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Untitled Article
Mufti seems to have the principal influepee . Its power is great , when we consider ifoat it has the sole office of Interpreting the Koran , and that that hook is the foundation of municipal law as well as religious doctrine . Their Fetrefrmust sanction every law before
it cog be bidding , mid the Sultan can no etfagrwfce ^ oatroul it , than by removing the Mufti , and promoting the inferior members ; but the esprit de corps , in the main , operates to make the UAeraah a powerml cheek , which he would not find it safe to resist . *
It is not neeessajy , nor would there be any interest in here entering into any detail of the principles and histories of the various sects which have from time to time exercised the peas , the tongues and the swords of the followers of the Prophet . Their interpretations of the Koran , their disputes about free-will and predestination , the authority of the
Idiama-y-uinelh , or the glosses and legal decisions of the first disciples of the Apostle , and the Keyass , or collections of canonical decisions of the Imams-mudj
hitihids or interpreters of die first ages of the Mahometan religion , can have little interest for persons to whom it is of no consequence to determine whether the doctrines of the Shiites or
followers of AH be more or less orthodox , or more or less absurd , than the Sonnites or sect of Omar . + But it is at least important , with relation to our views of religious establishments , to observe , that the greater part
of the misery and distress which these conflicting interests have occasioned , has arisen most undoubtedly from the intimate connexion of spiritual and political concerns in the mosque . J This is peculiarly the case in the disputes between the grand rival sects of Sonnites and Shiites ; the latter
maintaining the high doctrine of inde fectible hereditary right , in all the pride of bigotry , and , in consonance with this principle , contending for the title of the line of Aii , to the Caliphate , in opposition to Abu Baker ,
Omar and Othman , whom it stigmatizes as usurpers £ the former maintaining that the nomination of spiritual and temporal dUefis ia a power whieh can only reside m thqae who are to be gOFerned—iq > on winch political dMfe-* Miito , 990 . E 4 i » . Rev . WtU . 44 . t Edln . Uev . VIU . 4 K % Mitts , 3 B 7 . vol . xv . 2 z
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rence have for some tune been grafted the interminable disputed about that fruitful { source of ab&iwiities and corruption to the Mahometan Church , the Sonna , or book of traditions of the Prophet , amounting only to 7275 , on which
the true believer may refy as genuine , beimf selected only 200 years after his death , by the careful hand of Al Bowkari , from 100 , 000 of a doubtful , and 200 , 000 of a spurious character . *
Hie Persians hare adopted , it is well known , the Shiite faith , the Turks , the Sonnite ; and , as Mr . Mills observes , no wars which ever desolated the Christian world have caused more
bloodshed , or been more strongly stamped with the character of implacable animosity , than have the politico-religious controversies of these sectaries . As a specimen of the controversial writings of these parties , a Turkish Mufti , ia a book of denunciation
against the tutor of a Sophi of Persia , ( after reprobating the enormities of Ms sect , and among the rest their outrageous blasphemy in wearing the holy colour green on their shoes , and , what was worse , their breeches , ) thus concludes : €€ In short , ye are the kennel of all sin and
uncleanness—Christians or Jews may hope to become true believers , but as for you Persians , it is impossible ; wherefore , by virtue of the authority I have received from Mahomet , I pronounce it lawful for any one , of what nation soever of true believers , to kill , de&troy and
extirpate you . And I hope that the majesty of God , in the day of judgment , will condemn you to be the asses of the Jews , to be rode and hackneyed in hell by that contemptible people . "f In the present day , however , the Persians , as well as some of the ablest
of the Sonnite Doctors , have mitigated their religious prejudices , cease to call their erring brethren infidels , and admit that ** they are believers , because they recognize the holy mission of Mahomet and worship God . " The present distinct definement of the political re .
* Wm tli ^ wpematural assistance calted to ifee perfpripaiftce of tjiia holy work > « fce the article Bo ^ J ^ ri , in D ' HerbdOt jwld Mjfty , 3 # 6 ., Thp latter refcip to ft swifcir } 0 j 3 t £ nce III the history of Christian Tra-4 mon 8 j a& tpW m Pair ^ pn ^ Letters to Iroyb , ( P * w 9 ) ^ # « # * W " « Pw ^ nptle of % eo Wb Great td Flavlanufi , on the lncamatimi . - ^ * f Thomson ' s Travels , 1744 ^ fl . 269 .
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T % * Noneonfwrmht . No / XVIII . 349
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1820, page 349, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2489/page/25/
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