aji kisses the threshold, and then, with hands
uplifted laying hold of the covering of the K'aba, and weeping bitterly, he
prays most humbly, and expresses regret that he will soon have to depart
from a place so dear as the sacred K'aba. Retiring backwards, he makes his
exit and the Hajj is complete.[244] The Umrah or little pilgrimage can be
made at any time except the eighth, ninth and tenth of Zu'l-Hajja. It is
usually done before pilgrims start homewards. Its ceremonies differ but
slightly from the Hajj. The Ihram must {232} be put on, and the obligations
of abstinence which it entails must be observed.

The usual course is then to make the Ziarat, or visit to the tomb of the
Prophet at Madina. Henceforth the pilgrim assumes the honorable title of
Haji and so is, ever after, a person of some consequence among the
community in which he dwells. The Hajj cannot be performed by proxy, though
it is esteemed a 'good work,' if someone who can afford it, sends a pilgrim
who otherwise could not go.

This account of the Irkan-i-din, or five pillars of religion, must now draw
to a close. They illustrate well the fixed and formal nature of Islam,
whilst the constant reference to the Prophet's sayings and practice, as an
authority for many of the details, shows how largely Islam is based on the
Sunnat. With regard to the differences of opinion which the great Imams
hold on some of the details, it is most difficult to decide which side
holds the correct view. Such opinions are always based on some Tradition,
the value of which it is impossible to determine. The opponent says it is a
weak (z'aif) Tradition--a statement it would puzzle any one to prove or to
disprove. It is sometimes said in praise of Musalmans that they are not
priest-ridden; but no people in the world are so Tradition-ridden, if one
may use such an expression. Until this chain of superstition is broken
there can be no progress and no enlightenment; but when it is so broken
Islam will cease to be Islam, for this foundation of the Faith and the
edifice erected on it are so welded together that the undermining of the
one will be the fall of the other.

{233}

NOTE TO CHAPTER V.

_The following Fatva was publicly given in the Great Mosque,
Triplicane, Madras, February 13th, 1880._

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

QUESTION.

"O 'Ulama of the religion, and Muftis of the enlightened Law, what is
your opinion in