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Azlām (Arabic: الأزلام) are wooden arrows with writings on them that were used before Islam for gambling, seeking good and evil, and other purposes. The Qur'an mentions azlām alongside wine and commands to abandon it.

A type of azlam used in gambling consisted of ten wooden arrows for ten participants in the gambling, three of which were blank and the other seven had from one share to seven shares each. This gambling was for acquiring the meat of an animal, which the losers had to pay for.

Idolaters also used azlam to find out the opinion of idols and gods. The phrase "Ifʿal" (do) was written on one of the arrows and "lā tafʿal" (do not do) on another, or other writings with the same meaning. By picking one of them, the good or evil of the action from the perspective of the gods of the polytheists was determined. This practice was used before making decisions for travel, marriage, and so on.

Seeking good and evil with azlam has been considered polytheism; because this was done in the presence of idols and by using them as intermediaries; while in Islamic culture, only God can be the authority to determine whether actions are good or evil, and based on this, one should not associate anyone other than God in this matter. Researchers consider this the difference between azlam and istikhāra, and they believe istikhāra is a request from the One God and, unlike azlam, is not incompatible with monotheism.

Conceptology

Azlām are equal-sized wooden arrows with writings on them that the Arabs before Islam used in gambling, determining good and evil, casting lots, and so on.[1] One type of azlām was ten sticks that were used for gambling.[2] Another type was arrows that were used to find out the good or bad of actions.[3] These azlām were mostly kept in temples and near idols.[4] In the Ka'ba, next to the idol Hubal, there were also azlām.[5]

O you who have faith! Indeed wine, gambling, idols, and the divining arrows are abominations of Satan's doing, so avoid them, so that you may be felicitous.[6]

The word azlām appears twice in the Qur'an;[7] in one verse, azlām is mentioned alongside wine, maysir (gambling), and anṣāb, considering them the work of Satan and commanding to abandon them.[8] In another verse, "istiqsām by azlām" (seeking apportionment by divining arrows) is considered fisq (transgression).[9] Exegetes differ in explaining the meaning of istiqsām with azlām;

  • Rashīd al-Dīn Maybudī, a Shafi'i exegete of the sixth/twelfth century, considers the meaning of istiqsām with azlām to be determining good and evil using azlām.[10]
  • Sayyid Muhammad Taqi al-Mudarrisi, a Shi'a marja' residing in Karbala, introduces istiqsām with azlām as a type of gambling with azlām by which the meat of an animal was divided among the participants.[11] Some researchers consider this interpretation better and more consistent with the overall concept of the verse; because this verse is about forbidden meats, and following that, istiqsām with azlām is mentioned.[12]

According to Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i, a Shi'a exegete, gambling in the time of the Jāhilī Arabs was mostly done using azlām, and for this reason, the expression "al-maysir" in the Qur'an,[13] which means gambling, refers to azlām.[14]

Gambling with Azlam

A type of azlam was a set of arrows used in gambling.[15] The people participating in this gambling were ten.[16] Azlām also consisted of ten wooden sticks of the same size and shape. Three of these sticks were blank, and the other seven each had a specific share, ranging from one share to seven shares, written on them.[17] The participants in the gambling slaughtered an animal and divided its meat into 28 equal parts.[18] Then, for each person, a stick was drawn and his share was determined.[19] Finally, the three people whose shares were blank and were considered losers had to pay the money for the killed animal.[20] Each of these sticks had its own specific name.[21] Majmaʿ al-bayān has narrated a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a) and Imam al-Bāqir (a) in which the method of gambling by means of azlām and its prohibition are mentioned.[22]

Seeking Good and Evil and Casting Lots with Azlam

The Arabs before Islam used azlam to find out and discover the opinion of their idols and gods.[23] They would write the phrase "ifʿal" (do) on one of the arrows and "lā tafʿal" (do not do) on another stick,[24] or other writings with the same meaning.[25] Then, by picking one of them, they would determine the good and evil of the action in the eyes of the gods.[26]

This type of use of azlam was used in many of their life affairs, including traveling, marriage, and so on.[27] Also, this type of determining the good or evil of actions had a strong connection with religious beliefs, and for this reason, this ceremony was mostly performed with a religious appearance and in temples and near idols.[28]

