SHI 



S H I 



heres to, and from whom he feparates himfelf, by woi-d, 

 deed, and engagement, and that herein there (houid be no 

 diflimulation. But in this lad point fome of theZeidians, a 

 feft fo named from Zeid, the fon of Ali, furnamed Zcin al 

 Abedin, and great grandfon of Ali, didented from the 

 reft of the Shiites. As to other articles, wherein they 

 agreed not, fome of them came pretty near to the notions 

 of the Motazalite,^, others to thofe of the Moihabbehite;;, 

 and others to thofe of the Sonnites. Among the latter of 

 thefe, Mahommed al Baker, another fon of Zein al Abedin's, 

 feems to claim a place : for hi? opinion as to the will of God 

 was, that God willeth fomething in us, and fomethi;;^ 

 from us,' and that he willethyrom us he hath revealed to us ; 

 for which reafon he thought it prcpolterous that we fhould 

 employ our thoughts about thofe things which God willeth 

 in us, and negledt thofe which he willethyrom us : and as to 

 God's decree, he held that tiie way lay in the middk, and 

 that there was neither compullion nor free liberty. A tenet 

 of the Khattabians, or difciplcs of one Abu'l Khattab, is 

 too peculiar to be omitted. Thefe maintained paradife to 

 be no other than U\-i pkafurcs of this -world, and hell-fire to 

 be the pains thereof, and that the world will never dccav : 

 which propofition being firft laid down, it is no wonder they 

 went farther, and declared it lawful to indulge themfelves in 

 drinking wine and whoring, and to do other things forbidden 

 by the law, and alfo to omit doing the things commanded 

 by the law. 



Many of the Shiites carried their veneration for Ali and 

 his defcendants fo faV, that they tranfgrefled all bounds of 

 reafon and decency ; though fome of them were lefs extra- 

 vagant than others. The Gholaites, who had their name 

 from their excejfive zeal for their imams, were fo highly 

 tranfported therewith, that they raifed them above the de- 

 gree of created beings, and attributed divine properties to 

 them ; tranlgrefiing on either hand, by deifying of mortal 

 men, and by makii;g God corporeal : for one while they 

 liken one of their imams to God, and another while they 

 liken God to a creature. The fetts of thefe are various, and 

 have various appellations in different countries. Abd'allah 

 Ebn Saba, (who had been a Jew, and had aderted the 

 fame thing of Jofhua the fon of Nun,) was the ring-leader 

 of one of them. This man gave the following falutation 

 to Ali, vi%. Thou art Thou, i. e. thou art God: and here- 

 upon the Gholaites became divided into feveral fpecies ; 

