Evening star., 1924-08-03

BUILDING, HAS A WING TO THE
title Of Hadji-one who has made the
Hadji. or pilgrimage.
Shroud designers and brickmakers
do the most fourishing business OF
any of the merchants OF Nedjef. The
bricks are made Of clay from the
cemetery and are inscribed with a
| verse from the Koran. When a Shia
prays he faces Nedjef and prostrates
himself until his forehead touches
the sacred brick which he has placed
on the ground.
Persia is the home Of many reli-
gions. beginning with the Zoroastri-
ans, now represented by the Parsees.
| and several sects of Christians, down
to Mohammedanism in its many divi-
sions-Shiite Mohammedanism being
| the state religion Of the country.
, The Shiites have their own tradi-
tions, the most marked being an in
ordinate respect for Ali. nephew and
son-in-law Of the prophet and prob
ably his first male convert They be-
lieve that the Angel Gabriel visited
Mohammed on his last pilgrimage to
Mecca and instructed him to proclaim
Ali his successor.
So thoroughly are they convinced
that the caliphate belongs to the
house Of Mohammed alone that to the
| confession, There Is no god but God,
and Mohammed is His ambassador,
| they add land Ali is the vice regent
| of God" But Ali while in the flesh
had some powerful enemies, chief
among whom was Ayesha, the favor
| ite wife of Mohammed and the only
| one of his harem who had never been
married before, and these enemies
succeeded in putting Ali aside and
choosing three caliphs before him.
He finally succeeded in obtaining the
| caliphate, but was murdered In the
| MOSQUE of Kufa after he had served
only four years.
| Fabulous are the stories that his
name provokes in Persia In fact, he
is said to have out-Joshuaed Joshua
| in the following manner: One day,
while in Kufa, he was so busy that
he did not have time to say his
PRAYERS. Just as he finished his
chores the sun disappeared behind the
horizon, so he raised his hands toward
the sky, made a sign and the sun
retraced its steps to the position II
should occupy at the moment OF
| prayer and waited while the great
| man offered up his petition.
Persian professions. such as the
one of which Vice Consul Imbrie was
| taking pictures when beaten to death
by the mob. impress the stranger as
| fanatical. During their month OF
mourning'-that in which the son OF
Ali was assa ssina ated-they put on
deep black, throw their shirts open
J at the chest (whether this lunar
month is very hot or cold), lacerate
| their bodies and go unshaven and
with bare feet through the streets
Using their swords, they beat the
| tops of their heads until the blood
| streams over their faces and onto
their garments. Large sums are paid
by principal personages in the cele-
bration for the blood-drenched robes
! During that month the only theat-
| rical performances of Persia take
place. They are manifestations OF
F, Persian patriotism, in which the
Shiites show their hatred for other
Mohammedan sects, particularly for
| the Sunnites, and are somewhat like
| the early English miracle and
morality plays. They are performed
in the courtyards of the houses OF
the rich. The stage manager an.
nounces to the audience where the
scene is laid. 4 suspended lion skin
represents the desert: a silver bowl
of water represents the Tigris. The
parts of the women are taken by
boys or young men.
| The crudity Of these performances
is amazing to the average American
who is familiar with the elaborate
settings of modern motion pictures
When the actors are supposed to be
| off the stage they merely sit down
and a corpse sits quietly on the stage
dressed in a shirt stuck through with
arrows and smeared with blood OF
| in some similar outfit to indicate the
| manner of death.
~ \
MANY Persians have no home life
Ava in the usual sense of the word
A Persian house is divided into the
birooni, or mems apartments. and the
| anderoon, or part consecrated to
women. A strong door set in high
blank wall gives entrance to a mar
| row passage that leads into . square
courtyard. on which open several
rooms. Here the men live, and here
| they usually entertain their friends
| while their women dwell in rooms
set round an inner courtyard, the
only entrance to which is through
| the birooni.
AS a Persian is instructed from
earliest youth that a woman's ad-
vice is Of no account-in fact, the
priests tell him that he had better dc
the exact opposite to what a woman
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