Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-08-18
Moslem Superstltlons.
From the London Oueen.7

From the London Queen.1
The abhor bells, which they say draw
together evil spifis-the very opposite OF
the old European notion, which ives that
the sound OF bells drove evil spirits away
For bells, the moslems have men called
MueZzlns, who are stationed in the little
balconies around the tops OF tall minarets,
and who call out five times day to the
people to come to prayer. Their cry is:
There is no God bat God, and NOLAN
med is the Apostle of God" Moslems
must pray five times day, wherever they
are. AT home, in the shops, in the street,
or on journey, when the proper hour
comes, they fall down on their knees, and
60 through their prayers and prostrations.
One day, several called on the writer
about T. NJ, and sitter some converse.
ton one OF them rose and said TO his
companions, 81 must pray" They asked
him why, for it was not the hour of
prayer. His answer was: "When | went
to the mosque at noon TO pray, had an
ink spot on my finger nail, and did not
perceive it until left; so my prayer was
of no account. l have just scraped it off,
so must repeat my noontide prayer" He
then spread his cloak upon the floor, and
kneeling on it, with his face toward Nee.
ca, began his prayers, while his trends
tuCuScINoS ny IdlkiUR dUOuJ MS
strictness. One of them said, HE thinks
be is holy, but if we saw the inside OF
him you would find him as black as
pitch" He kept his head turned TO hear
what was said, and, on concluding, dis
puted a remark made by some one while
he was praying.
Belief In the evil eye is very preva'e nt
in Western Asia, as 1t is in Northern At
RIGA, and evan IN Italy and Spain. One
dog the friends of lady who had a baby
called to see her. The moment they saw
the child, they all cried out in Arabic,
THE name of Allah be upon him!"
This was to avert the evil eye. Dr. Me-
shaka, Of Damascus, says of those who
entertain this belief that they think Ger
tain people have the power of killing
others by glance Of the eye. Others in
tict injury by the eye. Others pick
grapes by merely looking al them. This
power may rest in one eye, aud man
who thought he had il, yelled cue eye cut
OF compassion for others. The Moslem
Sheiks and others profess to cure the evil
eye and prevent It's effects by writing mys-
tic talismanic words on papers, which are
to be worn. Others write the words on
an egg, and then strike the forehead of
the evil-eyed with the egg" When a
new house is built, the workmen hang up
an egg-shell or piece Of alum, or an old
root, or a donkey's skull, In the front
door, to keep off the evil eye. The Mos
lem women leave their children ragged
and dirty to keep people from admlrlng
them, and thus shifting them with the
evil eye. We are sorry to add that they
think blue eyes especially dangerous.
They believe. the name OF God, or Allah,
a charm against evil, and repeat it as
such; but they have some terrible impre
cations against hose who are thought to
smlte with the evil eye.
Near Tripoli there is what is called the
convent of the holy fish. It is large
high building, with snow-white dome,
and great sycamore tree stands by the
side of q crystal pool of water. Here may
be seen crowd Of Moslem boys, who
have come from Tripoli to feed the sacred
fish, and to play on the green lawn. The
old Sheik who keeps the place has much
faith in the fish. He says they are all
Moslems, and are inhabited by the souls
of Moslem saints. One black fish, the
Sheik OF the saints, does not often show
himself, but other fish may be counted by
hundreds of thousands, and resemble
dace or club. The custodian says that
during the Crimean war many of the older
fish went off under the sea to Sebastapool
ana IOugDb inc russians, anu tnat some OF
them came back wounded. The people
think that anyone who eats the fish will
die Immediately; but DR.. Jessop says that
the American consul in 1856 had some
caught and cooked They proved coarse
and unpalatable, but not Injurious.
They have sacred places as we'll as ga.
cred fish, and there are also sacred trees,
about one of which story is told. A few
years ago little girl went to mountain
village, where there was an oak tree stand.
ing alone by the hillside, and looked on
with reverence. When the girl came to
the tree she saw the ground under it GOV,
cred with branches which had fallen off,
AS wood is so scarce, she asked the peo-
pie why they lett this to rot on the ground
They told her they dared not take IL,
for the tree belonged to Moses, the
prophet, who protected the tree, and if
anyone took The wood he would fall dead.
She said: Moses is in heaven and does
not live in oak trees; and if he did, he is
good man and would not hurt mo for
burning up old dry sticks" So she asked
them if she might have some. They said
yes, if she dared take it. She did take as
much as she could carry horne, and they
screamed, and told her to drop it or it
would kill her; but she went on, felt no
harm, and came back for the rest. This
girl had been taught In mission school,
and hence her superiority to such an idle
superstition.
The common fuency of speech in
most women is owing to a scarcity of