ANIMISTIC ELEMENTS IN MOSLEM PRAYER 39 



then let him blow his nose three times. For the devil spends 

 the night in a man's nostrils. ' And again : ' ' Said Omar ibn 

 <el-Khitab (may God have mercy on him) 'A certain man 

 performed ablution but left a dry spot on his foot. When 

 the Prophet of God saw it he said: "Go back and wash 

 better," then he returned and came back to prayer. Said 

 the Prophet of God : 'If a Moslem servant of God performs 

 the ablution when he washes his face every sin which his 

 face has committed is taken away by it with the water or 

 with the last drop of the water. And when he washes his 

 hands, the sins of his hands are taken away with the water 

 or with the last drop of the water. And when he washes 

 his feet all the sins which his feet have committed are taken 

 away with the water or with the last drop of water until he 

 becomes pure from sin altogether. ' Goldziher has shown 

 in one of his essays that according to Semitic conception 

 water drives away demons. According to Bokhari the wash- 

 ings before prayer should always begin on the right side of 

 the body and not the left. Another tradition gives the value 

 of the hairs of the Prophet when they fell in the washing- 

 vessel. The Prophet used to wash his feet when he wore 

 sandals by simply passing his hand over the outside of the 

 sandals; the object, therefore, cannot have been to cleanse 

 impurity but to ward off demons. Another tradition is given 

 :as follows : according to Abd-el-Eahman, a man came to 

 Omar ibn el Khattab and said, "I am in a state of impurity 

 and cannot find water." Ammar ben Yasir said to Omar 

 ibn el Khattab, "Do you remember the day that you and 

 I travelled together. You did not make your prayers, but 

 I rolled myself in the sand and prayed. When I told the 

 Prophet of this, he said, 'That was enough,' and so saying 

 he took some earth in his hands, blew on it and then rubbed 

 his face and hands with it."* Abd-el-Eahman was witness 

 when 'Amar said to Omar,' "We were in a detachment 

 and we were in a state of impurity, etc. . and he 



uses the words: "he spat on his hands" instead of "he 

 breathed.! 



These two traditions from Bokhari also show the value 

 ascribed to the animistic custom of blowing and spitting. 



There are a number of traditions regarding spitting in 

 -a mosque. It must never be done in front of anyone, nor 

 to the right hand but to the left. § According to Annas 



* fLes Traditions de, Bokhari, by 0. Houdas : p. 126. 



§ Bokhari : chap, 33. Cf. Muslim, Vol. I: 207 — Arabic edition; 

 "No one must enter or approach a mosque if he has eaten onion, or 

 garlic, because the angels hate the smell as much as human beings 

 •do."— Muslim : Vol. I : 210. 



