He calls so
loud that all the people below can hear, and the sounds he utters are
like sweet music. But would it not make you sad to hear them when you
remembered what he was telling people to do? To pray to the god of
Mahomet, not to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ; but to a
false god: to no God. This man goes up the dark narrow stairs winding
inside the minaret five times a day: first he goes as soon as the sun
rises, then at noon, next in the afternoon, then at sunset, and last of
all in the night. Ascending and descending those steep stairs is all his
business, and it is hard work, and fatigues him very much.
In the court of the mosque there is a fountain. There every one washes
before he goes into the mosque to repeat his prayers, thinking to please
God by clean hands instead of a clean heart. Inside the mosque there are
no pews or benches, but only mats and carpets spread on the floor. There
the worshippers kneel and touch the ground with their foreheads. The
minister of the mosque is called the Imam. He stands in a niche in the
wall, with his back to the people, and repeats prayers.
But he is not the preacher. The sheikh, or chief man of the town,
preaches; not on Sunday, but on Friday. He sits on a high place and talks
to the people--not about pardon and peace, and heaven and holiness--but
about the duty of washing their hands before prayers, and of bowing down
to the ground, and such vain services.
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