ANIMISTIC ELEMENTS IN MOSLEM PRAYER 47 



present prayer given as follows: "O God, verily we beg of 

 Thee aid, and we beg of Thee forgiveness. And we believe 

 in Thee and we rely on Thee, and we laud Thee well, and 

 we will not be unthankful to Thee for Thy favor, and we 

 cast off and forsake him who disobeys Thee : God, Thee 

 we worship and to Thee we perform the divinely-appointed 

 act of prayer, and prostrate ourselves; and we are quick in 

 working for Thee and in serving Thee ; we hope for Thy 

 mercy, and we dread Thy punishment; verily (or may) Thy 

 punishment overtake the unbelievers." It is said of the 

 Prophet that he stood during a whole month after the 

 prayer of daybreak cursing the tribes of Rial and Dhukwan. 

 We read in Al-Muwatta (Vol.i, p. 216) that at the time of 

 the Qunut they used to curse their enemies the unbelievers 

 in the month of Ramadhan. Later on this custom was 

 modified or explained away. (See Bukhari). Bukhari even 

 wrote a book on the subject as to when the hands might be 

 lifted in prayer. 



There is no doubt regarding the origin of the Qunut 

 prayer. We read in Yusuf as Safti in his commentary on 

 Ibn Turhi, a well-known book on Fiqh (p. 157): "The 

 reason for the legislation concerning the Qunut is as follows. 

 One day there came to the Prophet certain unbelievers 

 who pretended that they had become Moslems and 

 asked him that he would give them aid from among his 

 Companions as a troop against their enemies. So he granted 

 them seventy men from among the Companions; when they 

 departed with them, however, they took them out to the 

 desert and killing them threw them into the well Mayrah. 

 This became known to the Prophet and he mistrusted them 

 and was filled with wrath and began to curse them saying : 

 "0 God, curse Ra'ala and Lahyan and Beni Dhakwan 

 because they mocked God and his Apostle. O God, cause 

 to come down upon them a famine like in the days of 

 Joseph and help el-Walid ibn el-Walid and the weak com- 

 pany of Mecca." Then Gabriel came down to him and 

 told him to keep quiet saying, "God did not send you a 

 reviler and a curser but verily he sent you as a mercy. 

 He did not send you as a punishment. The affair does not 

 concern you; for God will either forgive them or punish 

 them. They are the transgressors." Then he taught him 

 the Qunut aforementioned." i.e. the prayer now used. 



In spite of the assertion of God's unity there are many 

 other things connected with Moslem prayer which show 

 pagan magic such as the power through certain words and 

 gestures to influence the Almighty. These practices were 

 prevalent before Islam. Professor Goldziher mentions the 



