The Khatib Then Ascends His Hole In The Wall, Which Serves For
Pulpit, And Thence Addresses Us With "The Peace
Be upon you, and the mercy
of Allah, and his benediction;" to which we respond through the Muezzin,
"And upon
You be peace, and Allah's mercy!" After sundry other religious
formulas and their replies, concluding with a second call to prayer, our
preacher rises, and in the voice with which Sir Hudibras was wont
"To blaspheme custard through the nose,"
preaches El Waaz [30], or the advice-sermon. He sits down for a few
minutes, and then, rising again, recites El Naat, or the Praise of the
Prophet and his Companions. These are the two heads into which the Moslem
discourse is divided; unfortunately, however, there is no application. Our
preacher, who is also Kazi or Judge, makes several blunders in his Arabic,
and he reads his sermons, a thing never done in El Islam, except by the
_modice docti_. The discourse over, our clerk, who is, if possible, worse
than the curate, repeats the form of call termed El Ikamah; then entering
the Mihrab or niche, he recites the two-bow Friday litany, with, and in
front of, the congregation. I remarked no peculiarity in the style of
praying, except that all followed the practice of the Shafeis in El
Yemen,--raising the hands for a moment, instead of letting them depend
along the thighs, between the Rukaat or bow and the Sujdah or prostration.
This public prayer concluded, many people leave the mosque; a few remain
for more prolonged devotions.
There is a queer kind of family likeness between this scene and that of a
village church, in some quiet nook of rural England. Old Sharmarkay, the
squire, attended by his son, takes his place close to the pulpit; and
although the _Honoratiores_ have no padded and cushioned pews, they
comport themselves very much as if they had. Recognitions of the most
distant description are allowed before the service commences: looking
around is strictly forbidden during prayers; but all do not regard the
prohibition, especially when a new moustache enters. Leaving the church,
men shake hands, stand for a moment to exchange friendly gossip, or
address a few words to the preacher, and then walk home to dinner. There
are many salient points of difference. No bonnets appear in public: the
squire, after prayers, gives alms to the poor, and departs escorted by two
dozen matchlock-men, who perseveringly fire their shotted guns.
FOOTNOTES
[1] This style of profile--highly oval, with the chin and brow receding--
is very conspicuous in Eastern Africa, where the face, slightly
prognathous, projects below the nose.
[2] Gall-nuts form the base of the tattooing dye. It is worked in with a
needle, when it becomes permanent: applied with a pen, it requires to be
renewed about once a fortnight.
[3] Mats are the staple manufacture in Eastern, as in many parts of
Western, Africa. The material is sometimes Daum or other palm: there are,
however, many plants in more common use; they are made of every variety in
shape and colour, and are dyed red, black, and yellow,--madder from
Tajurrah and alum being the matter principally used.
[4] When woman addresses woman she always uses her voice.
[5] The Tobe, or Abyssinian "Quarry," is the general garment of Africa
from Zayla to Bornou. In the Somali country it is a cotton sheet eight
cubits long, and two breadths sewn together. An article of various uses,
like the Highland plaid, it is worn in many ways; sometimes the right arm
is bared; in cold weather the whole person is muffled up, and in summer it
is allowed to full below the waist. Generally it is passed behind the
back, rests upon the left shoulder, is carried forward over the breast,
surrounds the body, and ends hanging on the left shoulder, where it
displays a gaudy silk fringe of red and yellow. This is the man's Tobe.
The woman's dress is of similar material, but differently worn: the edges
are knotted generally over the right, sometimes over the left shoulder; it
is girdled round the waist, below which hangs a lappet, which in cold
weather can be brought like a hood over the head. Though highly becoming,
and picturesque as the Roman toga, the Somali Tobe is by no means the most
decorous of dresses: women in the towns often prefer the Arab costume,--a
short-sleeved robe extending to the knee, and a Futah or loin-cloth
underneath.
As regards the word Tobe, it signifies, in Arabic, a garment generally:
the Somal call it "Maro," and the half Tobe a "Shukkah."
[6] Abu Kasim of Gaza, a well known commentator upon Abu Shujaa of
Isfahan, who wrote a text-book of the Shafei school.
[7] The Hajj had seven sons, three of whom died in infancy. Ali and
Mahmud, the latter a fine young man, fell victims to small pox: Mohammed
is now the eldest, and the youngest is a child called Ahmed, left for
education at Mocha. The Hajj has also two daughters, married to Bedouin
Somal.
[8] It is related that a Hazrami, flying from his fellow-countrymen,
reached a town upon the confines of China. He was about to take refuge in
a mosque, but entering, he stumbled over the threshold. "Ya Amud el Din"--
"0 Pillar of the Faith!" exclaimed a voice from the darkness, calling upon
the patron saint of Hazramaut to save a Moslem from falling. "May the
Pillar of the Faith break thy head," exclaimed the unpatriotic traveller,
at once rising to resume his vain peregrinations.
[9] Mercenaries from Mocha, Hazramaut, and Bir Hamid near Aden: they are
armed with matchlock, sword, and dagger; and each receives from the
governor a monthly stipend of two dollars and a half.
[10] The system of caste, which prevails in El Yemen, though not in the
northern parts of Arabia, is general throughout the Somali country. The
principal families of outcasts are the following.
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