Mosque, and in the compound of the Mosque is a saint's grave. I have witnessed some queer heathenish performances there. Only a short time ago a crowd of women, men and children were assembled. A woman brought her oneyear-old son to have his head shaved over the grave. A cloth was spread to receive the hair and it was afterwards tied to a small flagpole at the head of the grave, and then a new red flag was also attached which must be left there until it fades and wears out, when it must be replaced with a new one and with similar ceremonies. Refreshments were partaken of by the visitors sitting around the grave and much merriment was indulged in. Helwa (candy) was thrown over the grave and rose water was sprinkled all over the grave. Then the company as well as the mother and child were marched three times around the grave and led out of the grounds walking backwards, for those who perform the vow must never turn their backs on the grave as they leave. This hair is very efficacious for various ills. Yesterday I saw the keeper, who is a very wicked woman, approach the grave. Her first act was to stoop down and kiss the earth at the head of the grave. She then tore off some of the rag that was wrapped around the hair and took a portion of the hair and tied it in a bundle and delivered it to the woman that had come with her. No doubt the women had been sent to get this for some serious case that would not yield to other treatments, and so the Mullah (priest) or woman reader had been called to the case and had prescribed the hair which the patient must wear to keep off evil spirits."

Special chapters are found in the lives of Mohammed the prophet on the virtues of his fadhalat, spittle, urine, blood,

9 There are traditions in Bukhari and Muslim to show the sacred power of Mohammed's blood, spittle, etc. It is also taught that even the excreta of the prophet of Arabia were free from all defilement. "Insan al Ayun al Halebi," Vol. II, p. 222.

Cf.

10 66

etc., including his hair. We read, for example, in the life of Mohammed by Seyyid Ahmed Zaini Dahlan : When the Prophet had his head shaved and his companions surrounded him they never suffered a single hair to fall to the ground but seized them as good omens or for blessing. And since His Excellency only had his hair cut at the times of the pilgrimage this had become sunna, so it is related in the Mawahib, and he who denies it should be severely punished." And Mohammed bin Darain relates: "I said to Obeid al Suleimani, 'I have a few hairs of the Prophet which I took from Anas,' and he replied, 'If I had a single hair it would be more to me than all the world." " Because of this belief, hairs of the Prophet's beard and in some cases of other saints in Islam are preserved as relics in the mosques throughout the world, e. g., at Delhi, Aintab, Damascus, etc. To give a recent instance, the population of Safed in Palestine, according to a missionary correspondent, "was all excitement in the early days of July, 1911, because a veritable hair from the beard of the Prophet had been granted them as a gift by the Sultan. A Christian builder was engaged to restore a mosque of the Binat Yacob, where the famous relic now finds shelter. The mayor of the city took the journey to Acre in order to accompany the relic to its resting-place. The correspondent goes on to relate some of the marvels that were told as to the virtues connected with the hair of the Prophet. Twenty soldiers, fully armed, escorted the relic.” 11

This same relic was the object of the most energetic search among Moslems from the earliest period of Islam. According to Goldziher the hair was worn as an amulet, and men on their deathbeds directed by will that the precious pos

