"What God wills will be; what he wills not will not be," answered the people, all responses being muttered in low tones.
"The ringing of bells to call the people to service is forbidden," said the guide. "It is written that when the Mohammedan meetings were first held in Arabia, there was difficulty in gathering the people together and propositions were made to 'Ring a bell as the Christians do,' and to 'Blow the trumpets as do the Jews;' but Omar cried, 'What! is there not a man among you who can call to prayer?' The prophet then said, 'O Billal! stand and make the call to prayer.' Since then the melodious voices of the trained Muezzins five times each day summon the Moslems to prayer, and the tall graceful minarets which rise above the surrounding buildings were erected so that the voices could ring out over the city."
We followed the faithful into the mosque, after paying our fees and donning the slippers, and stood quietly in the rear of the great auditorium. The interior was brightened by beautiful blue and white tiling which lined the arches overhead and covered the immense piers that supported the roof. Inside the mosque, near the entrance, water was running from spigots into stone basins. The Moslems stopped at the basins and washed their hands and feet. Some of the better dressed worshipers appeared to have slippers inside their shoes and went through the motion of washing the feet, but the poorer classes used the water to cleanse their feet, and then walked forward barefooted on the rugs. Each man,—for there were no women at the service,—carried his shoes with him and placed them upon a board on the floor provided for that purpose.
The Koran, the sacred book, which, as the Moslems claim, was revealed to Mahomet by the angel Gabriel and was written by Mahomet under inspiration, commands:
"The clothes and person of the worshiper must be clean, the place free from all impurity, and the face turned toward Mecca." And also:
"O believers! when ye address yourselves to prayer wash your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads, and your feet to the ankles."
The worshipers, scattered around the vast interior, all facing the black stone in the wall which indicates the direction of Mecca, repeated their prayers in low tones. At first they stood with hands close at their sides, then as they muttered the prescribed formulas the hands were raised to the sides of the heads, then with hands clasped in front the worshipers remained for a short time in devout attention. After bowing several times the Moslems knelt on the Oriental rugs continuing the muttered supplications and concluded their personal devotions by bowing forward on their feet. The Iman, or priest, then ascended the pulpit, the worshipers formed in lines, and as the priests read the prayers, they went through the same movements that they had previously made while at their personal devotions.
"Women do not take any part in the public worship on the floor of the mosque," said the guide. "The latticed galleries are provided for them. There they may sit in privacy during the service. The galleries, however, are rarely occupied."
The Mosque of Ahmed has six minarets; St. Sophia, only four. The minarets, slender, round towers, are not attached to the main edifices, but stand separate and distinct in the courts surrounding the mosques, with some space intervening between mosque and minaret.
Resuming our drive through the very narrow streets of Stamboul, which are paved with large rough cobble stones once laid in place but now very much out of place, we passed many old unpainted frame buildings with stove pipes projecting from the windows of the second and third floors.