Note 40 — Chapter V
Reading edition
In the fourth chapter of Ruth—“Boaz said unto the reapers—The Lord be with you: and they answered him the Lord bless you.” This is exactly the salutation of the Christians to this day: Allah mâkûm: Barak Allah. The salutation of the Mahometans is different: that is Salám alëikûm, Peace be unto you—and the reply is Alëikûm el salám—unto you be peace. The observance of this rule is so strict that if, in entering a room where Mahometans alone are seated, a Christian should presume to make use of the Mahometan salutation, they would not reply to him. We may infer that, when Mahomet first established his new religion, he endeavoured to draw a line between his proselytes and the Jews and Christians. Thus their day of worship was neither instituted on Saturday nor Sunday, but on Friday: so he appears to have appropriated a mode of salutation to them. Circumcision he did not get rid of, because he claimed to be a descendant of the patriarchs who had instituted or adopted it.