The parents seldom devote much of their time or attention to the intellectual education of their children; generally contenting themselves with instilling into their young minds a few principles of religion, and then submitting them, if they can afford to do so, to the instruction of a schoolmaster. As early as possible, the child is taught to say, “I testify that there is no deity but God; and I testify that Mohammad is God’s Apostle.” He receives also lessons of religious pride, and learns to hate the Christians, and all other sects but his own, as thoroughly as does the Muslim in advanced age. Most of the children of the higher and middle classes, and some of those of the lower orders, are taught by the schoolmaster to read, and to recite and chant[[88]] the whole or certain portions of the Kur-án by memory. They afterwards learn the most common rules of arithmetic.
PARADE PREVIOUS TO CIRCUMCISION.
Lane’s Modern Egyptians]
[Page 48
Schools are very numerous, not only in the metropolis, but in every large town; and there is one, at least, in every considerable village. Almost every mosque, “sebeel” (or public fountain), and “hód” (or drinking-place for cattle) in the metropolis has a “kuttáb” (or school) attached to it, in which children are instructed for a very trifling expense; the “sheykh” or “fikee”[[89]] (the master of the school) receiving from the parent of each pupil half a piaster (about five farthings of our money), or something more or less, every Thursday.[[90]] The master of a school attached to a mosque or other public building in Cairo also generally receives yearly a tarboosh, a piece of white muslin for a turban, a piece of linen, and a pair of shoes; and each boy receives, at the same time, a linen skull cap, four or five cubits[[91]] of cotton cloth, and perhaps half a piece (ten or twelve cubits) of linen, and a pair of shoes, and, in some cases, half a piaster or a piaster. These presents are supplied by funds bequeathed to the school, and are given in the month of Ramadán. The boys attend only during the hours of instruction, and then return to their homes. The lessons are generally written upon tablets of wood, painted white; and when one lesson is learnt, the tablet is washed and another is written. They also practise writing upon the same tablet. The schoolmaster and his pupils sit upon the ground, and each boy has his tablet in his hands, or a copy of the Kur-án, or of one of its thirty sections, on a little kind of desk of palm-sticks. All who are learning to read, recite, or chant their lessons aloud, at the same time rocking their heads or bodies incessantly backwards and forwards; which practice is observed by almost all persons in reciting the Kur-án; being thought to assist the memory. The noise may be imagined.[[92]]
The boys first learn the letters of the alphabet; next, the vowel-points and other orthographical marks; and then, the numerical value of each letter of the alphabet.[[93]] Previously to this third stage of the pupil’s progress, it is customary for the master to ornament the tablet with black and red ink, and green paint, and to write upon it the letters of the alphabet in the order of their respective numerical values, and convey it to the father, who returns it with a piaster or two placed upon it. The like is also done at several subsequent stages of the boy’s progress, as when he begins to learn the Kur-án, and six or seven times as he proceeds in learning the sacred book; each time the next lesson being written on the tablet. When he has become acquainted with the numerical values of the letters, the master writes for him some simple words, as the names of men; then, the ninety-nine names or epithets of God: next, the Fat’hah, or opening chapter of the Kur-án, is written upon his tablet, and he reads it repeatedly until he has perfectly committed it to memory. He then proceeds to learn the other chapters of the Kur-án: after the first chapter he learns the last; then the last but one; next the last but two, and so on, in inverted order, ending with the second; as the chapters in general successively decrease in length from the second to the last inclusively. It is seldom that the master of a school teaches writing; and few boys learn to write unless destined for some employment which absolutely requires that they should do so; in which latter case they are generally taught the art of writing, and likewise arithmetic, by a “kabbánee,” who is a person employed to weigh goods in a market or bázár, with the steelyard. Those who are to devote themselves to religion, or to any of the learned professions, mostly pursue a regular course of study in the great mosque El-Azhar.
The schoolmasters in Egypt are mostly persons of very little learning: few of them are acquainted with any writings except the Kur-án, and certain prayers, which, as well as the contents of the sacred volume, they are hired to recite on particular occasions. I was lately told of a man who could neither read nor write succeeding to the office of a schoolmaster in my neighbourhood. Being able to recite the whole of the Kur-án, he could hear the boys repeat their lessons: to write them, he employed the “’areef” (or head boy and monitor in the school), pretending that his eyes were weak. A few days after he had taken upon himself this office, a poor woman brought a letter for him to read to her from her son, who had gone on pilgrimage. The fikee pretended to read it, but said nothing; and the woman, inferring from his silence that the letter contained bad news, said to him, “Shall I shriek?” He answered “Yes.” “Shall I tear my clothes?” she asked: he replied “Yes.” So the poor woman returned to her house, and with her assembled friends performed the lamentation and other ceremonies usual on the occasion of a death. Not many days after this, her son arrived, and she asked him what he could mean by causing a letter to be written stating that he was dead? He explained the contents of the letter, and she went to the schoolmaster and begged him to inform her why he had told her to shriek and to tear her clothes, since the letter was to inform her that her son was well, and he was now arrived at home. Not at all abashed, he said, “God knows futurity! How could I know that your son would arrive in safety? It was better that you should think him dead than be led to expect to see him and perhaps be disappointed.” Some persons who were sitting with him praised his wisdom, exclaiming, “Truly, our new fikee is a man of unusual judgment!” and, for a little while, he found that he had raised his reputation by this blunder.[[94]]
Some parents employ a sheykh or fikee to teach their boys at home. The father usually teaches his son to perform the “wudoó,” and other ablutions, and to say his prayers, and instructs him in other religious and moral duties to the best of his ability. The Prophet directed his followers to order their children to say their prayers when seven years of age, and to beat them if they did not do so when ten years old; and at the latter age to make them sleep in separate beds. In Egypt, however, very few persons pray before they have attained to manhood.
The female children are very seldom taught to read or write; and not many of them, even among the higher orders, learn to say their prayers. Some of the rich engage a “sheykhah” (or learned woman) to visit the hareem daily; to teach their daughters and female slaves to say their prayers, and to recite a few chapters of the Kur-án; and sometimes to instruct them in reading and writing; but these are very rare accomplishments for females, even of the highest class in Egypt.[[95]] There are many schools in which girls are taught plain needlework, embroidery, etc. In families in easy circumstances a “m’allimeh,” or female teacher of such kinds of work, is often engaged to attend the girls at their own home.