The World and Its People Part 61

In addition to the university there are several schools where grammar, arithmetic, and penmanship are taught. There are still others which are devoted to the arts and sciences, and to engineering. At Abou Zabel is the school of anatomy, medicine, and surgery.

The Arabic language is spoken at Cairo. Although it is not of the purest form, yet it is far superior to that spoken in Syria.

The manners and customs of the population of Cairo may serve as types of those of the cultured people in the various parts of the Mohammedan world. Serious attention is paid not only to the smallest details of social life, but special regard is had to the many precepts of their religion.

Perhaps in no way are the Mohammedan observances more strictly adhered to, and the religious inst.i.tutions more rigidly enforced, than in the rearing and in the education of children.

In the most trivial matters religious precepts and rules direct the management of the young child. The first duty of the Mohammedan parent is to see that the babe is wrapped in clean white linen. If this cannot be obtained, any other color may be used, provided it be not yellow.

After the babe has been wrapped in linen, it is the duty of some male to utter the summons to prayer in its ear. This custom is followed religiously by all good Mohammedans in remembrance of the act of the Prophet at the birth of El Hasan.

It is the custom to chant the Mohammedan summons to prayer from the minarets of the mosques just before the service.

It is to this effect: "_G.o.d is most great!_" repeated four times. "_I testify that there is no deity like G.o.d!_" twice in succession. "_I testify that Mohammed is G.o.d's apostle!_"--"_Come to prayer!_"--"_Come to security!_"--"_G.o.d is most great!_" each repeated twice in succession, followed by the closing sentence, "_There is no deity but G.o.d!_"

In former times it was usual for a father to give a grand feast of seven days' duration when a little son was born. The gift of a little daughter was not regarded as an occasion for so much rejoicing.

The general custom of modern times is to give an entertainment when the child is seven days old. The mother receives the guests, exhibits the young child to them, and accepts presents of gold or silver coins. These are usually intended as ornaments for the child's headdress. In the evening the father usually entertains his friends in honor of the young child.

The Mohammedan children are most carefully reared, and from their earliest years are taught to show the greatest respect to their fathers.

A most tender relation exists between father and child in spite of the ceremonious greetings they exchange.

Each morning the child greets his father by imprinting a kiss upon the hand. He then stands before him in an att.i.tude of respect, covering his left hand with his right while he awaits directions, or until he receives permission to go. Often, however, when he has kissed his father's hand, he is taken affectionately upon his lap. After the days of his babyhood have pa.s.sed the well-trained boy is seldom allowed to sit when in the presence of his father.

The natives of all Mohammedan countries are very fond of their children, yet they do not mourn for them to any great extent after the death of the little ones.

This feeling of resignation comes from a religious belief that children who die at an early age are able to intercede for their parents and obtain for them blessings greater than any that can be enjoyed in this world.

There is a popular belief in the promise of the Prophet, that all infant children of true believers shall, on the great judgment day, when the dead shall rise again, refuse to enter into Paradise unless their parents can go too. Then, in answer to their prayers and pet.i.tions, the gates of Paradise will be opened to all true Mohammedans.

Just as soon as a son is old enough to understand instruction, his father begins to teach him the most important rules of conduct. One of his first lessons is as follows:--the father places some food before his son and orders him to take it in his right hand. On no account can he employ the left hand, which must be reserved for menial services.

He is then trained to say, "In the name of G.o.d," as he commences to eat what is before him. He is also instructed not to hurry nor to spill any of his food, while it is impressed upon his mind that on no account is he to eat too much.

In addition to the instruction he receives in table manners, he is admonished not to be covetous nor miserly. He is forbidden to spit in the presence of others, or to commit any other rudeness. He is warned against talking too much, turning his back upon any one, standing in a slovenly position, and speaking evil against any one.

The obligations of the father are most binding. He must keep his child from evil companions, teach him the Koran, and all necessary religious and special observances and ordinances. He must give him instruction in the arts of swimming and archery, and see that he is taught some useful trade, as a protection against poverty. In addition, he must counsel him to show respect to his mother, and to endure patiently and submissively the corrections and punishments of his teachers.

Before a boy is old enough to go to school he has to submit to a religious rite which is observed with much pomp and with sumptuous feasts.

Before the observance of this rite, the boy, if he belong to the higher or middle cla.s.s, is usually paraded about the neighborhood near his father's home, gayly attired, generally in the dress and ornaments of a female, with a boy's turban upon the head.

Accompanied by a group of his female friends and relatives, who follow behind the horse upon which he is mounted, he rides about, preceded by a band of musicians to herald his coming.

Rich gifts are bestowed upon the young lad by the great men and merchants, till the storehouses and magazines of the household are filled to overflowing with various supplies, as rice, honey, sugar, coffee.

Players and performers of various kinds are engaged to amuse the public.

Often at some of the more pretentious entertainments a recital of the entire Koran is given. At others a dance is given by male and female performers in the courtyard before the mansion, or in the street before the doorway.

