■ firft Colledion of them was made in the Khalifat of A lee ; and, in after
times, many pious men employed themfelves in making thofe collections.—
There are, betides thefe, a. multitude of traditions cited by the
■ Mujfulman commentators, concerning the ads and fayings, not only
■ of their P rophet, but alfo of his C ompanions and immediate fuc-
■ ceffors ; which, though not of equal authority, are neverthelefs admitted
to have fome weight as precedents in judicial decifions, when not re-
■ puo-nant to reaïbn, or contradided either by the K oran or the So n n a .
Upon the Sonna a great number of volumes have been written, under the
titles o f Sonndn * , Rawhyat +, and Hawadees J, feveral of which are
quoted in the courfe of this work, and will be more particularly mentioned
when we come to treat of authorities.
P r a c t ic a l D i v in i t y , alfo, is admitted to have its due weight in judicial
determinations, even among the orthodox. As ufed by the Mujfulman
Lawyers, it chiefly confifts of cafuiftry, and analogous applications to, or
dedudions from, cafes already determined upon by the more certain ftand-
ards of the K oran or Sonna ; the nature of which will be more fully explained
by the perufal of a Angle page of the work than by any illuftration
that -could be offered.
Having ftated thus -much with refped to' the foundations of the
Mujfulman L aw, we fhall next endeavour to account for thofe varieties
which at prefent appear in the fu p e r f t ru d u r e b u t before we
proceed to this it will be proper to enter into a fhort detail of the events
in which originated .the -firli great fchifm among the followers of Mo-
HAMMEB.
Had the importer of 'Mecca left, at his deceafe, any male heirs, it is
p.offible that the diftindion to which he rofe would have been tranfmitted
without quefhon to his poftenty. In this however he was difappointed,
* Inftitutes. Reports. Traditions. i Occurrences. Emanations.
his
his five fons having all died in their infancy.— He had indeed four daughters
by his firfi wife K h ad ija , of whom one alone furvived him, his
favourite F a t im a , the wife of A l e e ; but a female was univerfally
deemed incompetent to be the leader of the f a ith f u l .
A lee * , as the nearefl relation of the prophet, the hufband o f his
daughter, and the lineal chief of his family, afpired to the fucceflion, with
hopes founded not lefs on his perfonal merit than his conjugal and hereditary
claims.— When Mohammed was feized with his laft illnefs, his
fon-in-law probably expeded a nomination in his favour. His views
however were fruftrated, and his pretenfions for the prefent defeated.
— A ysha f , the flepmother of F a t im a , had always entertained an antipathy
againfl him ; and, by exerting her influence with the dying Prophet,
eafily prevented him from making any declaration which might
determine the Mujulmans in favour of the defendant of H ashim.—
From this circumftance, on the deceafe o f Mohammed, his followers
became divided into feveral fadions.— T h e people of Medina were de-
firous of railing Sa a d , one of their countrymen, to the dignity of Imam,
or chief ; whilfl the Meccanoes, confidering his advancement as fub-
jeding them to a foreign domination, declared their intention of eleding
a chief among themfelves.-Had fuch a defign been carried into effed, it
mull, in its confequences, have deftroyed altogether the newly eftablilhed
religion; and by crulhing the rifing empire of IJlamifm in its infancy,
would have reftored the Arabs to their primitive barbarifm and idolatry.—
T h e prudence or policy of O m a r , and fome other o f the principal companions,
interfered; and they propofed, in order to avoid the dangerous
fchifm which this mull occafion among the Mujfulmans, that all parties
Ihould, without diftindion, unite in the eledion of a fucceffor to the
* A L E E B ur A bee T alib, coufin German of Mohammed, and, with him, defeended
from Hajhim Abdabninaf, from whom the Hajhimee tribe derives its title.
t T h e daughter of Aboo Bekr, ftiled, by the Mohammedans, OM . l MAIVMENEEN, or Mother
o f the F aithful.
V O L . I . b P r 6 p h e t ’