Читать книгу A Dictionary of Islam. Being a cyclopedia of the doctrines, rites, ceremonies, and customs, together with the technical and theological terms, of the Muhammadan religion онлайн

172 страница из 560

BURQAʿ (برقع‎). The veil or covering used for the seclusion of women when walking abroad. [VEILING OF WOMEN.]

BURŪJ (بروج‎). Lit. “Towers,” which some interpret as real towers wherein the angels keep watch. A term used for the twelve signs of the zodiac. [SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC.] Al-Burūj is the title of the LXXXVth Sūrah of the Qurʾān.

BURYING OF THE DEAD. It is said by commentators that God taught mankind to bury their dead when “God sent a crow to scratch the earth, to show him (Cain) how he might hide his brother’s body.” (Qurʾān, Sūrah v. 34; Tafsīr-i-Ḥusainī, in loco.) The custom of burying their dead is universal in Islām. The ceremonies connected with funerals will be found in the article on Burial. [BURIAL.]

BURYING-GROUND. Arabic مقبرة‎ maqbarat or maqbarah, “The place of graves.” Persian Qabr-gāh, or Qabristān. They are sometimes spoken of by religious Muslims as Marqad, a “cemetery” or “sleeping-place,” but the name has not obtained a general application to burial-grounds in the East as it has in the West. They are generally situated outside the city, the graves being covered with pebbles, and distinguished by headstones, those on the graves of men being with a turban-like head. The graves are dug from north to south. The grave-yards are usually much neglected. The Wahhābīs hold it to be a meritorious act, in accordance with the injunctions of the Prophet, to neglect the graves of the dead, the erection of brick tombs being forbidden. (Hidāyah, Arabic ed., vol. i. p. 90.) A grave-yard does not become public property until the proprietor formally makes a gift or bequest of it. (Hidāyah, vol ii., p. 357.)

Правообладателям