rayer; daybreak, noon, soon after noon, after sunset (to
avoid the idea of sun worship) and just before retiring. The general
place of prayer is the mosque, but few of the Moslems pray there, as
they prefer praying in the streets, open squares and in meadows before
mosques where they will be seen by more men and can better show their
piety and integrity. In the midst of his prayer he will stop and speak
a few words to the surrounding people as a religious custom, or to
revile children whose noise while at play may have interrupted him. A
prayer often prayed by faithful Moslems, quoted from the Koran, is a
foolish and selfish prayer and is entirely against the spirit and
teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. It reads: "O Allah, I seek refuge
to thee from Satan and all evil spirits. O Lord of all creatures
destroy all heathen and infidels, even those who believe in the
Trinity, the enemy of our religion. O Allah, make their children
orphans, their wives widows, and defile their abodes. Give their
families, their households, their women, their children, their
relatives, their possessions, their race, their wealth, their lands,
and their daughters as a booty to the Moslems, Thy only people, O Lord
of all creatures." Every word is against the blessed teachings of our
Lord who said: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good
to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and
persecute you."

The Mohammedan religion does not require women to pray. It is a
question if she has the same soul that man has. However some women
among the higher classes and some old widows do pray. But they cannot
pray in the most holy mosques on account of their uncleanness, nor in
the streets for they ought not to be seen of men. If they wish to they
may pray in their private houses.

While prayer carries a Musselman half way to heaven, fasting carries
him to the gate and alms admit him. So fasting and alms are the keys to
paradise and every man must practice them. The Moslems have only one
month of fasting called the ramadhan. Their month begins with the new
moon; but sometimes in some parts of the land it is cloudy and they
cannot see the moon. So men will be appointed by the government
throughout all the empire to watch carefully for the new moon,
sometimes from the peaks of mountains. When she is discovered telegrams
are sent announcing the beginning of the fast on the morrow. They will
fast from one hour before