ANIMISTIC ELEMENTS IN MOSLEM PRAYER 41 



speak later. The call of the Muezzin according to Al-Bokhari 

 drives away the demons and Satan. * No one dares to recite 

 the Koran, which is a holy book, without first repeating the 

 words, 'I take refuge in God against Satan the accursed.' 

 We may add to all this what Mittwoch has shown in his 

 book Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des islamischen Gebets und 

 Kultus, that the Takbir itself (that is the cry Allahu Akbar, 

 God is greater), one of the elements of daily prayer, is 

 a cry against demons. The raising of the hands during 

 prayer and the movement of the forefinger is perhaps 

 also to ward off the spirits of the air,f or it may have a 

 connection with the Qanut. Others say that the spreading 

 out or the stretching forth of the fingers and arms is to 

 prevent any idol or thing of blasphemy being hidden between 

 the fingers or under the arm-pits, a ruse used formerly by the 

 unbelievers and discovered by the Angel Gabriel. 



Among the Arabs before the time of Mohammed and 

 among Moslems to-day, sneezing, especially during prayer, 

 is an ominous sign and should be accompanied by a pious 

 ejaculation. This also is clearly animistic. Among the 

 tribes of Malaysia the general belief is that when one sneezes, 

 the soul leaves the body. At the close of the prayer, as is 

 well-known, the worshipper salutes the two angels on his 

 right and left shoulders. When one sneezes one should say, 

 "I ask forgiveness of God"; when one yawns, however, the 

 breath (soul) passes inward and one says, "Praise be to 

 God." 



Not only the preparations for prayer and prayer itself 

 but the times! °^ prayer have a distinct connection with the 

 animistic belief. The noon-day prayer is never held at high 

 noon but a short time after the sun reaches the meridian. 

 Wensinck points out that this is due to the belief that the 

 sun-god is really a demon and must not be worshipped by 

 the monotheist. According to al-Bukhari the Prophet post- 

 poned the noon-day prayer until after high noon for "the 



*Bokhari : Kitab al Adhan : Section iv. 



+1 am told by my sheikh from al-Azhar that according to Moslem 

 tradition it is bad luck {Malcruh) to drink water or any liquid while 

 one is standing. If, however, one is compelled to drink standing one 

 should move his big toe rapidly as this will ward off all harm. We 

 find here the same superstitious custom of warding off evil spirits by 

 moving the first toe up and down as that of the finger at the end of 

 the ritual prayer. 



+Prayer is forbidden at three particular periods : at high noon 

 because the devil is then in the ascendant ; when the sun is rising 

 because it rises between the horns of the devil, when the sun is at 

 the setting because it sets between the horns of the devil. {Ibn Maja : 

 Vol. i, p. 195). 