Another application of azlam was drawing lots for judging in ambiguous matters.[29] The Qur'an, in the story of accepting the guardianship of Lady Maryam (a), uses the expression "yulqūna aqlāmahum" (they cast their pens),[30] which means casting lots with sihām, meaning arrows.[31] Also, in the story of Prophet Yūnus and throwing him into the sea, the expression "sāhama" is used[32] (fa-sāhama fa-kāna min al-mudḥaḍīn - and he drew lots, and he was among the losers), which refers to drawing lots.[33] In the story of 'Abd al-Muttalib, who according to his vow had to sacrifice his son ʿAbd Allāh, he drew lots with azlam between ʿAbd Allāh and sacrificing camels.[34]

Difference from Istikhara

Determining the good and evil of actions using azlam was based on making idols intermediaries and seeking help from them.[35] The Arabs before Islam, whenever an unknown or ambiguous matter occurred to them, would go to the idol temple and use azlam to try to find out the opinion of the idols.[36] According to ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī in al-Mīzān, this action of theirs was polytheism; because it was done near idols and by making them intermediaries, while seeking good and evil is the prerogative of God and one should not associate anyone other than Him in this matter.[37] According to this basis, the only reason for the prohibition of seeking good and evil with azlam is relying on idols and polytheism towards God.[38] However, Muslims request istikhāra from the One God, and this, unlike azlam, is not incompatible with monotheism.[39]

Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadl Allah, one of the marja's, has also mentioned other differences between azlam and istikhāra.[40]

See Also

Notes

  1. ↑ Allāh-Akbarī, "Azlām", vol. 2, p. 598.
  2. ↑ Balāghī, Ḥujjat al-tafāsīr, 1386 AH, vol. 2, p. 189.
  3. ↑ Balāghī, Ḥujjat al-tafāsīr, 1386 AH, vol. 2, p. 189.
  4. ↑ "Azlām", Dāʾirat al-maʿārif-i buzurg-i Islāmī, vol. 8, p. 47.
  5. ↑ ʿAwtibī Ṣuḥārī, Al-Ansāb, 1427 AH, vol. 2, p. 573.
  6. ↑ Qur'an 5:90.
  7. ↑ Qurashī, Qāmūs-i Qurʾān, 1371 Sh, vol. 3, p. 176.
  8. ↑ Qur'an 5:90.
  9. ↑ Qur'an 5:3.
  10. ↑ Maybudī, Kashf al-asrār, 1371 Sh, vol. 3, p. 14.
  11. ↑ Mudarrisī, Min hudā l-Qurʾān, 1419 AH, vol. 2, p. 295.
  12. ↑ "Maqṣūd az (taqsīm bi azlām) chīst?", Majalla-yi Darshāyī az Maktab-i Islām, p. 69.
  13. ↑ Qur'an 5:90.
  14. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 2, p. 192.
  15. ↑ Muṣṭafawī, Al-Taḥqīq fī kalimāt al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, 1360 Sh, vol. 14, p. 246.
  16. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 2, p. 192.
  17. ↑ Allāh-Akbarī, "Azlām", vol. 2, p. 598.
  18. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 2, p. 192.
  19. ↑ Allāh-Akbarī, "Azlām", vol. 2, p. 598.
  20. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 4, pp. 260-261.
  21. ↑ Allāh-Akbarī, "Azlām", vol. 2, p. 598.
  22. ↑ Ṭabarsī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1372 Sh, vol. 3, p. 245.
  23. ↑ "Azlām", Dāʾirat al-maʿārif-i buzurg-i Islāmī, vol. 8, p. 46.
  24. ↑ Iṣfahānī, Al-Aghānī, 1415 AH, vol. 5, footnote p. 10.
  25. ↑ Ibn Ḥabīb, Al-Muḥabbar, p. 332.
  26. ↑ Ibn Ḥabīb, Al-Muḥabbar, p. 332.
  27. ↑ Yaʿqūbī, Taʾrīkh al-Yaʿqūbī, vol. 1, p. 259.
  28. ↑ "Azlām", Dāʾirat al-maʿārif-i buzurg-i Islāmī, vol. 8, p. 47.
  29. ↑ Minbarī, "Azlām".
  30. ↑ Qur'an 3:44.
  31. ↑ Mughniyya, Al-Tafsīr al-kāshif, 1424 AH, vol. 2, p. 57.
  32. ↑ Qur'an 37:141.
  33. ↑ Fayḍ Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-ṣāfī, 1415 AH, vol. 4, p. 283.
  34. ↑ Al-Shaykh al-Ṣadūq, Al-Khiṣāl, 1362 Sh, vol. 1, p. 57.
  35. ↑ Balāghī, Ḥujjat al-tafāsīr, 1386 AH, vol. 2, pp. 189-190.
  36. ↑ Balāghī, Ḥujjat al-tafāsīr, 1386 AH, vol. 2, pp. 189-190.
  37. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 6, p. 119.
  38. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 6, p. 119.
  39. ↑ "Maqṣūd az (taqsīm bi azlām) chīst?", p. 69.
  40. ↑ Faḍl Allāh, Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qurʾān, 1419 AH, vol. 8, p. 42.

