"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎١‎١‎٢] (٧٣٨/٢٢٩)

218 INHABITANTS
Fast, i.e. the first day of the month Shawwal, which succeeds
the fasting-month, and which they associate especially with
the name of Mohammed. The Day of the Sacrifice (10 Dhu’l-
Hijjah) is especially associated with the name of Ishmael,
whom the Moslems ordinarily substitute for Isaac in the
account of Abraham’s sacrifice. The 21st and 29th of this
month are also feast-days, commemorating occasions in the
life of the Prophet Mohammed, wherein ‘Ali played a part of
some importance. On 10th Muharram, which with the Shihtes
generally is the most important day in the year, as it com
memorates the death of Husein, the Ansariyeh take the oppor
tunity to assert their conviction that this personage did not
really die. On 9 Rabi‘ II they celebrate another Feast of the
Pond, and in the middle of Sha‘ban another feast in honour of
Husein. Besides these they appear to have adopted certain
Christian festivals, notably Christmas, and certain which
belong to the Persians. For these they employ the calendars
of the communities from which they have been taken.
Like other Shihte sects they visit the tombs of real and sup
posed saints ; one of the most important of these is Ja‘far the
Winged, brother of ‘Ali. Two days after the death of a great
sheikh a funeral feast is held, and when the guests have eaten
of the meats according to their ability, they pay tribute to the
family of the dead, in sums varying from twenty to a hundred
francs. On every mountain-top they build a shrine which
marks a burial-ground. The trees which grow there are left
untouched.
Quite serious authors charge the Ansariyeh with the en
couragement of various forms of vice, and the facts that they
drink wine and allow their women to go about unveiled would
be sufficient to brand them as immoral in the eyes of orthodox
Moslems. It does not appear that they are chargeable with
anything more serious than their neighbours. In the face of
persecutions they have a tendency to identify themselves
with the communities with which they come in contact.
The origin of the Ansariyeh is obscure, and the attempt that
has been made to find in their present system the survival of