fiifjf
ill
.»■
j f
be taken in belief.— It is to be obferved, that what was before related, of licencing
ters!tUal mat" a Have to trade, fending prefents and meffages, and the like, are of
the clafs of temporal matters; as is alfo the invefting of another with
the power of agency.— Information, on the contrary, concerning the
impurity of water (for inftanee), is a matter of zfp iritua l nature. In
this inftanee, therefore, if the former be an upright Muffuldtan, the.
perfon who receives the information is at liberty, in performing his
purification, to fubftitute fand for the water, in the manner of teyummim*,
and muft not perform it with the water.— If, on the contrary,
the informer be a profligate, or of unknown character, it is incumbent
on the perfon who receives the information to confider the matter deliberately;
when, provided he conclude the informer to be a pe/fon
o f veracity, he mull perform teyummim inllead of ablution.— (In this;
cafe, however, he Ihould ufe the precaution of firlt pouring out a
little of the water, and may then perform teyummim; whereas, i f the
informer be of an upright character, as there is in that cafe no fuf-
picion of falfehood, the pouring out the water by way of precaution,
is entirely unneceflary. )— If, on the contrary, the refult of his reflection
be that the information was falfe, he mull perform ablution,,
but not teyummim with the water. This is what the law enjoins; but
in this cafe alfo it is a requilite precaution that, after ablution, he perform
teyummim, as the judgment he has formed in this Cafe is entirely'
from conjecture. It is alfo to be obferved that legality and illegality
are confidered as of a fpiritual nature where they affeCt not the property
o f any perfon. Where, on the contrary, the teltimony of one-
upright perfon tends to injure the property of another, it is. not in
fuch cafe o f any weight;—as where, for inftanee, an upright perfon.
teftifles that a certain perfon has married his own fofter-fifter; in
which cafe his teftimony is not creditable, as tending to hurt the property
of the hulband, inafmuch as he would be deprived of the effeCts.
of the woman, to which the marriage had entitled h im — or where a.
* For .a further explanation, of this, fee Vol. I. p. 295.
8 perfon
perfon informs another, who had purchafed a flave-girl, that Ihe is his
own fofter-lifter, or that Ihe is a free woman.
If a perfon be invited to a marriage-feaft, and, upon going there,
obferve the company to be engaged in wanton amufement, or in tinging,
ftill it is laudable in him to fit down and partake of the entertainment
; for the acceptance of fuch invitation is ftriCtly orthodox, as th e '
prophet has faid, “ whofoever refujes an invitation, is certainly not
“ obedient to me.”— He is not, therefore, to leave the entertainment
on account of any irregularities committed by others; in the fame
manner as, at the ceremony o f a funeral prayer, a perfon is not to
abfent himfelf, although people hired for the purpofe of lamentation
may there be prefent.— If, however, he have power to prohibit thefe
irregularities, it is incumbent on him to exert i t : but i f he pofiefs not
fuch power, he muft then remain with patience.— This is where the
perfon invited is not a Mooktidda*, or holy man; for, if fuch a perfon
Ihould be prefent and have it not in his power to reftrain thefe irre<ni-
larities, it is then incumbent on him to withdraw, as his prefence in ’
fuch a place Ihews a relaxation of religion. If, alfo, irregularities be
committed during the time of eating, it is improper that any perfon
Ihould remain there, whether he be a Mooktidda or not; G od having
prohibited us, in the K o r a n , from fitting in company with the
wicked. All this proceeds on the fuppofition of the invited perfon
being actually prefent at the marriage-feaft, before he is aware of thofe
irregularities; for if he be previoufly aware o f fuch irregularities being
pradheed, it it is incumbent on him to ftay away, whether he be a
Mooktiddk or otherwife.
■ H H I H R Perf°n’ 38 beIng em!nent for E l of vhara&er,—whence
■ M— apP ,ed “ / ■ *> °r other perfons who exercife a holy office.-The Perf,am
term fuch a perfon a Peijhwa, or one who leads the way, ^
N a
It is laudable
to accept an
invitation to
a marriage-
feaft,-—not-
withftanding
any irregularities
which
may be practiced
there;
unlefs thofe
irregularities
be known
before hand.
SECT.