CAMEL. Arabic. Ibil. In the Qur’an (Surah lxxxviii. 17), the institution of camels to ride upon is mentioned as an example of God’s wisdom and kindness: “Do they not look then at the camel how she is created.” As a proof of the great usefulness of the camel to the Arabian, and of the manner in which its very existence has influenced his language, it is remarkable that in almost every page of the Arabic Dictionary Qamus (as also in Richardson’s edition), there is some reference to a camel.
Camels are a lawful sacrifice on the great festivals and on other occasions. And although it is lawful to slay a camel by zabh or by merely cutting its throat, the most eligible method, according to Muslim law, is to slay a camel by nahr or by spearing it in the hollow of the throat near the breast bone, because, says Abu Hanafah, it is according to the sunnah, or practice of Muhammad, and also because in that part of the throat bloodvessels of a camel are combined. (Hamilton’s Hidayah vol. iv. p. 72.) There is zakat, or legal alms, or camels. [ZAKAT.] Muslim law rules that the person who leads a string of camels is responsible for anything any one of the camels may injure or tread down (Ibid., iv. 379.)
Camels are a lawful sacrifice on the great festivals and on other occasions. And although it is lawful to slay a camel by zabh or by merely cutting its throat, the most eligible method, according to Muslim law, is to slay a camel by nahr or by spearing it in the hollow of the throat near the breast bone, because, says Abu Hanafah, it is according to the sunnah, or practice of Muhammad, and also because in that part of the throat bloodvessels of a camel are combined. (Hamilton’s Hidayah vol. iv. p. 72.) There is zakat, or legal alms, or camels. [ZAKAT.] Muslim law rules that the person who leads a string of camels is responsible for anything any one of the camels may injure or tread down (Ibid., iv. 379.)
Based on Hughes, Dictionary of Islam
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