Arabian Society In The Middle Ages Part 11

[188] This flower is called "f.a.ghiyeh," and more commonly "temer el-?enna;" or, according to some, the f.a.ghiyeh is the flower produced by a slip of temer el-henna, planted upside down, and superior to the flower of the latter planted in the natural way!

[189] Es-Suyoo?ee, ubi supra.

[190] Ibid.

[191] Es-Suyoo?ee.

[192] Sha?a?. The "adhriyoon," or "adharyoon," is said to be a variety of the anemone.

[193] From the former, or from "no?man," signifying "blood," the anemone was named "sha?a? en-no?man."

[194] ?albet el-k.u.meyt, chap. xvii.

[195] ?albet el-k.u.meyt; Es-Suyoo?ee, ubi supra; and El-?azweenee.

[196] The Arabic names of these flowers are, yasameen, nisreen, zahr (or zahr narinj), soosan, ree?an (or ?oba?), nemam, bahar, u??owan, neelofar, beshneen, jullanar or julnar, khashkhash, khi?mee, za?faran, 'o?fur, kettan, ba?illa, and leblab, and loz.

[197] Ban, and khilaf or khalaf. Both these names are applied to the same tree (which, according to Forskal, differs slightly from the salix aegyptiaca of Linnaeus) by the author of the ?albet el-k.u.meyt and by the modern Egyptians.

[198] ?albet el-k.u.meyt, chap. xiv.

[199] ?albet el-k.u.meyt, chap. xi.

[200] Mishkat el-Ma?abee?, ii. 425.

[201] ?albet el-k.u.meyt, chap. xiv.

[202] Soft boots, worn inside the slippers or shoes.

[203] Halbet el-k.u.meyt, chap. xiv.

[204] I am not sure of the orthography of this name, particularly with respect to the first and last vowels; having never found it written with the vowel points. It is sometimes written with ? for kh, and f for ?.

[205] ?albet el-k.u.meyt, 1.1.

[206] He was born in A.H. 125, and died in 213, or 188.

[207] He was born A.H. 150, and died in 235.

[208] Mir-at ez-Zeman, events of the year 231. He died in this year.

[209] ?albet el-k.u.meyt, chap. vii.

[210] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil.

[211] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, section vii.

[212] See Sir John Malcolm's "Sketches in Persia," i. ch. v.

[213] Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys, i. 220, ff.

CHAPTER VIII.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION.

In few cases are the Mohammadans so much fettered by the directions of their Prophet and other religious instructors as in the rearing and education of their children. In matters of the most trivial nature, religious precedents direct their management of the young. One of the first duties is to wrap the new-born child in clean white linen, or in linen of some other colour, but not yellow. After this some person (not a female) should p.r.o.nounce the adan[214] in the ear of the infant, because the Prophet did so in the ear of El-?asan when Fa?imeh gave birth to him; or he should p.r.o.nounce the adan in the right ear, and the i?ameh (which is nearly the same) in the left.[215]

It was formerly a custom of many of the Arabs, and perhaps is still among some, for the father to give a feast to his friends on seven successive days after the birth of a son; but that of a daughter was observed with less rejoicing. The general modern custom is to give an entertainment only on the seventh day, which is called Yom es-Suboo?.

