! ' S 10rC0CrUPt S » B S the t r a d in g - t h e mind wholly .from
thp a T* [8 9 p exduf,vely uP°n G od,— which, as it is
' . m° lfficuk pf observance, is alfo accounted the mod merito-
[n°fh' e, Sre,a!,PrefcnbCd faft is that enjoined from the fir ft new moon,
n the month| of Ramzan, until the appearance of the n ext,-during which I 15 1111 fr°m ^ 7-break until after fun-fet of each day, to abftain
. J°m eVe,ry fort oS noun(lament, infomuch that the fall; is broken by fuffer-
-mg any thing whatever to enter any part of the'body. From this obfervance
m areiexcufed except the fick, aged, or children ; and the firfl of theft-,
“ ®y ff C0Ver’ *te re3uired to make up for what they haveJofl, by fafliny
9 T / i mbel' 0f da7S health is perfedly reftored.-Any
breach of this duty muß moreover, be expiated by,a donation of. alms to
e poor. x.he N ifl, or voluntary fafls, are thofe not enjoined by the
1>aw, but which a man impofes on himfelf on feme particular occafions '
fuch as in expiation of a broken vow, that fpecies of abufe to a wife
termed Z/Afr, the breach of the faß during the moon of Ramzdn, or
any other irregulanty.-The firß chapter of this book contains regular
t^ons with refped to the commencement and obfervance, of the faß of
■ Ramzan— The.Second relates to the occafions of expiatory fafls.— The
t ird treats of the Ittikaf, or continual refidence in the mofque during the
time of a faß. • ■ 8
T he P ilgrimage to Mecca is confidered as fuch an effential point
0 «figions duty that no perfon is accounted a good Mujfulman who,
pofleffing the ability, neglects the performance o f it, at leaft once in his
1 etirne. T h e antiquity of the Kaba, or holy temple of Mecca, extends
ar beyond the records of hiftory, it having been ufed by the Arabs as a
place of idolatrous worfhip for centuries before Mohammed’s pretended
million.— He, who in an eminent degree poffeffed the capacity of converting:
the fuperfhtions o f others to his own ènds, finding it neceffary to
give his religion fome Jlatmnary habitation, at firfl: fixed upon the fife
o f the temple o f Solomon at Jerufalem ; and he, for a time, made that
his Kabla, or point towards which he direded his prayers- Motives of
prudence
prudence or policy, however, in a few months didated the neceflifcy or
convenience of preferring a place held in habitual reverence among his
own countrymen ; and reafons were eafily found or invented to juftify the
change.— T h e traditions of the Arabs reprefent the Kaba as a place of
worfhip almoft coeval with the world. Some accounts mention that
it was firfl: built by Adam, foon after his expulfion from paradife.—
Other accounts fay, that the father of mankind, being by his fall deprived
of the light o f the Divine prefence, knew not which way to dired his
prayers, until an exad reprefentation of the paradifiacal tabernacle was,
by the favour of the A lm ig h t y , exhibited, encompaffed by a glory,
on the fpot where the temple now Hands,, diredly under the ftation of
the original Kaba in He a v e n * , and which fpot A dam from that period
made his Kaba,-.— His fon Se th , after his death, ereded upon the place a
building of. Hone and clay, (or,, as fome fay, of fun-burnt bricks,,)
the fame in fhape as the celeftiai one. This being deftroyed by the: deluge,
was afterwards, at the Divine command, rebuilt by A braham and
his fon Ishmael, the great progenitor of the Arabians. T h e Koreijh
(molt probably by dint of fuperior power) obtained poffefilon of it, and
kept it in repair for feveral generations.—A t length,- in the infancy' of
M ohammed, the old temple having fallen, or being pulled down, a new
one was ereded on the fame foundation, and after the fame model.—
Again, in the twenty-fourth year of the 'Higera, having fuftained fome
damage from the zeal of the Mujfulman reformers, in clearing it o f idols:,
it was once more pulled down and rebuilt by Aboo Y oos af Ibn a l Hija j ',
then Shareef of Mecca, as it now Hands.— T h e Kaba is certainly a.place
of very great antiquity. It was-, moft probably, from its firfl foundation1,
the temple of an idol. Both Arabians and Egyptians, regarded- it with
profound veneration, and. every fed filled it with the images of their
fantaftict worfhip.— Amongft its, pretenfions to antiquity, and its fidi-
tious excellencies,, we muft not pafs- over in, filence the famous Hijr~
* From this-fable,, perhaps, originated the idea,, entertained by fome, of-the ftation.efthe
brrjtnly J f.rusalem, which many of the primiln e CbrijUanr tuppofed to bp placed directly
in the zenith of the capital o f Judea.
7 afwaf,