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which ermched them * , were not 4 : he proper places to introduce the Hitiovadans proposed by . the reformer : he tile re fare embraced the idea of directing &is 6 teps towards the East , with a
view , to insinuate himself among the tribes of the Bedouin Arabs , who , being indifferent about the worship , and too little enlightened to support or defend its particular rites , were not on the other hand interested in the
support of any one in particular , and consequently left him more facilities to promulgate his system among them , and to induce them to embrace it , without incurring any danger . In reality , Abdoulwehhab made a
proselyte of lbn Saaoudj Prince or grand Scheik of the Arabs , established at Draauja , a town seventeen days jonrnrv east of Medina , in the desert . The period of the reform of Abdoulwriihab may be reckoned from that date 0747 ) .
1 have already remarked , that the reform was confined absolutely to the text of the Koran , and that it rejected all the additions of the imams and lawdoctors ; in consequence of which , the
reformer annulledthe difference of the four orthodox rites called Scharri , Mateki , Han belt , and Haneffi . Notwithstanding which , I have known several Wehhabites who still followed
fine or other of these rites , and did not think them annulled .
livery good Mussulman believes , that after the death and burial of the prophet , his soul reunited itself to his body , and ascended taParadise , mounted upon the mare of the angel Gabriel , named El Borak , the head and neck of which were of a fine form .
This event , indeed , is not an article of the faith ; but the Mussulman who did not believe it would be looked upon a . s impious , and treated as such . Abfloulwehhab proclaimed that this event tyas absolutely false , and that the mortar remains of rhe prophet remained in the sepulchre the same as those of # > ther men . it is
-Amon ^ ihc Mussul nipn customary ' to inter those who have obtained tire reputation of being virtuous , or saints , in a private sepulchre , more or less ornamented , after their death ,
and « t > o build a chaj > el over it / where their protection is involved for-the supplicartt ; and G « k 1 is supposed to befriend their intercession , vlf the reputation of any * particular
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saint become fashiona ^ fe ^ fch ^ devbtimt increases , the eh-a ' pet is enlarged , ifcnd soon becomes atemple , wim administrators * servants , &cJ ehoaeh ^ e ir ^ rally 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 happens thai the people accord the honour * of a sauit to a fool or an ideot , wh 6 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 or of a
cheat , whom the people have proclaimed a saint , without knowing why . Already had the well-informed Mussulmen began to despise these superstitions secretly , though they seemed to respect them in the eyes -of the people . Hut Abdoulvtfehhab
declared boldly , that this species ofwor » ship rendered to the saints was a Verjr grievous sin in the ty& $ . of the Divinity , because it was giving htm torn * panions . In consequence of this , his sectaries have destroyed the sepulchres , chapels , aud teinples , elevated to their
honour-In virtue of this principle , Abdouiwehhab forbids veneration or devotion to the person of the prophet as a very great sin . This does not prevent htm from acknowledging his mission ; but he pretends that he was no more-than another man , before God made use of him to communicate his divine Word
to men , and that when his roissioa was at an end , he became an ordinary mortal . ^ It is on this account that the refbrnier has forbidden his sectaries to visit the tomb of * the prophet at
Medina . When they even speak of it , instead of making use of the form em * ployed by other Mussulmen , namely "Our Lord Mouhhammed /' or , <* Our Lord the Prophet of God / ' they only sav , Alouhhammed .
The Christians have in general a confused or false idea' of the WehrVabites , and imagine that these sectaryes are not Mussuhrieiv a denQmin ^ tiqii which they apply exclusivel y tp , < fye Turks , and confound frequency tne names of Mussulmau and Qsn ^ wli As 1 write for every kvpd *> f reader 1 ought to obs 0 rv « that O 9 irta » li » wbich signtfies the >^ ticoeasocrof ^ Os * mu % is the - epitUet > Axi © pleilf ^ by ^ tbe
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T « History < ff tkb Tf&Metbi&s .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1817, page 78, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2461/page/14/
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