The Koran (Al-Qur'an). Anonymous

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,