ON ISLAM AND ANIMISM. 



93 



served as an amulet. In Egypt as in Ireland, with the Hebrews 

 as with the Etruscans, they attribute to this figure a mysterious 

 power. In the middle parts of France they have the hand made 

 of coral, and the Arabs in Africa and Asia believe that the 

 fingers of an open hand, like the horn, have the power of turning 

 away the evil eye. This belief they have inherited from the 

 Chaldeans and the Phoenicians, which belief they share with the 

 Jews. Whether it be the figure of a hand, or the hand or fingers 

 taken from a corpse, he who possesses a talisman of this kind is 

 sure of escaping bad influences. In Palestine this goes by the 

 name of Kef Mir yam ; in Algeria, the Moslems in our French 

 colonies very appropriately named these talismans La Main cle 

 Fatima ; and from this source another superstition has been 

 developed : — the mystic virtues of the number five, because of the 

 five fingers of the hand"* [or its sinister power]. 



In the prayer called the QunUt, which takes place after the 

 morning prayer (Saldt), the hands are raised in magical fashion. 

 Goldziher believes that the original signification of this was a 

 curse or imprecation on the enemy ; such was the ancient 

 custom of the Arabs. The Prophet cursed his enemies in this 

 way ; so did also the early Caliphs. In Lane's Dictionary (art. 

 on QUnut) we find the prayer given as follows : " 0 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 favour, and 

 we cast off and forsake him who disobeys Thee : 0 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 over- 

 take the unbelievers.'' It is said of the Prophet that he stood 

 during a whole month, after the prayer of daybreak, cursing the 

 tribes of Kial and Dhekwan. We read in Al-Muvxitta (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. 



Not only in formal prayer (Saldt), but also in the JDu^a 

 (petition), there are magical practices, especially in the prayer 

 for eclipse, by the raising of the hands. We are told in al-Buk- 

 hari that on one occasion the Prophet, while praying for rain, 

 " raised his hands so high that one could see the white skin of 



* M. Lef ebure, in his short work, La Mam dt Fatima^ has gathered all 

 that is known on the subject. 