On this occasion, in the families of the higher cla.s.ses, professional female singers are hired to entertain a party of ladies, friends of the infant's mother, who visit her on this occasion, in the ?areem; or a concert of instrumental music, or a recitation of the whole of the ?ur-an, is performed below by men. The mother, attended by the midwife, being seated in a chair which is the property of the latter, the child is brought, wrapped in a handsome shawl or something costly; and, to accustom it to noise, that it may not be frightened afterwards by the music and other sounds of mirth, one of the women takes a bra.s.s mortar and strikes it repeatedly with the pestle, as if pounding. After this, the child is put into a sieve and shaken, it being supposed that this operation is beneficial to its stomach. Next, it is carried through all the apartments of the ?areem, accompanied by several women or girls, each of whom bears a number of wax candles, sometimes of various colours, cut in two, lighted, and stuck into small lumps of paste of ?enna, upon a small round tray. At the same time the midwife, or another female, sprinkles upon the floor of each room a mixture of salt with seed of the fennel-flower, or salt alone, which has been placed during the preceding night at the infant's head; saying as she does this, "The salt be in the eye of the person who doth not bless the Prophet!" or, "The foul salt be in the eye of the envier!" This ceremony of the sprinkling of salt is considered a preservative for the child and mother from the evil eye; and each person present should say, "O G.o.d, bless our lord Mo?ammad!" The child, wrapped up and placed on a fine mattress, which is sometimes laid on a silver tray, is shewn to each of the women present, who looks at its face, says, "O G.o.d, bless our lord Mo?ammad! G.o.d give thee long life!" etc., and usually puts an embroidered handkerchief, with a gold coin (if pretty or old, the more esteemed) tied up in one of the corners, on the child's head, or by its side. This giving of handkerchiefs and gold is considered as imposing a debt, to be repaid by the mother, if the donor should give her the same occasion; or as the discharge of a debt for a similar offering. The coins are generally used for some years to decorate the head-dress of the child. After these presents for the child, others are given for the midwife. During the night before the seventh-day's festivity, a water-bottle full of water (a dora? in the case of a boy, and a ?ulleh[216] in that of a girl), with an embroidered handkerchief tied round the neck, is placed at the child's head while it sleeps. This, with the water it contains, the midwife takes and puts upon a tray and presents it to each of the women; who put presents of money for her into the tray. In the evening, the husband generally entertains a party of his friends.[217]

On this day, or on the fourteenth, twenty-first, twenty-eighth, or thirty-fifth day after the birth, several religious ceremonies are required to be performed; but they are most approved if observed on the seventh day. One of these is the naming. I believe, however, that it is a more common custom to give the name almost immediately after the birth, or about three hours after. Astrologers were often consulted on this occasion; but the following directions are given on higher authority, and are generally followed.--"The father should give his son a good name, ... not a name of self-praise, as Rasheed [Orthodox], Emeen [Faithful], etc.... The Prophet said, 'The names most approved by G.o.d are 'Abd-Allah [Servant of G.o.d] and 'Abd-Er-Ra?man [Servant of the Compa.s.sionate], and such like.' He also said, 'Give my name, but do not distinguish by my surname of relationship:' but this precept, they say, respects his own lifetime, ... because he was addressed, 'O Abu-l-?asim!' and now it is not disapproved; but some disapprove of uniting the name and surname, so as to call a person Mo?ammad and Abu-l-?asim. And if a son be called by the name of a prophet it is not allowable to abuse or vilify him, unless the person so named be facing his reproacher, who should say, 'Thou' [without mentioning his name]: and a child named Mo?ammad or A?mad should be [especially]

honoured.... The Prophet said, 'There is no people holding a consultation at which there is present one whose name is Mo?ammad or A?mad, but G.o.d blesseth all that a.s.sembly:' and again he said, 'Whoever nameth his child by my name, or by that of any of my children or my companions, from affection to me or to them, G.o.d (whose name be exalted) will give him in Paradise what eye hath not seen nor ear heard.' And a son should not be named King of kings, or Lord of lords; nor should a man take a surname of relationship from the name of the eldest of his children; nor take any such surname before a child is born to him."[218] The custom of naming children after prophets, or after relations or companions of Mo?ammad, is very common. No ceremony is observed on account of the naming.

