[FN#297] She unveiled, being a slave-girl and for sale. If a free woman show her face to a Moslem, he breaks out into violent abuse, because the act is intended to let him know that he is looked upon as a small boy or an eunuch or a Chriastian—in fact not a man.
[FN#298] Ilah=Heb. El, a most difficult root, meaning strength, interposition, God (Numen) "the" (article) "don't" (do not), etc. etc.
[FN#299] As far as I know Christians are the only worshippers who kneel as if their lower legs were cut off and who "join hands" like the captive offering his wrists to be bound (dare manus). The posture, however, is not so ignoble as that of the Moslem "Sijdah" (prostration) which made certain North African tribes reject Al-Islam saying, "These men show their hind parts to heaven."
[FN#300] i.e. saying "I intend (purpose) to pray (for instance) the two-bow prayer (ruka'tayn) of the day-break," etc.
[FN#301] So called because it prohibits speaking with others till the prayer is ended.
[FN#302] Lit. "any thing opposite;" here used for the Ka'abah towards which men turn in prayer; as Guebres face the sun or fire and idolators their images. "Al-Kiblatayn" (= the two Kiblahs) means Meccah and Jerusalem, which was faced by Moslems as well as Jews and Christians till Mohammed changed the direction. For the occasion of the change see my Pilgrimage, ii. 320.
[FN#303] Which includes Tayammum or washing with sand. This is a very cleanly practice in a hot, dry land and was adopted long before Mohammed. Cedrenus tells of baptism with sand being administered to a dying traveller in the African desert.
[FN#304] The Koranic order for Wuzϊ is concise and as usual obscure, giving rise to a host of disputes and casuistical questions. Its text runs (chapt. v.), "O true believers, when you prepare to pray, wash (Ghusl) your faces, and your hands unto the elbows; and rub (Mas-h) your hands and your feet unto the ankles; and if ye be unclean by having lain with a woman, wash (Ghusl) yourselves all over." The purifications and ceremonious ablutions of the Jews originated this command; and the early Christians did very unwisely in not making the bath obligatory. St. Paul (Heb. xi. 22) says, "Let us draw near with a true heart…having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with clean (or pure) water." But this did not suffice. Hence the Eastern Christian, in hot climates where cleanliness should rank before godliness, is distinguished by his dirt which as a holy or reverend man he makes still dirtier, and he offers an ugly comparison with the Moslem and especially the Hindu. The neglect of commands to wash and prohibitions to drink strong waters are the two grand physical objections of the Christian code of morality.
[FN#305] Arab. "Istinshαk"=snuffing up water from the palm of the right hand so as to clean thoroughly the nostrils. This "function" is unreasonably neglected in Europe, to the detriment of the mucous membrane and the olfactory nerves.
[FN#306] So as to wash between them. The thick beard is combed out with the fingers.