References

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  • "Azlām". In Dāʾirat al-maʿārif-i buzurg-i Islāmī. Tehran, Markaz-i Dāʾirat al-maʿārif-i buzurg-i Islāmī, 1377 Sh.
  • ʿAwtibī Ṣuḥārī, Salama b. Muslim al-. Al-Ansāb. Edited by Muḥammad Iḥsān Naṣṣ. Oman, Wizārat al-Turāth al-Qawmī wa al-Thaqāfa, 1427 AH.
  • Balāghī, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥujjat. Ḥujjat al-tafāsīr wa balāgh al-iksīr. Qom, Intishārāt-i Ḥikmat, 1386 AH.
  • Faḍl Allāh, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār al-Malāk li-l-Ṭibāʿa wa al-Nashr, 1419 AH.
  • Fayḍ Kāshānī, Mullā Muḥsin. Tafsīr al-ṣāfī. Edited by Ḥusayn Aʿlamī. Tehran, Intishārāt-i al-Ṣadr, 1415 AH.
  • Ibn Ḥabīb. Al-Muḥabbar. Edited by Ilse Lichtenstädter. Beirut, Dār al-Āfāq al-Jadīda, n.d.
  • Iṣfahānī, Abu l-Faraj al-. Al-Aghānī. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1415 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
  • "Maqṣūd az (taqsīm bi azlām) chīst?". Majalla-yi Darshāyī az Maktab-i Islām, year 24, no. 6, Shahrivar 1363 Sh.
  • Maybudī, Aḥmad b. Abī Saʿd. Kashf al-asrār wa ʿuddat al-abrār. Edited by ʿAlī Aṣghar Ḥikmat. Tehran, Amīr Kabīr, 1371 Sh.
  • Minbarī, Farīda. "Azlām". In Dānishnāma-yi Ḥajj wa Ḥaramayn-i Sharīfayn. On the website of Pizhūhishkada-yi Ḥajj wa Ziyārat. Published: Isfand 22, 1392. Accessed: Day 9, 1398 Sh.
  • Mudarrisī, Sayyid Muḥammad Taqī. Min hudā l-Qurʾān. Tehran, Dār Muḥibbī al-Ḥusayn, 1419 AH.
  • Mughniyya, Muḥammad Jawād. Al-Tafsīr al-kāshif. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1424 AH.
  • Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan. Al-Taḥqīq fī kalimāt al-Qurʾān al-Karīm. Tehran, Bungāh-i Tarjuma wa Nashr-i Kitāb, 1360 Sh.
  • Qurashī, Sayyid ʿAlī Akbar. Qāmūs-i Qurʾān. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1371 Sh.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Khiṣāl. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Qom, Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1362 Sh.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom, Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1417 AH.
  • Ṭabarsī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. With an introduction by Muḥammad Jawād Balāghī. Tehran, Nāṣir Khusraw, 1372 Sh.
  • Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb al-. Taʾrīkh al-Yaʿqūbī. Beirut, Dār Ṣādir, n.d.
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