On the same day, however, two practices which I am about to mention are prescribed to be observed; though, as far as my observations and inquiries allow me to judge, they are generally neglected by the modern Muslims. The first of these is a sacrifice. The victim is called 'a?ee?ah. It should be a ram or goat; or two such animals should be sacrificed for a son, and one for a daughter. This rite is regarded by Ibn-?ambal as absolutely obligatory: he said, "If a father sacrifice not for his son, and he [the son] die, that son will not intercede for him on the day of judgment." The founders of the three other princ.i.p.al sects regard it in different and less important lights, though Mo?ammad slew an 'a?ee?ah for himself after his prophetic mission. The person should say, on slaying the victim, "O G.o.d, verily this 'a?ee?ah is a ransom for my son such a one; its blood for his blood, and its flesh for his flesh, and its bone for his bone, and its skin for his skin, and its hair for his hair. O G.o.d, make it a ransom for my son from h.e.l.l fire." A bone of the victim should not be broken.[219] The midwife should receive a leg of it. It should be cooked without previously cutting off any portion of it; and part of it should be given in alms.

After this should be performed the other ceremony above alluded to, which is this:--It is a sunneh ordinance, inc.u.mbent on the father, to shave or cause to be shaved the head of the child, and to give in alms to the poor the weight of the hair in gold or silver. This should also be done for a proselyte.[220] On the subsequent occasions of shaving the head of a male child (for the head of the male is frequently shaven), a tuft of hair is generally left on the crown, and commonly for several years another also over the forehead.

Circ.u.mcision is most approved if performed on the same day;[221] but the observance of this rite is generally delayed until the child has attained the age of five or six years, and sometimes several years later. (See p. 200).

The Muslims regard a child as a trust committed by G.o.d to its parents, who, they hold, are responsible for the manner in which they bring it up, and will be examined on this subject on the day of judgment. But they further venture to say, that "the first who will lay hold of a man on the day of judgment will be his wife and children, who [if he have been deficient in his duty to them] will present themselves before G.o.d, and say, 'O our Lord, take for us our due from him; for he taught us not that of which we were ignorant, and he fed us with forbidden food, and we knew not:' and their due will be taken from him."[222] By this is meant, that a certain proportion of the good works which the man may have done, and his children and wife neglected, will be set down to their account: or that a similar proportion of their evil works will be transferred to _his_ account.

The mother is enjoined by the law to give suck to her child two full years, unless she have her husband's consent to shorten the period, or to employ another nurse. "For suckling the child, a virtuous woman, who eateth only what is lawful, should be chosen; for the unlawful [food]

will manifest its evil in the child; as the Prophet ... said, 'Giving suck altereth the tempers.' But it is recommended by the Sunneh that the mother herself suckle the child; for it is said in a tradition, 'There is nothing better for a child than its mother's milk.' 'If thou wouldst try,' it is added, 'whether the child be of an ingenuous disposition in its infancy or not, order a woman who is not its mother to suckle it after its mother has done so: and if it drink of the milk of the woman who is not its mother, it is not of an ingenuous disposition.'"[223]

Children, being regarded by Muslim parents as enviable blessings, are to them objects of the most anxious solicitude. To guard them from the supposed influence of the envious or evil eye, they have recourse to various expedients. When they are taken abroad, they are usually clad in a most slovenly manner, and left unwashed, or even purposely smeared with dirt; and as a further precaution a fantastic cap is often put upon the child's head, or its head-dress is decorated with one or more coins, a feather, a gay ta.s.sel, or a written charm or two sewed up in leather or encased in gold or silver, or some other appendage to attract the eye, that so the infant itself may pa.s.s unnoticed. If a person express his admiration of another's child otherwise than by some pious e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n, as for instance by praising its Creator (with the exclamation of "Sub?ana-llah!" or Ma shaa-llah!" etc.) or invoking a blessing on the Prophet, he fills the mind of the parent with apprehension; and recourse is had to some superst.i.tious ceremony to counteract the dreaded influence of his envious glance. The children of the poor from their unattractive appearance are less exposed to this imaginary danger: they generally have little or no clothing and are extremely dirty. It is partly with the view of protecting them from the evil eye that those of the rich are so long confined to the ?areem: there they are petted and pampered for several years, at least until they are of age to go to school; but most of them are instructed at home.

