Book X L V I . P rohibited LiqubRs. :
: I n prohibiting the ufe pf wine, (under which term are included all
defcriptions of inebriating liquors,) the Prophet meant merely to reftrain
•his followers from unbecoming behaviour, and other evil effects o f intoxication.
At firft the precept was iflued in the Koran limply againfl drunk-
ennefs, which amounted only to a prohibition of excefs in the ufe of llrong
liquors; but this not proving fufficient for the purpofes of complete determent,
the negative injunction was produced, by which inebriating
fluids were altogether profcribed, and declared unlawful. The tendency
of this book is, chiefly, to exhibit the opinions of their divines concerning
what kind of liquors thofe are which fall under the denomination of prohibited,
in which we may trace the rigid fcrupulofity of the moré' early
Müjfulmans upon this point. A t prefent, however, they are not, in
general, very drift obfervers of the L aw in this'particular, their modern
doftors allowing that various fluids may be drank, either medicinally or
for pleafure, provided it be done with moderation, and fo as to avoid
fcandah
Book X L V I I. O f Hu n ting.
T his book is, properly, a fupplement to Zabbah; and any reflections
upon it may therefore be referred to the obfervations under that head.
Book XLVIII. O f P awns.
Book X L IX . O ff ences againfl the P erson.
In determining the meafure of punilhment for offences committed
upon the perfons of men, the lex talionis ïtems at firft fight to have been
dictated by natural reafon, and to be confident with juftice, as affording
the
the beft means of a ‘d rift and equal retribution. Accordingly, we find it
among the earlieft inflitutes o f eyery lociety approaching to a ftate of perfect
civilization. Before the time Of Mohammed, the adminiftration of'
public juftice being little known in Arabia, perfonal injuries were a fruitful
fource of private revenge.and <civil war, .and ,-preferved, among the defendants
of Ishmael, a fanguinary ferocity of fpiiit, which was confi-
dered as a virtue rather than a blemifh in their character. T h e Prophet
foon perceived it neceffary to the completion Of his projeft, to introduce a
reform in this particular; and therefore, with a view at once to indulge
his countrymen’ s propenfity to revenge, and to preferve the peace of the
community, fhortly after his flight to Medina, (as it is Laid,) revealed
that paflage o f the K oran allowing o f retaliation, in Which he has nearly
copied th e ‘law of Moses. As equality is the profefîèd ground of this
inftitution, the Muffûlman doCtors, in their comments upon it, feem to
have followed the literal acceptation of the text, in all cafes where the
obfervance of this equality is pôffible. In practice, however, retaliation
is feldom or never inflrfted upon a limb or member ; but a rnulft is im-
pofed in proportion to the injury, and according to the circumftauces by
which it is excited or attended.— In faCt, however equitable this mode of
requital may appear in fome inftances of perfonal injury, yet, When applied
to all without limitation, it certainly involvès much grofs abfürdity and
injuftice, a charge from which it does not {land acquitted by all the dif-
tinftions which the commentators have eftablifhed concerning it in this
book. Hence it is that the MuJJulman courts, following the example o f
the few s , underftànd the words o f the K oran, in all cafes fhort of life,
in the fame manner as thofe do the Pentateuch ; that is, not as awarding
an actual retaliation, according to the drift literal meaning, but an atonement
in exaft proportion to the injury.— T h u s much with rèfpeft to wil-
fu l offences.. That law by which a man is made refponfibie in his property
for offences unintentional or merely accidental, is certainly, in fome
.inftances, rather rigorous. It was, however, well calculated, in an irre-
-gular fociety, andadefeftive ftate of civilization, to guard men from aft-
in g carelefsly, and has a ftrong tendency to fupport and inculcate the
V o l . I. 1 facrednefs