 fome maintaining the fame thing, or fomething like it, of 

 Ali, and others of fome of one of his defcendants ; affirm- 

 ing that he xras not dead, but would return again in the 

 clouds, and fill the earth with juftice. But howmuchfoever 

 they difagreed in other things, they unanimoufly held a me- 

 tempfychqfs, and what they call al Holul, or the defcent of 

 God on his creatures ; meaning thereby that God is prefent 

 in every place, and fpeaks with every tongue, and appears 

 in fome individual perfons ; and hence fome of them aderted 

 their imams to be prophets, and at length gods. The Nofai- 

 rians and the Ifliakians taught that Ipiritual fubllanccs ap- 

 pear in grofler bodies ; and that the angels and the devil 

 have appeared in this manner. They alio affert that God 

 hath appeared in the form of certain men ; and fince, after 

 Mohammed, there hath been no man more excellent than 

 Ali, and, after him, his fons have excelled all other men, 

 that God hath appeared in their form, fpoken with their 

 tongue, and made ufe of their hands, for which reafon, fay 

 they, liie attribute divinity to them. And to fupport thefe 

 blafphemies, they tell feveral miraculous things of Ali, as 

 his moving the gates of Khaibar, wliieh tiiey urge as a plain 

 proof that he was endued with a particle of divinity, and 

 with fovereign power, and that he was the pcrfon in whofc 



form God appeared, with whofe hands he created all things* 

 and with whofe tongue he publilhed his commands; and 

 therefore they fay he was in being before the creation of 

 heaven and earth. In fo impious a manner do th.-v feem to 

 wrell thofe thmgs which are faid in fcripture of Chnft, by 

 applying them to Ali. Thefe extravagant fancies of the 

 Shiites, however, in making their imams partakers of the 

 divine nature, and the impiety of fome of thofe imams in 

 laying claim thereto, are fo far from being peculiar to this 

 feet, that moft of the other Mohammedan fefts are tainted 

 with the fame madnefs ; there being many found among 

 them, and among the Sufis efpecially, who pretend to be 

 nearly related to heaven, and who boall of ftrange revela- 

 tions before the credulous people. To this account of the 

 Shiites of the firlt ages we (hall fubjoin a brief mention of 

 the great fchifm at this day fubfifling between the Sonnites 

 and the Shiites, or partisans of Ali, and maintained on 

 either fide with implacable hatred and furious zeal. Though 

 the difference arofe at firft on a political occafion, it has, 

 notwithftanding, been fo well improved by additional circum- 

 ftances, and the fpirit of coutradidion, that each party de- 

 tell and anathematize the other as abominable heretics, and 

 farther from the truth than either the Chriftians or the Jews. 

 Tlie chief points wherein they differ are, i. That the Shiites 

 rejeft Abu Beer, Omar, and Othman, the three firft caliphs 

 as ufurpers and intruders ; whereas the Sonnites acknowledge 

 and refpeft them as rightful imams. 2. The Shiites prefer 

 Ali to Mohammed, or, at leaft, efteem them both equal ; 

 but the Sonnites admit neither Ali, nor any of the prophets, 

 to be equal to Mohammed. 3. The Sonnites charge the 

 Shiites with corrupting the Koran, and neglefting its pre- 

 cepts ; and the Shiites retort the fame charge on the Son- 

 nites. 4. The Sonnites receive the Sonna, or book of tra. 

 ditions of their prophet, as of canonical authority ; where. 

 as the Shiites rejeft it as apocryphal and unworthy of credit. 

 And to thefe difputes, and fome others of lefs moment, ia 

 principally owing the antipathy which has long reigned be- 

 tween the Turks, who are Sonnites, and the Perfians, who 

 are of the feci of Ali. Sale's Koran, Introd. 



SHILACON, in Geography, a town of Egypt, on the 

 E. fide of the Nile ; 8 miles N. of Cairo. 



SHILL, in ylgriculture, provincially to feparate the 

 rind, hudc, or (kin, as of oats, or other crops. It alfo 

 fignifics the ttirning a fmall portion of milk into curd. 



SHILLAY, in Geography, a fmall ifland near the W. 

 coaft of the ifland of Lewis ; 5 miles W.S.W. of Toe 

 Head. N. lat. 54" 48'. W. long. 7" 14'. 



SHILLELAH, a town of Algiers, anciently Tura- 

 philum ; 10 miles S.W. of Burg Hamza. 



SHILLER-Stone, or SHILLEK-^/x/r, in Mineralogy, 

 the diallage mctalloide of Haiiy, a mineral nearly allied 

 to ferpeutine. (See Skki'bntine.) It is confidered by 

 fome mineralogiftg as a cryllalline variety of that rock ; in 

 which it generally occurs, either in beds or dilfeminated. 

 Its colour is commonly olive-green, with a fhinlng lullrc, 

 which is fometimes femi-metalhc. The llrufture is lamellar, 

 with joints in one direction : it yields to the knife. In the 

 vicinity of New Radnor, in Wales, there is a rock of this 

 mineral intermixed with ileatite. 



SHILLING, an Englifh filver coin, equal to twelve 

 pence, or the twentieth part of a pound. 



Frolierus derives the Saxon fcilling, whence our Jl/illing, 



from a corruption of /iliqua ; proving the derivatio.i bjr 



feveral texts of law, and among others, by the twenty-fixtn 



law, De anniiis legatis. Skinner deduces it from the Saxon 



fcild, Jlncld, by rcjifon of the efcutcheon of arms upon it. 



Bilhop Hooper derives it from the Anhic fchccle, figni- 

 3 S 2 fyiiig 



