The Washington times., 1921-02-20

by followers of the Emir III,
Feisal, King of the Had nv
JAZZ, and rival of the
Sultan of Turkey to the title OF Com
mander of the Faithful, led to the de-
cision. The Emir, 1t will be remembered
was supported by the Allies during the
late war in his claims to the Shereefate,
or vice-Regency of Mohammed on Earth,
TO offset the effect upon Mohammedans OF
the Sultans alliance with Germany.
It was the purpose of the Hadjaz, " is
declared, to take the holy object either to
Mecca, the birthplace OF the Prophet, Or
to Medina, where his body lies. At any
rate, so great is the veneration for the
relic that it's mere possession would be an
immense asset for Emil Faisel, drawing
thousands of pilgrims away from Constan-
-tinople.
AS the Emir is the thirty-seventh in
direct descent from the Prophet himself.
it would seem that he has at least senti-
mental claim upon the unusual heirloom
no pun is intended in this word
vow sworn upon the beard OF the
Prophet is inviolable, its breaking Is be-
lieved to insure eternal damnation. by
the beard of the Prophet" or simply by
the beard" are the most familiar and bind
ing Of oaths.
As a matter of fact, the ancient silver
reliuuary which will soon>fest in modern
safe. does not contain the whole hirsu-
tage of the Prophets chin In 1t Is
small bottle covered with green velvet, and
in the bottle are Just two hairs.
The balance of the beard, or what is
left of 1t, is still in the sarcophagus that
holds the dust of Mohammed in the Mosque
at Medina or, as the more devout believe,
in a coffin which hangs suspended be-
tween heaven and earth.
But the Imaums and wise men have long
decided that all the virtue of the beard Is
equal in every part of 1t, and that each
hair is mighty enough to bind together all
the devils in hell or swing the earth like
a pendulum. II this is so it does not really
seem as though the whole beard could be
more potent than the pair OF strands.
BESIDES this, the two hairs, which were
the property of the house Of 1brahim, one
of the Ten Blessed Companions, until the
Seventh Century, have another claim to
holiness. They are part Of the Identical
strands upon which Satan once put such
a powerful spell that the Prophet almost
went to Para 1ise before his work was over.
Furthermore, according to this naive be-
lief, II was actually through them that the
last two chapters Of the Koran were fin
ished.
The legend, believed in by the devout.
recites that one day Satan, much disturbed
by the progress of MohaInmed, slipped into
his tent while the Prophet was engrossed
In a discussion with his favorite wife,
Fatimah. The Prophet had been combing
his beard and few hairs were in the
teeth. Satan took the comb and got away
while the unsuspecting Prophet was still
deep in his husbandly dissertation.
The Prince of Evil took the hairs from
the comb and tied them into eleven knots.
Then he made little wood image OF Mo
BANNED and hid image, comb and hair in
an abandoned wall Immediately the
Prophet began to suffer excruciating pain
in eleven different parts of his body. Hs
wasted away and, indeed, advanced rapidly
to the great reward awaiting him in the
world beyond this. There was woe and
vailing among his followers. One night
he had dream that revealed to him the
hiding place Of the bewitched articles that
were the cause of his misery. He recov-
cred them.
But Satan could tie knots like sailor.
and strive as he might Mohammed could
not undo those hairs.
In his extremity Allah sent to him the
Archangel Gabriel. The Archangel read
TO him the last eleven verses of the Koran,
the Mohammedan Bible.
And as each verse was finished knot
united itself And at last the Prophet
arose again, free Of pain!
After this extraordinary episode Ibrahm
secured possession of the two hairs. The
others, Il is said. were taken away by
Gabriel to be used as fetters for certain
Of Satan's hordes They remained in the
custody OF the House OF Ibrahim until the
Seventh Century, when the Caliph Al
2ahen coveted them. As the Caliph was
Nhe leader of all the Moslems, the earthly
mouthpiece of Mohammed and his direct