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Speeches and Table-Talk
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General SummaryThe chief source of our knowledge concerning the teachings of Mohammed is, of course, the Koran. Many of the revelations composing this work were delivered by the prophet while in a state of trance, and these, together with his public speeches and prayers were gathered, shortly after his death, into the book as it now exists. There can be no doubt that the Koran is practically identical with the prophet’s own words. But besides the Koran, there are the private utterances of Mohammed to his intimate friends and carefully treasured in their memories. These traditional sayings, or "Table-talk," are very numerous — more than seven thousand in the standard collection — but no one can tell how many represent the genuine words of the prophet. Pious Moslems, however, have accepted them as authentic, and have derived from them many rules for the guidance of Islam.
152. Fasts and Pilgrimages4
O ye who believe, there is prescribed for you the fast as it was prescribed for those before you; maybe ye will fear God
for a certain number of days, but he among you who is sick or on a journey may fast a like number of other days. And for those who are able to fast and do not, the expiation is feeding a poor man; but he who voluntarily doeth a good act, it is better for him; and to fast is better for you, if ye only knew. The month of Ramadan, wherein the Koran was sent down for guidance to men, and for proofs of the guidance, and the distinguishing of good and evil; whoso among you seeth this month, let him fast in it; but he who is sick or on a journey, a like number of other days. . . .
Proclaim among the people a pilgrimage: let them come on foot and on every fleet camel to be present at its benefits to them, and to make mention of God’s name at the appointed days over the beasts with which He hath provided them: then eat thereof, and feed the poor and needy; then let them end the neglect of their persons, and pay their vows, and make the circuit of the ancient House.1
Do ye place the giving drink to the pilgrims, and the visiting of the Sacred Mosque, on the same level with him who believeth in God and the Last Day, and fighteth on the path of God? They are not equal in the sight of God.
4 Lane-Poole, , pp. 135–137.
1 The Kaaba, or chief sanctuary of Mecca.
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Chicago: "Fasts and Pilgrimages," Speeches and Table-Talk in Readings in Early European History, ed. Webster, Hutton (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1926), 318. Original Sources, accessed November 23, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=6VAM7NJMEFLYE1Q.
MLA: . "Fasts and Pilgrimages." Speeches and Table-Talk, in Readings in Early European History, edited by Webster, Hutton, Boston, Ginn and Company, 1926, page 318. Original Sources. 23 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=6VAM7NJMEFLYE1Q.
Harvard: , 'Fasts and Pilgrimages' in Speeches and Table-Talk. cited in 1926, Readings in Early European History, ed. , Ginn and Company, Boston, pp.318. Original Sources, retrieved 23 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=6VAM7NJMEFLYE1Q.
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