ft G o d that for every quejiion decided by me according to my own opinion,
I had received fo, many firipes! then would my accounts be eafier.
Wbuld to G od I had never given any decifion of my own 1! A l Gha-
stali chinks it a ftfficient proof of Make s directing his knowledge
to the glory of G o d , that being once afked his opinion as to
forty eight queftions, hisanfwer to thirty two of them was, that he
did not know ; it being no eafy matter for one who has any other
view than G od’s glory, to make fo frank a confeffion of his ignorance
z.
The doftrine of Malec is chiefly followed in Barbary and other
parts of Africa.
O f the The author of the third orthodox fedt was Mohammed Ebn Edrh
^stafji“1- Mi Shdfei, born either at Gaza ovAJ'calon in Paleftine, in the year of
‘ ' the Hejra one hundred and fifty, the fame day (as fome will have it)
that Abu Hanifa died, and was carried to Mecca at two years of
age, and there educated K He died in two hundred and four +, in
Egypt, whither he went about five years before 5. This dotftor is
celebrated for his excellency in all parts of learning, and was much
efteemed by Ebn Hanbal his contemporary, who ufed to fay that he
was , as the fun to the world, and as health to the body, Ebn Hanbal,
however, had fo ill an opinion of al Sbdjei at firft, that he forbad
his fcholars to go near him; but fome time after one of them, meeting
his mafter trudging on foot afeer al Shdfei, who rode on a mule,
afked him how it came about that he forbad them to follow him, and
did it himfelf? to which Ebn Hanbal replied, Hold thy peace-, i f thou
but attend his mule thou wilt profit thereby 6.
A l Shdfei is faid to have been the firft who difeourfed ofjurifprtir
dence, and reduced that fcience into a method 1 ; qne wittily faying,
that the relators of the traditions of Mohammed were aflet p till
al Shdjei came and waked them 8. He was a great enemy to the
fcholaftic divines, as has been already obferved 9. A l Ghazdli tells
us that al Shdfei ufed to divide the night into three parts, one for
ftudy, another for prayer, and the third for fleep. It is alfo related
o f him that he never fo much as once fwore by G o d , either to
confirm a truth, or to affirm a falfhood; and that being once afked
his opinion, he remained filent for fome time, and when the reafon
o f his filence was demanded, he anfwered, I am confidering firfi
1 Idem, apud eund. ibid, * Al Ghazali, ibid. 3 .Ebn Khalecan. * Vet M u 'fitl
fays he lived fifty eight years. s Ebn Khalecan. 6 Idem. 7 Idem. 8 Al Zafarani,
^>ud Poc. Specr£. 296. * See before, p. 152.
whether
\-whether it be better to fpeak or to hold my ttinguit. The following fay-
E is alfo recorded of him, viz. Whoever pretends to love the world
\and its Creator at the fame time, is a lyar \ -The followers of this d
tor are from him called ShJfeites, and were formerly fpread into
Mdwara'lnabr and other parts eaftward, but are now chiefly of Arabia.
! Ahmed Ebn Hanbal,. the founder of the fourth fedt, was.born in
the year of the Hejra 164; but as to the place of his birth there are
i two traditions I fome fay he was born at Meru in Khora/an, of which
I city his parents were, and that his mother brought him from thence
to Baghdad at her breaft; while others allure us that (he was with child
of him when fhecame to Baghdad, and that he was born there. . Ebn
! Hanbal in proCefs of time attained a great reputation on account of his
virtue and knowledge; being fo wellverfed in the traditions of Moham-
\med, in particular, that it is faid he could repeat no lefs chan a million
of them 3. He was very intimace with al Shafei, from whom he
received molt of his traditionary knowledge, being his conftant attendant
till his departure for Egypt 4. Refilling to acknowledge the
Koran to be created 5, he was, by order of the Khalif al Motafem,
feverely fcourged and imprifoned 6. Ebn Hanbal died at Baghdad, in
the year 241, and was followed to his grave by eight hundred thou-
faiid men, and fixty thoufand women, it is relared, as fometlnng
Very extraordinary, if not miraculous, that on the dajl of his death
no lefs than twenty thoufand Chriflians, Jews, and Magiam, embraced
the Mohammedan faith 7. This fedt encreafed fo raft, apd be-
Icame fo powerful and bold, that in the year 323, in the Khalifat of
I al Radi, they raifed a great commotion in Baghdad, entrmg peoples
boufes, and lpilling their wine, if they found any, and beating the fing-
ing-women they mec with, and breaking their inftrumenis^ and a fe-
vere edidt was published againft them, before they could be reduced
to their duty 8: but the Hanbalites at prefent are not very numerous,
few of them being to be met with out of the limits of Arabia.
O f the ...
heretical
fe&s a-
mong Hie
Mohammed
-dans.
When
they began.
The heretical fedts among the Mohammedans are thofe which hold
heterodox opinions in fundamentals, or maiters of faith. _ ■
The firft controverfies relating to fundamentals began when moft of
the companions of Mohammed were dead 9: for in their days was no
difpute, unlefs about things of fmall moment, it we except only the
O f the
fe£l of
Ebn Hanbal.
297. * Ebn Khalecan; 3 Idem * Idem. 1 See be-
« Ebn Khalecan, Abu’lfa.rag. Hid. Dyn p. 25 a, See tbn
* V. Poc. Spec. p. 295
fore, feft. III. p. 67, &c.
Khalecan. 8 Abu'lfar. ubi fup. p. 301, See.
Auftor Sharh al Mawakef, apud eund. p. 210.
9 Al Shahreftani, apud Poc. Spec. p. 194.
diflen