42 ANIMISTIC ELEMENTS IN MOSLEM PRAYER 



greatest heat of the day belongs to the heat of. hell." Nor is 

 it permitted to pray shortly after sunrise for "the sun rises 

 between the horns of the devil." According to Abu- 

 Horaira and Abdallah ibn 'Omar, the prophet of God said: 

 'When it is excessively hot wait until it is cool to make 

 your prayers, for intense heat comes from hell." 



Abu-Dzarr said : The muezzin of the Prophet had 

 called for the noon-prayer. "Wait until it is cooler, wait 

 until it is cooler, or wait . . . " said the Prophet. Then he 

 added : "Great heat is of hell : so when it is excessively hot, 

 wait until it is cool then make your prayers." Abou-Dzarr* 

 adds : "And we waited until we saw the shadow declining." 



But the most interesting thing of all is the tradition 

 regarding the Sutra. The word means something that covers 

 or protects ; from what is it a protection and why is it used ? 

 The Commentaries do not explain what the Sutra really 

 means but it is very clearly a protection against demons, 

 as is shown by the traditions given, f 



According to Ibn Omar, on the feast day (when the fast 

 was broken) the Messenger of God gave him an order when 

 he went out to bring him a stick and to stick it before him 

 and it was before this stick that he made his prayers, while 

 the faithful were ranged behind him. He did the same 

 thing when he travelled and it is from this that the emirs 

 took the custom. Other authorities say the Sutra of the 

 Prophet was the short spear or the camel-saddle, or his 

 ■camel when kneeling.^ 



A curious tradition is given by Abu Dawud on the 

 authority of Ibn Abbas who said, "I think the Apostle of 

 God said, 'If one of you prays without a sutra (a thing set 

 up by a praying person) before him, his prayer is apt to be 

 annulled by a dog, or an ass, or a pig, or a Jew, or a Magi, 

 or a menstruating woman; if they pass before him they 

 ought to be punished on that account, with the pelting of 

 stones.' " § 



Abu-Johaifa said: "The Prophet went out during the 

 heat of the day and when he came to El-Batha and prayed 

 two rake's for the noon-prayer and the evening prayer, he 

 stuck a pike before him and made his ablutions. The faith- 

 ful washed themselves with the rest of the water. || 



*Al-Bohhari translated by Houdas, (Paris 1903) p. 190. 

 tSee Muslim : vol. i, pp. 190, 193, 194 and Zarkani : Com. on 

 <al-Mvwatta. : vol. i, p. 283. 



tlbn Maja : vol. i, p. 156, lines 10-12. 

 §Ad-Damiri's Hayat Al-Hayawan : vol. i, p. 708. 

 || Les Traductions Bokh-ari, Houdas. p. 179. 



