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of Islam ; much less of the older beliefs and customs 
which he probably brought with him into the south 
from the original cradle of his race. 
A good deal of village life centres round the 
mosque, an unpretentious building with a double- 
tiered roof and wallings of wattle, wood or bricks 
and plaster, according to the wealth of the neigh- 
bourhood. 
The weekly religious service is on Friday, but 
the average villager is no Sabbatarian, though he 
attends the midday service once a week. Friday 
prayers in the mosque cannot be legally offered up 
unless there is a quorum of forty-four adult males. 
Females do not attend mosque. In some districts 
fines are imposed on members of the congregation 
who are absent from mosque on three successive 
Fridays. Festival services are held on the day after 
the fasting month ends and on the day on which 
the Mecca pilgrims complete the pilgrimage rites. 
A large single-ended drum, made from a section 
of a hollowed tree-trunk covered with skin at one 
end, hangs in a verandah which encircles the mosque. 
This instrument is beaten to call the faithful on 
Fridays and also at the time ' of the five daily 
prayers. The call to prayer is given by the 
“ sexton ” after the drum has beaten. 
Though Friday prayers are almost universally 
attended in the villages, the five daily prayers are 
much neglected. Only those who have some aspira- 
tions to be considered learned in the law and in 
religion, their children, and some elderly persons 
of both sexes keep the appointed times, but the 
observance of the rule varies from district to dis- 
trict. The daily prayers are said in the house or 
in the mosque, or even beside the highway. Prayer- 
houses, smaller than mosques, where no weekly 