10 Margin of Sirat al Halabi, Cairo Edition, 1308 A.H., vol. iii, pp. 238-9.

11 Der Christliche Orient, Sept., 1911.

session should go down with them and mingle with the earth. Jafar-ibn-Khinzabu, the vizier of an Egyptian prince, had three such hairs which at his death were put into his mouth, and his remains, according to his last testament, were carried to Medina. Impostors and charlatans were not slow to turn to advantage the credulity of the devout. Let us listen to Abdul Jani ul-Nabulusi, the famous traveler. He met on his pilgrimage to Medina a learned Mohammedan from India, Ghulam Mohammed by name. "He told me," the traveler narrates, "that in the countries of India many people possess Mohammed's hair, many have but a single hair, but others own more, up to twenty. These relics are shown to all those who would inspect them reverently. This Ghulam Mohammed tells me that one of the saintly men of the lands of India annually exhibits such relics on the ninth day of Rabi-ul-Aval, that on those occasions many people gather round him, learned and pious, perform prayers to the Prophet and go through divine service and mystic practices. He further informs me that the hairs at times move of their own accord, and that they grow in length and increase in number, so that a single hair is the propagator of a number of new ones." "All this," comments our traveler, "is no wonder, for the blessed apostle of God has a prolonged divine existence which is manifested in all his noble limbs and physical components. An historian relates that Prince Nurud-Din possessed a few of the Prophets's hairs in his treasury, and when he neared his dissolution he directed in his testament that the holy relics be deposited on his eyes, and there they remain in his grave to this day. He (the historian cited) goes on to inform us that every one who visits the mausoleum of the prince combines with the intention of visiting the ruler's tomb the hope that the magical relics preserved therein would produce their blissful effect. The tomb

could be seen in the academy at Damascus built by the prince."

" 12

The statements made in books of Moslem law leave no doubt that hair is considered sacred and may not therefore be sold or in any way dishonored. We read in the Hedaya,13 a great commentary on Moslem law,-" The sale of human hair is unlawful, in the same manner as is the use of it, because, being a part of the human body, it is necessary to preserve it from the disgrace to which an exposure of it to sale necessarily subjects it. It is moreover recorded, in the Hadith Sharif, that God denounced a curse upon a Wasila and a Mustawasila.' (The first of these is a woman whose employment it is to unite the shorn hair of one woman to the head of another, to make her hair appear long; and the second means the woman to whose head such hair is united). Besides, as it has been allowed to women to increase their locks by means of the wool of a camel, it may thence be inferred that the use of human hair is unlawful."

66

In Tunis," writes Mr. E. E. Short, "nail parings are buried; hair trimmings the same or burnt. If the latter are carried away by the wind the person will suffer from giddiness of the head. One informant gave Friday as the day for trimming the hair and nails, another Saturday. The reason for the practice seems to be that the parings might be found again and then when questioned one could answer that they had been properly buried. (Does not this point to a very materialistic conception of the resurrection body?)"

In Algeria it is believed that if nail trimmings are thrown on the ground Satan makes use of them; if trodden on, their late owner might become very ill, and it is unlucky if water is poured on them. They are used in magic and if mixed with food cause illness or death.

12"The Moslem World," Vol. I, p. 306. 18 Hamilton's "Hedaya," Vol. II, p. 439.

In Cape Town the same superstitions prevail among Indian Moslems with regard to hair and nail trimmings.

In Persia the hair and nail trimmings are sometimes preserved in bottles as part of the body, which will be needed by it at the resurrection. This was the practice of an old gatekeeper on the missionary premises at Urumia; the mischievous missionary's son took pleasure in hunting for his treasure and carrying it off, then witnessing his subsequent anger and grief.14

"When a girl reaches what the Achenese regard as a marriageable age without having yet had a suitor for her hand, it is believed that there must be some supernatural agency at work. It is looked upon as certain that she must have in some part of her body something malang or unpro pitious, which stands in the way of her success.

66 The numerical value of the initial letter of her name is assumed as the basis of a calculation for indicating the part of her body which is to blame. When this has been ascertained, the girl is placed on a heap of husked rice (breuch) and the spot indicated is slightly pricked with a golden needle, so as to draw a little blood. This blood is gathered up by means of a wad of tree cotton (gapeuch) which is then placed in an egg, part of the contents of which have been removed to make room for it. A little of the girl's hair and some parings of her nails are enclosed in a young cocoanut leaf, and finally all these things are thrown into the running water of the nearest river or stream."

" 15

In Java nails may not be cut on Fridays and never after dark. They are always wrapped up and buried and the following words repeated, "Abide here until I die and when I die follow me." Hair clippings must be put in a cool spot or the person will suffer. They must never be burned. 14 Letter from Miss S. Y. Holliday of Tabriz.

15" The Achenese,” p. 296.