Page:The young Moslem looks at life (1937).djvu/115

 Rh people celebrating one of the great events of Islam fixes firmly in the hearts of the young people who observe it a deep reverence for those who have given their lives for the faith, and died fighting in the way of Allah.

What part, it may be asked, do amusements play in the family life of Moslems? How, when, and where do they seek their enjoyment? To begin with it may be said that Moslem children play games and enjoy them just as children do anywhere. They have their own varieties of games of tag, marbles, and cards. Where Western civilization has left its impress the Moslem youth in the schools and colleges of India, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Egypt go in for hockey, football, tennis, cricket, baseball, basketball and track with the greatest of zest. They may and do play card games, but gambling at cards or on horse races is forbidden to a good Moslem. Yet because of the influence of the West these temptations are daily becoming more difficult for the Moslems of the great cities to face.

The dance among orthodox Moslems is regarded as a very immoral practice. In Indian Moslem circles mixed dancing between the sexes is considered immodest, immoral and—well, simply unthinkable. In Turkey, Iran, Egypt and the more modern countries of the Moslem world the situation is quite different. With the unveiling of the women dancing has been