The usual course is then to make the Ziarat, or visit to the tomb of the Prophet at Madina. Henceforth the pilgrim assumes the honorable title of Haji and so is, ever after, a person of some consequence among the community in which he dwells. The Hajj cannot be performed by proxy, though it is esteemed a 'good work,' if someone who can afford it, sends a pilgrim who otherwise could not go. This account of the Irkan-i-din, or five pillars of religion, must now draw to a close. They illustrate well the fixed and formal nature of Islam, whilst the constant reference to the Prophet's sayings and practice, as an authority for many of the details, shows how largely Islam is based on the Sunnat. With regard to the differences of opinion which the great Imams hold on some of the details, it is most difficult to decide which side holds the correct view. Such opinions are always based on some Tradition, the value of which it is impossible to determine. The opponent says it is a weak (z'aif) Tradition--a statement it would puzzle any one to prove or to disprove. It is sometimes said in praise of Musalmans that they are not priest-ridden; but no people in the world are so Tradition-ridden, if one may use such an expression. Until this chain of superstition is broken there can be no progress and no enlightenment; but when it is so broken Islam will cease to be Islam, for this foundation of the Faith and the edifice erected on it are so welded together that the undermining of the one will be the fall of the other. {233} NOTE TO CHAPTER V. _The following Fatva was publicly given in the Great Mosque, Triplicane, Madras, February 13th, 1880._ In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. QUESTION.