The children of the Muslims are taught to show to their fathers a degree of respect which might be deemed incompatible with the existence of a tender mutual affection; but I believe that this is not the case. The child greets the father in the morning by kissing his hand, and then usually stands before him in a respectful att.i.tude, with the left hand covered by the right, to receive any order or to await his permission to depart; but after the respectful kiss, is often taken on the lap. After the period of infancy, the well-bred son seldom sits in the presence of his father; but during that period he is generally allowed much familiarity. A Syrian merchant, who was one of my near neighbours in Cairo, had a child of exquisite beauty, commonly supposed to be his daughter, whom, though he was a most bigoted Muslim, he daily took with him from his private house to his shop. The child followed him, seated upon an a.s.s before a black slave, and until about six years old was dressed like most young ladies, but without a face-veil. The father then thinking that the appearance of taking about with him a daughter of that age was scandalous, dressed his pet as a boy, and told his friends that the female attire had been employed as a protection against the evil eye, girls being less coveted than boys. This indeed is sometimes done, and it is possible that such might have been the case in this instance; but I was led to believe that it was not so. A year after, I left Cairo: while I remained there, I continued to see the child pa.s.s my house as before, but always in boy's clothing.

It is not surprising that the natives of Eastern countries, where a very trifling expense is required to rear the young, should be generally desirous of a numerous offspring. A motive of self-interest conduces forcibly to cherish this feeling in a wife; for she is commonly esteemed by her husband in proportion to her fruitfulness, and a man is seldom willing to divorce a wife, or to sell a slave, who has borne him a child. A similar feeling also induces in both parents a desire to obtain offspring, and renders them at the same time resigned to the loss of such of their children as die in tender age. This feeling arises from their belief of certain services, of greater moment than the richest blessings this world can bestow, which children who die in infancy are to render to their parents.

The Prophet is related to have said, "The infant children [of the Muslims] shall a.s.semble at the scene of judgment on the day of the general resurrection, when all creatures shall appear for the reckoning, and it will be said to the angels, 'Go ye with these into Paradise:' and they will halt at the gate of Paradise, and it will be said to them, 'Welcome to the offspring of the Muslims! enter ye Paradise: there is no reckoning to be made with you:' and they will reply, 'Yea, and our fathers and our mothers:' but the guardians of Paradise will say, 'Verily your fathers and your mothers are not with you because they have committed faults and sins for which they must be reckoned with and inquired of.' Then they will shriek and cry at the gate of Paradise with a great cry; and G.o.d (whose name be exalted, and who is all-knowing respecting them) will say, 'What is this cry?' It will be answered, 'O our Lord, the children of the Muslims say, We will not enter Paradise but with our fathers and our mothers.' Whereupon G.o.d (whose name be exalted) will say, 'Pa.s.s among them all, and take the hands of your parents, and introduce them into Paradise.'" The children who are to have this power are such as are born of believers, and die without having attained to the knowledge of sin; and according to one tradition, one such child will introduce his two parents into Paradise. Such infants only are to enter Paradise; for of the children who die in infancy, those of believers alone are they who would believe if they grew to years of discretion. On the same authority it is said, "When a child of the servant [of G.o.d] dies, G.o.d (whose name be exalted) saith to the angels, 'Have ye taken the child of my servant?' They answer, 'Yea.'

He saith, 'Have ye taken the child of his heart?' They reply, 'Yea.' He asketh them, 'What did my servant say?' They answer, 'He praised thee, and said, Verily to G.o.d we belong, and verily unto Him we return!' Then G.o.d will say, 'Build for my servant a house in Paradise, and name it the House of Praise.'"

