The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-07-19

we may pray IN 0ed. Inc MOndIHHle-
dan, when the hour Of prayer comes,
open and goes through his long de-
votions wherever he may be. You may
often see him reading his Blble-the
Koran-while in his shop, and you
will find him praying everywhere. II
he is at all devout he goes to the
m osque every day and prays there
in public. He always washes before
he prays, and be k off his shoes
before he steps upon the holy floor
of his church. He makes the stran-
ger do likewise or requires him to put
on slippers over his shoes, that the
sacred pavement may not be defiled.
This is what [ had to do when | went
with a high priest through the Jamma
MuSjid today. although his holiness
told me 1 might keep my hat on.
And this brings me to midas great
est mosque. It is called the Jamma
Musjid and it is situated here on the
banks of the Jumna on a plateau Of
rock between Delhi fort and the ty.
It is something like 500 years old, hav-
ing been built by Shah Jehan, the
same man who erected the Ia Mahal
at Agra, considered the most beautiful
building of the whole world. The
Jamma Musjid is Of red sandstone in
laid with white marble. 1t has three
great domes and mighty minaretS from
the tops Of which the Imans call the
hours of prayer five time a day. 1t
is the biggest mosque in the world,
surprising anything in Cairo or Con-
stantinople and larger than the
famed Mohammedan churches Of Kai-
rouan. The Jamma Musjid has d
paved court of more four acres
in front of it. and this is walled by
cloisters which run around its three
sides.
The floor of the mosque is divided
into knapfinC n1ocpS of white marble
bordered with black. Each is large
enough to accommodate one man upon
his knees with sufficient fspace ia
front for him to bow his head to the
stone. All point toward Mecca, and
as [ walked through the building l
worshippers were reading their
Korans, and off at one side a crowd
Of women shrouded in white wells
was sitting. AS we walked through
the high priest pointed out the beau
ties of the mosque translating the ext
of the Koran inlaid here and there.
He took me to the. pulpit which is
cut out of a single block of solid
marble and as a special favor showed
me the greatest treasure possessed
by the church. This is kept in a
vault of stone with numerous doors,
which are guarded by two ray
bearded followers Of the prophet. At
the direction of the high priest these
doors were opened. My curiosity rose
as key after key was used. and when
at last | was shown a casket GOV
cred with glass I expected a great
diamond or some collection of rubies
and pearls. / looked in and saw
nothing until his holiness pointed TO
a single rough, red, wiry hair in the
center. The hair was about two inches
long and SO fastened by glue to the
casket hat it stood straight up, [
xx-ac to1I +t,o - r-oc - ~oa1 la;- 49,
the mustache of Mohanmed and that
it made the mosque especially holy.
1t reminded me Of a mosque which
| visited at kairouan in Tunisia. This
was built by the barber of Mohanmed
who buried under its foundation three
hairs from the beard of the prophet.
barber stole these hairs one day
While shaving Mohammed and carried
them about with him for the rest of
his life. One he kept under his
tongue, another owe his heart and
the third glued to his right arm. Upon
his death they were planted and the
mosque built above them. The Golden
Pagoda Of Rangoon.. the most famous
of the world, is
erected over seven or eight hairs of
Buddha, and down in Ceylon there is
6 wonderful temple which contains
Buddha's favorite tooth.
The Pearl Mosques.
Another beautiful mosque here is
known as the Mott Musjid, or Pearl
Mosque. 1t was built about two hun
dred and fifty years g by Arungzeb,
one Of the MohaInmedan ernperors, |
and it is the sister to the Pearl Mos
que at Agra, built by Shah Jehan.
Both Of these structures are of white
marble exquisitely carved and inlaid.
at Agra is perhaps the mos,
beautiful religious building of the
world. Bayard Taylor said that
it seemed to him 50 pure and stain
less and SO absolutely perfect in re-
vealing the spirit of worship that he
felt humbled to think that the Chris
tan religion had never inspired it's
architects to surpass it. This tenn
pie to God and Mohammed is Of the
purest white marble, with three great
silvery dOmes rising above it. The
iC Of marble CnI1aroC and in