147 
jl I have known several Wehhabites who still followed 
I one or other of these rites, and did not think them 
! annulled. 
Every good Mussulman believes, that after the 
death and burial of the Prophet, his soul reunited itself 
to his body, and ascended to Paradise, mounted upon 
the mare of the angel Gabriel, namel El Borafe, the 
head and neck of which were of a fine form. 
This event, indeed, is not an article of the faith; but 
the Mussulman w ho did not believe it would be look- 
ed upon as impious, and treated as such. Abdoulweh- 
hab proclaimed that this event was absolutely false, 
and that the mortal remains of the Prophet remained 
in the sepulchre the same as those of other men. 
Among the Mussulmen it is customary to inter 
those who have obtained the reputation of being vir- 
tuous, or saints, in a private sepulchre, more or less 
ornamented, after their death, and to build a chapel 
over it, where their protection is invoked for the sup- 
plicant; and God is supposed to befriend their inter- 
cession. 
If the reputation of any particular saint become 
fashionable, the devotion increases, the chapel is en- 
larged, and soon becomes a temple, with administra- 
tors, servants, &c. chosen generally from among the 
individuals of his family, by which means the relations 
of the saint acquire a situation more or less opulent; 
but, by an unaccountable whimsicality, it often hap- 
pens that the people accord the honours of a saint to 
a fool or an idiot, who is looked upon as the favourite 
of God, because he has refused him good sense. It is 
not uncommon also to see them honour the tomb of a 
Sultan jot of a cheat, whom the people have proclaim- 
ed a saint, without knowing why. 
