Note 21 — DICTIONARY OF ISLĀM. (continued 13)

Amongst the moral precepts which are borrowed from the Talmud, we may mention that children are not to obey their parents when the latter demand that which is evil.21 Prayer may be performed standing, walking, or even riding;22 devotions may be shortened in urgent cases, without committing sin;23 drunken persons are not to engage in acts of worship;24 ablutions before prayer are in special cases enforced, but generally required both in the Talmud and the Qurʾān;25 each permit the use of sand instead of water [TAYAMMUM], when the latter is not to be procured.26 The Talmud prohibits loud and noisy prayers, and Muḥammad gives this short injunction:—“Cry not in your prayers”;27 in addition to this secret prayer, public worship is equally commended. The Shema prayer of the Jews is to be performed “when one is able to distinguish a blue from a white thread,” and this is precisely the criterion of the commencement of the fast in the Qurʾān.28 [RAMAZAN.]