mind, is that of the "evil eye -not only of him who envies but also of him who admires. It is also feared in the glance of the Jinn and the 'afrit. Mohammed was a believer in the baneful influence of the evil eye. Asma Bint 'Umais relates that she said, "O Prophet, the family of Ja'far are affected by the baneful influences of an evil eye; may I use spells for them or not?" The Prophet said, The Prophet said, "Yes, for if there were anything in the world which would overcome fate, it would be an evil eye." "94

Again we read," "Anas says: 'The Prophet permitted a spell (ruqyah) being used to counteract the ill effects of the evil eye; and on those bitten by snakes or scorpions.' (Sahih Muslim- p. 233.)

Um Salmah relates "that the Prophet allowed a spell to be used for the removal of yellowness in the eye, which, he said, proceeded from the malignant eye." (Sahih Al-Bokhari, p. 854.)

"'Auf ibn Malik says 'The Prophet said there is nothing wrong in using spells, provided the use of them does not associate anything with God.'" (Mishkat, Book XXI, ch. I.)

6

The magic resting in knots is also referred to in the Koran. In the Chapter of the Daybreak we read: "Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak, from the evil of what He has created; and from the evil of the night when it cometh on; and from the evil of the blowers upon knots." That the custom is animistic is clear from Frazer's description of it in his work on Taboo: “At a difficult birth the Battaks of Sumatra make a search through the possessions of husband and wife and untie everything that is tied up in a bundle. 4 Mishkat, XXI, C. I., Part 2.

Hughes' Dictionary, p. 303.

• Surah 113.

7 Vol. II, pp. 296–7 and 300.

In some parts of Java, when a woman is in travail, everything in the house that was shut is opened, in order that the birth may not be impeded; not only are doors opened and the lids of chests, boxes, rice-pots, and water-buts lifted up, but even swords are unsheathed and spears drawn out of their cases. Customs of the same sort are practiced with the same intention in other parts of the East Indies." He goes on to say, "We meet with the same superstition and the same custom at the present day in Syria. The persons who help a Syrian bridegroom to don his wedding garments take care that no knot is tied on them nor buttoned, for they believe that a buttoned or a knot tied would put it within the power of his enemies to deprive him of his nuptial rights by magical

Among the Jews also knots played an important part in magic. "Even to-day among the children of Kiev one of the ways of determining who shall be 'it' is to tie a knot in a handkerchief; the children pick out the corners, and the one selecting the knotted corner is 'it.' In Kovno, when a wart is removed a knot is tied around it with a thread and this knot is placed under the threshold." 8

Commentators on the Koran relate that the reason for the revelation of the chapter quoted above was that a Jew named Lobeid, had, with the assistance of his daughters, bewitched Mohammed by tying eleven knots in a cord which they hid in a well. The Prophet falling ill in consequence, this chapter and that following it were revealed; and the angel Gabriel acquainted him with the use he was to make of them, and told him where the cord was hidden. The Khalif Ali fetched the cord, and the Prophet repeated over it these two chapters; at every verse a knot was loosed till on finishing the last words, he was entirely freed from the charm.❞

8 The Jewish Encyclopedia, article Knot.

• See "Al Razi," Vol. VIII, pp. 559-564. Here we also learn that an

In Malay magic, heathen practices are so thoroughly mixed up with Mohammedan prayers that it is hard to disentangle the threads of superstition. Skeat tells us that in order to injure an enemy the method followed is as follows:

"Take parings of nails, hair, eyebrows, saliva, etc., of your intended victim (sufficient to represent every part of his person), and make them up into his likeness with wax from a deserted bees' comb. Scorch the figure slowly by holding it over a lamp every night for seven nights and say:

"It is not wax that I am scorching.

