Part 52 (1/2)

[379] Mas'udi, _Muruju 'l-Dhahab_, v, 419 seq.

[380] Ibnu 'l-Athir, ed. by Tornberg, v, 46. _Cf._ _Agani_, xx, p. 119, l. 23. 'Umar made an exception, as Professor Bevan reminds me, in favour of the poet Jarir. See Brockelmann's _Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur_, vol.

i, p. 57.

[381] The exhaustive researches of Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz_ (pp. 169-192) have set this complicated subject in a new light. He contends that 'Umar's reform was not based on purely ideal grounds, but was demanded by the necessities of the case, and that, so far from introducing disorder into the finances, his measures were designed to remedy the confusion which already existed.

[382] Mas'udi, _Muruju 'l-Dhahab_, v, 479.

[383] The Arabic text and literal translation of these verses will be found in my article on Abu 'l-'Ala's _Risalatu 'l-Ghufran_ (_J.R.A.S._ for 1902, pp. 829 and 342).

[384] Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz_, p. 38.

[385] _I.e._, the main body of Moslems--_Sunnis_, followers of the _Sunna_, as they were afterwards called--who were neither s.h.i.+'ites nor Kharijites, but held (1) that the Caliph must be elected by the Moslem community, and (2) that he must be a member of Quraysh, the Prophet's tribe. All these parties arose out of the struggle between 'Ali and Mu'awiya, and their original difference turned solely on the question of the Caliphate.

[386] Brunnow, _Die Charidschiten unter den ersten Omayyaden_ (Leiden, 1884), p. 28. It is by no means certain, however, that the Kharijites called themselves by this name. In any case, the term implies _secession_ (_khuruj_) from the Moslem community, and may be rendered by 'Seceder' or 'Nonconformist.'

[387] _Cf._ Koran, ix, 112.

[388] Brunnow, _op. cit._, p. 8.

[389] Wellhausen, _Die religios-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten Islam_ (_Abhandlungen der Konigl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen_, _Phil.-Hist. Kla.s.se_, 1901), p. 8 sqq. The writer argues against Brunnow that the oldest Kharijites were not true Bedouins (_A'rabi_), and were, in fact, even further removed than the rest of the military colonists of Kufa and Ba?ra from their Bedouin traditions.

He points out that the extreme piety of the Readers--their constant prayers, vigils, and repet.i.tions of the Koran--exactly agrees with what is related of the Kharijites, and is described in similar language.

Moreover, among the oldest Kharijites we find mention made of a company clad in long cloaks (_baranis_, pl. of _burnus_), which were at that time a special mark of asceticism. Finally, the earliest authority (Abu Mikhnaf in ?abari, i, 3330, l. 6 sqq.) regards the Kharijites as an offshoot from the Readers, and names individual Readers who afterwards became rabid Kharijites.

[390] Later, when many non-Arab Moslems joined the Kharijite ranks the field of choice was extended so as to include foreigners and even slaves.

[391] ?abari, ii, 40, 13 sqq.

[392] Shahrastani, ed. by Cureton, Part I, p. 88. l. 12.

[393] _Ibid._, p. 86, l. 3 from foot.

[394] ?abari, ii, 36, ll. 7, 8, 11-16.

[395] _?amasa_, 44.

[396] Ibn Khallikan, ed. by Wustenfeld, No. 555, p. 55, l. 4 seq.; De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 523.

[397] Dozy, _Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme_ (French translation by Victor Chauvin), p. 219 sqq.

[398] Wellhausen thinks that the dogmatics of the s.h.i.+'ites are derived from Jewish rather than from Persian sources. See his account of the Saba'ites in his most instructive paper, to which I have already referred, _Die religios-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten Islam_ (_Abh. der Konig. Ges. der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen_, _Phil.-Hist.

Kla.s.se_, 1901), p. 89 sqq.

[399] ?abari, i, 2942, 2.

[400] ”_Verily, He who hath ordained the Koran for thee_ (_i.e._, for Mu?ammad) _will bring thee back to a place of return_” (_i.e._, to Mecca). The ambiguity of the word meaning 'place of return' (_ma'ad_) gave some colour to Ibn Saba's contention that it alluded to the return of Mu?ammad at the end of the world. The descent of Jesus on earth is reckoned by Moslems among the greater signs which will precede the Resurrection.

[401] This is a Jewish idea. 'Ali stands in the same relation to Mu?ammad as Aaron to Moses.

[402] ?abari, _loc. cit._