Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/117

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MUEZZIN.
89
MUHLBACH.

of these words, repeated at intervals: "Allah is great [four times]. I testify that there is no God but Allah [two times]. I testify that Mohammed is the apostle of Allah [two times]. Come to prayers [two times]. Come to salvation [two times]. There is no god but Allah." The Shiites also say "Come to good works." and "Prayers are better than sleep" is added before the early morning prayer (fajr). Besides these regular calls, two more are chanted during the night for those pious persons who wish to perform special nightly devotions. In small mosques the ′adȧhn is chanted by the imam, and, when the mosque is provided with a minaret, the muezzin ascends it for his chant; in smaller mosques, the chant is made at the side. The office of muezzin is considered a meritorious one, and insures the holder's admission into Paradise.

MUFTI, mūf'té (Ar. mufti, expounder of the law). The name of a Mohammedan official who expounds the law according to the Koran and traditions; according to his decision, delivered in a memorandum called a fetwa, the cadi, or judge, decides the case. In Turkey the Grand Mufti, or Sheikh ul-Islam, is the head of the Moslem Church, and is appointed by the Sultan. He is the supreme chief of the ulemas or body of Mohammedan theologians. His fetwa is extremely powerful, even under certain circumstances may depose the Sultan. The title mufti is also applied to juris-consults attached to local government councils in the Turkish Empire, but the power of the muftis, with the exception of the Grand Mufti, is largely nominal.

MÜGGE, mug′ge, Theodor (1806–61). A German novelist, born and educated in Berlin. His liberal sentiments, expressed in various newspapers and in such pamphlets as Die Censurverhältnisse in Preussen (1845), led in several instances to his arrest and prosecution. During the twenty years preceding his death he wrote numerous sketches, tales, novels, and romances, which appeared in a complete edition in 1862–67 (33 vols.). Several, including Toussaint (1840) and Afraja (1854), have been translated into English by E. J. Morris. The most interesting of his writings are his Norwegian romances and sketches of travel: Leben and Lieben in Norwegen (1858); Skizzen aus dem Norden (1844); and Nordisches Bilderbuch (1858; 3d ed. 1862).

MUGGER. This, the common 'marsh-crocodile' of India and the Malay Islands (Crocodilus palustris), is not often more than 12 feet in length. Its head is rough, with a thick and rather broad snout, and each jaw contains 19 teeth on each side. It inhabits rivers, ponds, tanks, and marshes, and goes ashore only when it is obliged to move into some new water by the drying up of its pond, or wishes to bury its eggs in the sand. In extreme drought, however, it buries itself in the mud and remains dormant until the coming of the rains. This is the crocodile which is venerated by the Hindus and is kept in a half-domesticated condition in certain ponds, attended by fakirs, who worship in a neighboring temple of their cult. Consult: the writings of Indian naturalists, especially Adams, Wanderings of a Naturalist in India (Edinburgh, 1867); Tennent, Natural History of Ceylon (London, 1861); Hornaday, Two Years in the Jungle (New York, 1885).

MUG·GLETO′NIANS. A sect that arose in London about the year 1651. The founders were two cousins, John Reeve (1608–58) and Lodowicke Muggleton (1609–98), obscure journeymen tailors, but claiming to have the spirit of prophecy. Muggleton professed to be the 'mouth' of Reeve, as Aaron was of Moses. They affirmed themselves to be the two witnesses of Revelation xi. They asserted a right to curse all who opposed them, and did not hesitate to declare eternal damnation against their adversaries. A few members of the sect still exist. They deny the doctrine of the Trinity; hold anthropomorphist opinions; and to all this add many strange doctrines of their own, as that the devil became incarnate in Eve, etc. Consult: Gordon, "The Origin of the Muggletonians," and "Ancient and Modern Muggletonians," in the Transactions of the Liverpool Literary and Philosophical Society for 1869–70.

MUGWORT. A popular name for various species of artemisia (q.v.).

MUGWUMP (Algonquin mugquomp, chief, great man). In American politics, a term originally applied to a voter nominally identified with a particular party, but claiming the right to vote with another party. It early passed into the local phraseology of some of the New England villages, being applied in its original (Indian) signification to any local magnate. Its first appearance in print seems to have been in the Indianapolis Sentinel in 1872. Its popular use began with an article in the New York Sun for March 23, 1884. In September of the same year it was first given to a political party, the Independent Republicans, who refused to ratify the nomination of James G. Blaine for the Presidency. The name was applied to them in a spirit of derision, but was accepted by them, and now regularly denotes any body of voters who profess to be independent of strict party obligations. The name Dudes and Pharisees was also applied in 1884 to those Republicans who opposed the election of James G. Blaine.

MUHAR′RAM (Ar. muḥarram, sacred, from ḥarama, to forbid). The first month of the Mohammedan year. Originally the Arabs had a solar year by means of intercalary months. The first month was called Ṣafar I., and came in the autumn. It was the month of fairs, pilgrimages, and festivals, and hence .acquired the epithet al-Muḥarram, the sacred, which in time supplanted the real designation. When in the year 10 of the Hejira Mohammed restored the lunar year, on the ground that intercalary months were an impious interference with the order of things as established by God, Muharram and all the months began to come earlier in each succeeding year. Mohammed is said to have observed the tenth day of Muharram (the ‘ashūrȧ) as a fast day, perhaps in imitation of the Jewish Day of Atonement on the tenth of Tishri. Later he appointed the month of Ramadan (q.v.) for fasting. The Sunnites still consider the tenth of Muharram as sacred, and keep it as a fast. The Shiites lament the death of Hosein on the first ten days of the month. (See Hasan and Hosein.) Consult Wellhausen, Reste arabischen Heidenthums (Berlin. 1897).

MÜHLBACH, mụl'bȧc, Luise. The assumed name of Klara Mundt (1814–73). A German