Very few children of Arab parentage receive much instruction in literature. Instances are rare where they receive even the rudiments of any of the higher sciences. Every town, however, has numerous schools; even the most moderate-sized village can usually boast of one school at least.

The schools of the towns are generally attached to the mosque and other public buildings. Most of these structures and the schools connected with them--like that attached to the mosque of Ezher here in Cairo--have been endowed by princes, men of rank, and wealthy tradesmen.

The schoolmaster's duties are light. Generally he teaches his pupils nothing more than to read the Koran and to recite the whole of it by heart.

After a pupil has committed the first chapter of the sacred book to memory, he learns the rest of the chapters in inverse order. This is done to simplify the task, as the chapters generally decrease in length towards the end of the book. Hence, he learns on the principle of taking the easiest lessons first. Instruction in writing and arithmetic he usually receives from another master.

One more duty the Arab father has to perform, and one which he deems most important, when his son has arrived at a proper age, which is considered by some to be twenty years. It is the custom of the father to select then a suitable wife for his son.

It is an old saying among the Arabs, "When a son has attained the age of twenty-five years, his father, if able, should marry him, and then take his hand and say, 'I have disciplined thee, and taught thee, and married thee; I now seek refuge with G.o.d from thy mischief in the present world and in the next.'"

The girls of an Arab family are seldom taught even reading. Although admission to the schools where the boys are under instruction is allowed, yet very few parents permit their girls to get any benefit from this privilege. They prefer, rather, to give them such literary instruction as they wish, by employing a learned woman to teach them at home.

The duties of such a teacher are to instruct her pupils in the forms of prayer, and to teach them to repeat by heart a few chapters from the Koran.

Instances are rare where the whole book is committed to memory; for parents are instructed not to give their daughters a full knowledge of the laws of the Koran.

Needlework is to some extent taught to the daughters of an Arab household, but it is not a common custom. In the poorer families the daughters frequently busy themselves with the spindle and many learn to weave.

In the families of the higher and middle cla.s.ses the daughters are taught to embroider and to do other ornamental work. This is taught to them at home, or in special schools.

Formerly, singing and playing upon the lute were considered necessary accomplishments for the daughters of wealthy Arabs. Now, however, such performances are confined to professionals, or to the slaves of the royal household.

It is very rare now that any musical instrument, other than a species of drum or a tambourine, is ever seen in the hands of an Arab lady. These instruments are used largely by the ladies of the wealthy households and are beaten by the fingers.

In many households the mothers bestow much care in teaching their daughters to acquire a fine gait and elegant carriage, as well as various little details of deportment, to render them attractive and pleasing in the eyes of others.

Those of you who were so fortunate as to visit the World's Fair at Chicago doubtless remember the representation of the streets of Cairo.

Not the least among its many unique features was the facsimile of a wedding procession.

Very slowly such a procession wends its way, headed by the quaint musicians, who, with lutes, tambourines, flutes, clarionets, and the peculiar drum of the Arabs, make the air hideous with their so-called music.

The married women, following behind, look like bats, arrayed as they are in long black silk wrappers. Behind them, wrapped in white veils, come the young friends of the bride, and at last the bride herself, so carefully enveloped in a red cashmere shawl that not a feature can be seen, and but the barest outline of her figure. Her only ornament is a costly gold coronet.

She is accompanied by two relatives, who with much dignity walk on each side of her. A canopy of bright red material, supported on four poles, waves over her, and richly embroidered scarfs hang from it or flutter in the breeze. More musicians bring up the rear.

From time to time the procession halts in order to afford what is considered a rich treat for eye and ear to the people who dwell upon the streets through which the procession pa.s.ses.

It is the custom of the Arab women to go heavily veiled, in order that their features may be hidden from mankind. When the young bridegroom receives his bride from her family, it is his privilege to lift her veil as he utters the words, "In the name of G.o.d, the Compa.s.sionate, the Merciful!" For the first time, usually, he now beholds the face of the bride, who, with eyes modestly downcast, stands before him.

The life of a young wife is not an enviable one, for she but leaves the seclusion of her father's home for the still closer seclusion of her husband's, where, surrounded by her women slaves, she pa.s.ses the time in a monotonous routine.

The slaves of an Arab household are, many of them, fairly educated and possess some little knowledge of sewing. In the wealthy households many of the slaves have been taught to sing and to dance, or have been trained to repeat lyric poetry for the entertainment and amus.e.m.e.nt of their owners.

In every Arab household the women's apartments are set off from the others; for it is part of the Mohammedan religion that women shall lead a life of seclusion, surrounded only by their children and female slaves.

The duties of these slaves are not laborious, though they may be monotonous. They consist mostly in waiting upon and serving their mistresses, who have scarcely more liberty than they. The negro slaves are a decided contrast to the white slaves, and are employed mainly in the kitchen and other domestic apartments.

Most of the slaves are well treated and lead happy and contented lives, since they can have no conception of a free, unfettered life such as the humblest tiller of the soil may enjoy when he lives in the land where the "red, white, and blue" floats in the air, a symbol of liberty to all who claim its protection.