"It is the liver, heart and spleen of So-and-so that I scorch.' After the seventh time burn the figure, and your victim will die.” 10

The following prayer is also used in burying a wax image of one's enemy after piercing it with the thorn of the palm

tree:

"Peace be to you! Ho, Prophet 'Tap, in whose charge the earth is,

Lo, I am burying the corpse of Somebody,

I am bidden (to do so) by the Prophet Mohammed,

Because he (the corpse) was a rebel to God.

Do you assist in killing him or making him sick;

If you do not make him sick, if you do not kill him,

You shall be a rebel against God,

A rebel against Mohammed,

It is not I who am burying him,

It is Gabriel who is burying him.

Do you too grant my prayer and petition, this very day that has appeared,

Grant it by the grace of my petition within the fold of the Creed La ilaha." 11

afrit used to tease Mohammed, so Gabriel taught him to repeat this chapter at bed-time. It was also given him as a charm against the evil eye.

10" Malay Magic," p. 570. 11" Malay Magic," p. 571.

In this way the one who performs magic absolves himself from blood-guiltiness by shifting the burden of his guilt to the shoulders of the Angel Gabriel.

The teaching of the Koran is to blame for other forms of magic; is it not the inspired word of God? Among the Moslems Solomon is a great historic figure. He is still looked upon as the ruler of the animal world; the very trappers in the jungle address their prey in the name of "God's prophet, Solomon." His adventures with the Queen of Sheba are recorded in romance, his seal (the pentacle) is drawn by sorcerers on talismans and gives its name to the five-pointed starfish, and his wealth, like the treasure of Korah, is much sought for by local magicians.

Miss Holliday says that one of the most prevalent forms of magic in Persia is filling a metal bowl with water, holding money or some metallic object between the thumb and forefinger and stirring the water with it; they divine by looking in the water. Sometimes a cloth is placed in the bowl and chirping sounds, like the voices of sparrows are heard. I have heard of a woman in Urumia who has a familiar spirit, who is sometimes visible and whose answers to questions have a muttering or chirping sound. Sometimes a metal plate is used with letters on the rim from which answers are deduced. "The family of my Moslem cook," writes Miss Holliday, "have a singular distinction, their house being what is known as an 'ojock,' literally, a hearthstone, or fireplace. This is a rare thing; women bring their small infants to him and making a noose of a handkerchief round his gun, pass the child three times through it, which is supposed to protect it from the evil eye. All the sons of this clan have this power of blessing and protecting which is unknown to other Moslems. They have peculiar customs; one is, that after the birth of a child all in the house must abstain from all food of animal origin for a week, till the mother has gone to the

bath. The majority are monogamists and divorce is rare among them. My cook thinks there is but one other clan in this city which has the power of being an 'ojock.' Women here wishing to avert the evil eye from a young child, will bring it to my cook and give it to him as his own, then will give him money, with which he hires the mother, as the child's nurse, and she takes it away to her home."

She continues: "Two or three onions were pierced by a spit because the woman said the evil spirits did not like the odor or the looks of the sharp iron. Three eggs were put in a bowl at the pillow and stayed there till the mother was taken to the bath. When they left the house, one was broken and thrown out to attract the attention of the jinns to that, another when half way to the bath and the last when they reached the door, so that she could enter while their curiosity detained them without. A copy of the Koran was usually tied in a headkerchief and laid at the pillow.

"One must not come in 'on top of the baby' till the forty days are expired. So they would hold the baby over the door and I would enter the room under it. This was only for one who was not present at the birth.”

The

"One form of magic very common in Cape Town," says Mr. Gerdener, "is the casting of dice, also human bones and pebbles of varied color. In fact all through the country even by Europeans, Moslem magic is believed in and they send for Malay doctors,' paying them large sums for humbug. term Malay is synonymous in local newspaper circles with 'Moslem.' Amber beads, dried dates, flowers, Zem Zem water and sand or earth from Mohammed's grave are all used for good luck; dates and flowers for sickness, the flower being put into water and the newly born child bathed in it. The flower is subsequently taken out, dried and kept among the child's garments, until the next arrival. The sand or earth is worn in a rag round the neck to ward off sickness