1834. J of Naning, in the Malayan Peninsula. 609 



religion of Muhammed has its basis. Their criminal laws, though found- 

 ed in the precepts of the Koran, are by no means so exclusively so as 

 those by which the Indian followers of the prophet guide their 

 conduct. 



The ^a. Haj or pilgrimage to Mecca is here more common. The 

 ^h yl Kurban and %£• Zakut, sacrificing and giving religious alms, are 

 more general. They circumcise both males and females ; the women 

 come out unveiled in public. They Moslems in India are generally 

 Hanifites. The Naningites prefer the doctrines of Imam Sufi. 



They devour locusts. Their rites of burial and marriage differ ; they 

 esteem the flesh of a buffalo as the greatest luxury ; they have no 

 " Urses." They hold three days of the week as lucky to commence any 

 undertaking, viz . Monday, Thursday, and Friday. 



In short, the Malay resembles more the Arab in the simple mode of 

 his worship than the Mussalman of Hindustan, tainted and contami- 

 nated by the admixture of many Hindu observances and ceremonies. 



They have no Maulavis nor Ulimas like the Mussalmans of India ; 

 they observe the five stated daily periods of prayer, as also the postuu : 

 a£. Ruku, and tSs^ Sijdeh IIjJlc' Itedal, and AjJ» Kiam. 

 " There are four officiating priests attached to each mosque, besides 

 the Koli or Kazi [ ltm g^ J who presides over a number of mosques, viz. 

 the J.*} Imam, the ^j^ia. Khatib, the \h * Bilal or Muezzin, and 

 the Panghulu Momkim or Mukim. 



The immediate religious care of the inhabitants of the Mukim (or 

 parish) to which the mosque belongs devolves upon the Imam, Khatib 

 and Bilal. 



There are two Kazis in Naning, " Sklaho and Sulong Juman," (to 

 both of these priests I am indebted for much of the information col- 

 lected here on the religious usages obtaining in Naning ;) the former 

 resides at CampongTengha, near Malikie, the latter at Malacca Pinda. 

 The Kazi is guardian to all orphans, who have no near male relations ; 

 he is arbitrator in all knotty religious points, which the four inferior 

 may not be able to decide ; he confirms marriages. In the month of 

 Ramzan, or the Malayan ij»)ys Puasa, the Naningites present their 

 Kazis with the *Ja.j Fitrat, in the shape of small donations of rice, 

 generally, one gantam from each individual. The Kazi receives at 

 the death of any person one " Suku," and at sacrifices, the head of the 

 victim. 



The functions of the Imam are principally merged in the perform- 

 ance of the sacred rites of the Muhammedan religion, viz., those under 



* Bilal was the name of the first Muezzin in the time of the prophet, and i» 

 used by the Malays instead of the term Muezzin. 

 3 i 



