MAH 



MAI 



plainness and simplicity of some of his 

 doctrines ; the adaptation of the duties 

 which his law enjoined to the passions 

 and appetites of mankind ; the profound 

 ignorance under which the Arabians, 

 Syrians, Persians, and the greatest part 

 of the eastern nations, then laboured ; 

 and, lastly, the dissensions and animosi- 

 ties that then ravage d the peace, and de- 

 stroyed the union of the Christian sects, 

 particularly the Greeks, Nestorians, Euty- 

 chians, and Monophysites, and which 

 rendered the very name of Christianity 

 odious to many. These are some of the 

 causes which gave life and strength to 

 the Mahometan religion in the east. 



The religion of Mahomet is divided 

 into two general parts : faith and practice. 

 The fundamental article of the Mahome- 

 tan creed is contained in this confession : 



THERE IS BUT ONE GOD, AND MA- 

 HOMET IS H I S PRO PHET. Under these 

 two propositions are comprehended six 

 distinct branches : viz. belief in God ; in 

 his angels ; in his scriptures; in his pro- 

 phets ; in the resurrection and judgment ; 

 and in God's absolute decrees, or pre- 

 destination. They reckon five points re- 

 lating to practice : viz. prayer with wash- 

 ings, &c. ; alms ; fasting ; pilgrimage to 

 Mecca ; and circumcision. Mahomet ad 

 mitted the divine mission of both Moses 

 and of Jesus Christ. Dr. Jortin says, that 

 Mahometism is a borrowed system, made 

 up for the most part of Judaism and 

 Christianity; and if it be considered, the 

 the same writer observes, in the most 

 favourable point of view, might possibly 

 be accounted a sort of Christian heresy. 

 Achmet Benabdalla, in his letter to Mau- 

 rice, Prince of Orange, says, " The Lord 

 Jesus Christ is held by us (Mahometans) 

 to be a prophet, and the messenger of 

 God, and our lady, the virgin Mary, his 

 mother, to be blessed of God, holy, who 

 brought him forth, and conceived him 

 miraculously by the almighty power of 

 God." 



The Mahometans are a superstitious 

 people, and hence in their religion we 

 find a prodigious number of rites, ceremo- 

 nies, and observances; the principal of 

 which are : circumcision, ablutions, fast- 

 ings, pilgrimage, polygamy, marriage 

 rites, mourning for the dead, funeral rites, 

 and the observance of Friday as a Sabbath. 

 In all these observances, &c. there is a 

 mixture of Heathenism, Judaism, and 

 Christianity. After the death of their 

 prophet, the Mahometans were divided, 

 like the Christians, into an incredible 

 number of sects and parties, all of them, 



however, professing to adhere to the 

 Koran as the rule and guide of their faith 

 and practice, yet differing widely from 

 each other in particular points of belief, 

 relative to doctrine, practice, and eccle- 

 siastical discipline. Those who wish to 

 see the history and character of this ex- 

 tensive sect more particularly detailed, 

 will do well to consult the following au- 

 thors : Fabricius's "Delectus et Syllabus 

 argument, pro veritate relig. Christian*;" 

 Boulainvillier's, Gagnier's and Prideaux's 

 Lives of Mahomet ; Sale's English Trans- 

 lation of the Koran; to which may be added, 

 Professor White's Sermons at the Bamp- 

 ton Lectures, and Millar's account of 

 Mahomet in his *' Propagation of Chris- 

 tianity," vol. i. c. 1. 



MAIDEN, in ancient English customs, 

 an instrument for beheading criminals. 

 Of the use and form of this instrument 

 Mr. Pennant gives the following account: 

 " It seems to have been confined to the 

 limits of the forest of Hardwick, or the 

 eighteen towns and hamlets within its 

 precincts. The time when this custom 

 took place is unknown ; whether Earl 

 Warren, lord of this forest, might have 

 established it among the sanguinary laws 

 then in use against the invaders of the 

 hunting rights, or whether it might not 

 take place after the woollen manufactu- 

 rers at Halifax began to gain strength, is 

 uncertain. The lust is very probable ; 

 for the wild country around the town 

 was inhabited by a lawless set, whose de- 

 preciations on the cloth-tenters might 

 soon stifle the efforts of infant industry. 

 For the protection of trade, and for the 

 greater terror of offenders by speedy ex- 

 ecution, this custom seems to have been 

 established, so as at last to receive the 

 force of law, which was, That if a felon 

 be taken within the liberty of the forest 

 of Hardwick, with goods* stolen out, or 

 within the said precincts, either hand- 

 habend, back-berand, or confession'd, to 

 the value of thirteen pence half-penny, 

 he shall, after three market days, or 

 meeting clays, within the town of Halifax, 

 next after such his apprehension, and 

 being condemned, be taken to the gib- 

 bet, and there have his head cut from his 

 body.' The offender had always a fair 

 trial : for as soon as he was taken, he was' 

 brought to the lord's bailiff at Halifax: 

 he was then exposed on the three mar- 

 kets (which here were held thrice in a 

 week), placed in the stocks, with the 

 goods stolen on his back, or, if the theft 

 was of the cattle kind, they were placed 

 by him ; and this was done both to strike 



