The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1886-01-23
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Moslem Superstition.

MOSIem SuperSIlI1On.
From the London Queen.
They abhor bells, which they say draw
together evil spirits-the very opposite o.
the old European nation which was that
the sound of bells drove the evil sprit'
away. For bells the Moslems have mer
called Muezzins, who are stationed in the
little balconies round the tops of the tai
minarets and who call out FIVE times day
to the people to come to prayer. Theil
cry is, 'There is no God but God, and Mo
hammed is the Apostle of God Moslems
must pray five times day, wherever they
are At home, in the shops, in the streets
or on journey, when the proper hour
comes, they fall down on their knees, and
go through their prayers and prostrations
One day several of them called on the
writer about p NJ, and after some con
versation one of them rose and said to his
companions, ~ must pray" They asked
why, for it was not the hour for prayer.
His answer was, "When [ went to the
mosque at noon to pray l had an ink-spei
on my finger nail, and | did not perceive il
until l left; so my prayer was of no ac
count. 1 have just scraped it off, so must
repeat my noontide prayer. He then
spread his cloak upon the floor, and, kneel-
ing on it with his face toward Mecca, began
his prayers, while his friends amused them
selves by talking about his strictness. One
of them said, "He thinks he 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 con-
Guiding, disputed a remark made by some
one while he was praying.
THE EVIL EYE.
Belief in the evil eye is very prevalent
in Western Asia, as it is in Northern Af-
rica, and even in Italy and Spain. One
day the friends of lady who had baby
called to see her. The moment they saw
the child they called out in Arabic, "The
name of Allah be upon him '' This was
to avert the evil eye. DIR. Meshaka, of
Damascus, says of those who entertain this
belief, that they "think certain people have
the power of killing others by glance Of
the eye. Others infict injury by the eye.
Others pick grapes by merely looking at
them This power may rest in one eye,
and man who thought he had it yelled
one eye, out of compassion for others. The
Moslem Sheiks and others profess to cure
the evil eye and prevent its effects by writ
ing 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 donkey's skull in the front door, to
keep off the evil eye. The Moslem women
leave their children ragged and dirty to KEEP
people from admiring them, and thus smit-
ing them with the evil eye. Wea are sorry
to add that they think blue eyes especially
dangerous, They believe the name Of
God, or Allah, is charm against evil, and
repeat it as such; but they have some ter
rible imprecations against those who are
thought to smite with the evil eye
THE SACRED FISH.
Near Tripoli there is what is called the
Convent of the Sacred Fish. 1t is large
high building, with snow-white dome
and great sycamore tree stands by the side
of crystal pool of water Here may b.
seen a crowd of Moslem boys, who have
come from TripoG 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 daee or club.
The custodian says that during the Crimean
war many of the older fish went off under
the sea to Sebastopol and fought the Rus
SLAMS, and that some of them came back
wounded. The people think that any one
who eats the fish will die Immediately; but
DIR. Jessup 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 well as sacred
fish, and there are also sacred trees, about
one of which little story is told. A few
years ago a little girl went to a 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 found the ground under it COW
cred with branches which had fallen off
As wood is so scarce, she asked the people
why they left this to rot on the ground
They told her they dared not take it, 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 me 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 home, 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 beer
taught in a mission school, and hence he
superiority to such an idle superstition.