl), the admission of particular Ahádís by some doctors, and the rejection of the same by others, also the difference in the acknowledgment of a particular person or persons as being the Imám or Imáms, created different sets of doctrines; and the followers of each of such sets constituted a particular sect. The sects so formed are seventy-three Different in number. Of these seventy-three sects, ten are stated in the Ghuníyat ut-Tálibín to be the principal, namely,— 1-The Sunní ;* 2—Khárijí; 3-Shíah;* 4-Muatizilí;

sects.

* With respect to the formation of the Shíah and Sunní sects the learned Translator of the Hidayah observes, "Abú Hanifah was educated in the tenets of the Shíahs. He received his first instructions in jurisprudence at Baghdad, from Imàm Abú Jáfir, an eminent Doctor of that sect, and heard traditions chiefly from Abú Abd-ullah Ibnu al-Mubárak, both of whose authorities he frequently quotes. After having finished his studies and gained considerable reputation at Baghdad, he returned to Kúfah, and distinguished himself by seceding from his master Abú Jáfir, and teaching civil law on principles repugnant to those inculcated by that Doctor. His defection indeed is, by the Shíahs, attributed to motives which, if true, divest him of the merit of proceeding in this upon internal conviction. They relate that Abú Jáfir's eminent piety, learning, and austerity of manners having attached to him a considerable number of followers; the increase of his reputation alarmed the reigning Khalifah, who, in order to destroy his credit, gained over Hanifah, by promising him to support, with all the influence of Government, his opinions and decisions against those of Abú Jáfir, and that Hanifah, allured by the offer, quitted his preceptor, and instituted a school in opposition to him. Whether they be correct in this statement or not, it is certain that the dissension which took place between these eminent lawyers is considered as the origin of the different tenets of the Shíahs and Sunnís in jurisprudence.”—Hidayah, Prel. Disc., p. xxiii.

The above appears to have been taken from a book of the Shíahs, as according to the Sunnís there was no such Imám as Abú Jáfir.

Mr. Morley, on the other hand, says: "The dissensions that arose on the death of the Prophet with regard to the succession of the Khilafat, were revived with renewed fury, when, on the murder of Usmán, the noble and unfortunate Alí succeeded to the dignity of Amír-ul-Muminín (commander of the faithful), and they eventually caused the division of Islám into two

I.

LECTURE 5-Murjiyah; 6-Mushabbihah; 7-Juhmiyah; 8-Zaráriyah; 9-Najjáriyah; and 10—Kilábiyah. Of these, the Sunnís constitute but one general sect, the Khárijís* are sub-divided into fifteen classes, the Muatizilís into six, the Murjiyahs into twelve, and the Shíahs into thirty-two;f

great parties or sects, called respectively the Sunnís and Shíahs, who differ materially in the interpretation of the Kurán, and in admitting or rejecting various portions of the oral law." See his Digest, Vol. I, Introd., p. ccxxix.

But he does not say from what book he deduced the above. The Lecturer has made a great search in most of the leading books in Arabic, but has failed to find the same. The opinion in question is perhaps founded upon the notion which is still afloat among the people, not conversant with the sacred writings of the Mussulmáns.

Moreover, at the foot note appended to the above passage, the learned compiler adds: "The word Shíah, which signifies sectaries, or adherents in general, was used to designate the followers of Alí as early as the 4th Century of the Hijrah." (Introd., p. ccxxix.) But this appears to be inconsistent, inasmuch as the name of one of the seventy-three sects into which the Muhammadans were divided after the death of their Prophet is Shíah, (see ante, p. 11), and it will be found on referenee to the book entitled the Milal wa Nahal (a work of very high authority), as well as other works of the same nature, that one of the articles of the Shíah creed is to acknowledge (not any other companion, but) Alí alone to be the lawful successor of the Prophet, and the sole Imám or Amír-ul-Muminín. This much is manifest from the following passage contained in the learned compiler's own book. "The Shiahs assert that Ali was the only lawful successor of the Prophet, and that both the Imámat and Khilafat,-that is, the supreme, spiritual and temporal authority,-devolved of right upon him and his posterity, notwithstanding that they were actually and unjustly ousted by the Khalifahs of the Baní Umayyah and Baní Abbás." (Morl. Dig., Introd., p. ccxxxiii.) How, then, in the fourth century of the Hijree era, could the word Shiah be used for the first time to designate the followers of Alí, when the members of that sect were called Shiah from the very beginning of the formation of their sect, and it was one of the articles of theirtreed to acknowledge none but Alí and his descendants to be their Imáms ?

The Khárijis are they who depart or revolt from the lawful Khalifah established by public consent; and hence comes their name which signifies revolters, or rebels. The Khárijís first revolted from Alí in the 37th year of the Hijrah. The opponents of the Khárijís are, therefore, the Shiahs, whose name properly signifies sectaries or adherents in general, but is peculiarly used to denote those of Alí, son-in-law of Muhammad, for they maintain that he alone was the lawful successor of the Prophet; and that the supreme authority, both in spirituals and temporals, belongs of right, to his descendants, by his wife Fátimah, daughter of Muhammad.-Vide Sale's Kurán, Preliminary Discourse.

Of the thirty-two classes of the Shíahs, two are principal, namely, the Shiah and Rafizi classes, the latter of whom are divided into three sects, denominated, 1, Ghalíah, 2, Zaidíah, and 3, Ráfizíah, which (last) is sub-divided into twelve, of whom the chief are the Imámiyah and Ismailiyah.