To these traditions, which I find related as proofs of the advantages of marriage, the following anecdote, which is of a similar nature, is added. A certain man who would not take a wife awoke one day from his sleep, and demanded to be married, saying as his reason, "I dreamed that the resurrection had taken place, and that I was among the beings collected at the scene of judgment, but was suffering a thirst that stopped up the pa.s.sage of my stomach; and lo, there were youths pa.s.sing through the a.s.sembly, having in their hands ewers of silver, and cups of gold, and giving drink to one person after another; so I stretched forth my hand to one of them, and said, 'Give me to drink; for thirst overpowereth me;' but they answered, 'Thou hast no child among us; we give drink only to our fathers.' I asked them, 'Who are ye?' They replied, 'We are the deceased infant children of the Muslims.'"[224]

Especial rewards in heaven are promised to mothers. "When a woman conceives by her husband," said the Prophet, "she is called in heaven a martyr [_i.e._ she is ranked, as a martyr in dignity]; and her labour in childbed and her care for her children protect her from h.e.l.l fire."[225]

"When the child begins to speak, the father should teach him first the kelimeh [or profession of faith], 'There is no deity but G.o.d: [Mo?ammad is G.o.d's apostle]'--he should dictate this to him seven times. Then he should instruct him to say, 'Wherefore exalted be G.o.d, the King, the Truth! There is no deity but He, the Lord of the honourable throne.'[226] He should teach him also the Throne-verse,[227]

and the closing words of the ?ashr, 'He is G.o.d, beside whom there is no deity, the King, the Holy,'" etc.[228]

As soon as a son is old enough, his father should teach him the most important rules of decent behaviour: placing some food before him, he should order him to take it with the right hand (the left being employed for unclean purposes), and to say, on commencing, "In the name of G.o.d;"

to eat what is next to him, and not to hurry or spill any of the food upon his person or dress. He should teach him that it is disgusting to eat much. He should particularly condemn to him the love of gold and silver, and caution him against covetousness as he would against serpents and scorpions; and forbid his spitting in an a.s.sembly and every similar breach of good manners, from talking much, turning his back upon another, standing in an indolent att.i.tude, and speaking ill of any person to another. He should keep him from bad companions, teach him the ?ur-an and all requisite divine and prophetic ordinances, and instruct him in the arts of swimming and archery, and in some virtuous trade; for trade is a security from poverty. He should also command him to endure patiently the chastis.e.m.e.nts of his teacher. In one tradition it is said, "When a boy attains the age of six years he should be disciplined, and when he attains to nine years he should be put in a separate bed, and when he attains to ten years he should be beaten for [neglecting] prayer:" and in another tradition, "Order your children to pray at seven [years], and beat them for [neglecting] it at ten, and put them in separate beds."[229]

Circ.u.mcision is generally performed before the boy is submitted to the instruction of the schoolmaster.[230] Previously to the performance of this rite, he is, if belonging to the higher or middle rank of society, usually paraded about the neighbourhood of his parents' dwelling, gaily attired, chiefly with female habits and ornaments, but with a boy's turban on his head, mounted on a horse, preceded by musicians, and followed by a group of his female relations and friends. This ceremony is observed by the great with much pomp and with sumptuous feasts.

El-Jabartee mentions a fete celebrated on the occasion of the circ.u.mcision of a son of the ?a?ee of Cairo, in the year of the Flight 1179 (A.D. 1766), when the grandees and chief merchants and 'ulama of the city sent him such abundance of presents that the magazines of his mansion were filled with rice and b.u.t.ter and honey and sugar; the great hall, with coffee; and the middle of the court, with fire-wood: the public were amused for many days by players and performers of various kinds; and when the youth was paraded through the streets he was attended by numerous memlooks with their richly caparisoned horses and splendid arms and armour and military band, and by a number of other youths, who, out of compliment to him, were afterwards circ.u.mcised with him. This last custom is usual on such occasions; and so also is the sending of presents, such as those above mentioned, by friends, acquaintances, and tradespeople. At a fete of this kind, when the Khaleefeh El-Mu?tedir circ.u.mcised five of his sons, the money that was scattered in presents amounted to six hundred thousand pieces of gold, or about 300,000. Many orphans were also circ.u.mcised on the same day, and were presented with clothes and pieces of gold.[231] The Khaleefeh above mentioned was famous for his magnificence, a proof of which I have given before (p. 122 ff.). At the more approved entertainments which are given in celebration of a circ.u.mcision, a recital of the whole of the ?ur-an, or a zikr, is performed: at some others, male or female public dancers perform in the court of the house or in the street before the door.