Chap. VI. 
Malabar and Coromandd. 
5' 
CHAP. VI. 
the Feajis, Sabbathj dncL fonie other things belonging to the Mahometans ; their 
PrteJiSy Holy Orders, Manners and Cujloms. 
Their Cir- 
cumcifm. 
WaJJiing, 
Sabbath, 
Bu,deCUi. 
Churches 
or Mofques. 
NOT to infill here upon the fabulous 
Trifles of Mahometh Vifions, con- 
tained in fome parts of the Alcoran^ we 
will proceed to give you a Ihort Account 
of the moft material Parts of the Maho- 
metan Religion. 
They commonly circumcife Boys and 
Girls at thirteen Years of Age, viz.. fo 
foon as they are able to fay their Confef- 
j[ions \ There is but one God^ and Mahomet 
his Prophet. If a 'Jew turns TwrJt, he is 
not circumcifed again, but only walhed 
with Water, Their Wafhing, or. Bath- 
ing, is performed upon a threefold occa- 
fion. 
1 . After they have eafed Nature, or 
cohabited with their Wives. 
2. When they are to go to the Mofque, 
or to read the Alcoran. And, 
3. After they have committed fome 
enormous Sins. 
Their High Priell is call'd Mufti, in 
great efteem with the Grand Seignior, 
and a Member of his Privy Council. Next 
to him are the Cadilepoeri, or Provincial 
High Priefts of Euro^e^ Natalia, &c. 
Thefe are followed by the Cady, Seriphes, 
Santones, Hoggy, Talifmans, and Der- 
vijes. 
The Sabbath of the Jllahometans is on 
Friday, which they keep with the fame 
llridtnefs as the Jews do theirs on Satur- 
day, at leaft with more devotion, as the 
Chriilians their Sunday. They have in 
each City, befides the other Mofques, one 
great Mofque, where they then aliemble 
to perform their Devotion. Their Lent 
begins in February with the New Moon, 
and continues thirty days, with a great 
deal of feverity, for they neither eat nor 
drink all the day long but fome make 
themfelves amends at Night, tho the Zea- 
lots will not tafte the leaft of Wine, or 
any other ftrong Liquor all that time, 
nor converie with their Wives. They 
arc permitted to marry as many Wives 
as they pleafe, tho the Alcoran allows no 
more than four Wives. 
Their Churches are flat on the top, 
commonly built on a rifing Ground, fo as 
to be feen at a diftance above the other 
Houfes. They have within nothing but 
bare white Walls, without Fiftures or 
Hangings^ tho on fome of their Tombs 
we fee certain PalTages ingrav'd out of the 
Alcoran. On the South-Eafi; of the Mofque 
ftandsthe Pulpit made of Brick-work, a- 
bout three fteps from the Ground, from 
whence their Teachers fay their publick 
Prayers, and explain the ^/cora^. Their 
Great Mofqucs are generally adorn'd with 
two high Steeples, each having Stairs 
within from the bottom to the cop. 
Their Mofques have fcarce any Revenues 
belonging to them, e.xcept what the Prieft 
piakes by letting fome few Chambers be- 
longing to them : Many of them aref 
built by charitable Perfons, and fome of 
thefe have a fettled Income. It is further 
worth obfervation, that if a Jew will 
turn Mahometan, hemuft firftownChrift, 
before they will receive him among the 
Muffelmen. 
They have many Ecclefiaftical Orders Diven 
among them, three whereof have no ^'^^^^^^^ 
Polfeflions, orjany other Propriety and 
fome pretend to fuch a degree of Purity, 
that they profefs themfelves born without 
manly Seed. Some make certain Vows, 
like the Roman Catholick Monks ; fome ap- 
pear quite naked, others only cover their 
Privities. Some have vow'd perpetual Si- 
lence ; fome carry Water without Re- 
ward ; fome prick themfelves with fharp- 
pointed Needles or Inftruments •, others 
carry a Ring of three pound weight in 
their Privy Members. 
For the reft, they believe God a Cor- Tenets of 
poreal Being, who is carried in a Throne 
by the Angels, and Chrift to be only a 
Man, andiAfahomet the Comforter men- 
tioned by John 14. \6. They believe a 
third place befides Heaven and Hell, and 
therefore pray for the Dead \ as alfo a 
General Judgment, but implicated in ma- 
ny fabulous Abfurdities ; for they tell you 
that two black Angels, one cail'd Mun- 
ger, the other Quaregner, will appear, the 
firft with an Iron Club, the other with a 
large Fork in his hand ; that every Man 
befides is to have two Angels toaflift him \ 
but if after all he cannot give a good ac- 
count of himfeif, the Angel with the 
Club knocks him down, and fo he is car- 
ried to Hell. And becaufe they are of 
opinion that thofe Angels appear to them 
in their Graves, thefe are generally built 
hollow \ whence alfo they often make 
the following Ejaculation: Good God, 
^rcferve us from the Interrogating Angd, 
from 
