Page:The young Moslem looks at life (1937).djvu/113

 Rh time he has reached twelve years of age he will have finished reading the holy Koran through for the first time, and have committed considerable portions of it to memory. In honor of the occasion of his having completed the first reading of the Koran the father will often give a party to a large number of friends, and a poem in celebration of the event will be read by one of the local poets.

At the same time the boy is being instructed by his father and tutor in the principles of Islamic faith, and in the essential religious duties. He is taught the meaning and value of ceremonial ablutions before prayer. Then he is shown just how to wash his feet and hands, and to go through the prayer ritual. Finally when he has reached the age of twelve or fourteen he will go with his father to the mosque, and there join with the other men in the prayers.

The celebration of the Moslem holy days is carefully observed in the home and this has a profound effect on the children. The Feast of Sacrifice is commemorated regularly each year in every devout Moslem home, when a sheep, or a goat, or a cow or even a camel is sacrificed. Special prayers are said, and it is a time of feasting. For this occasion, as well as for the feast which follows the month of fasting, the men dress in their best clothes and go to the special place of worship that is provided outside the city. Usually they take with them their children, who have