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ALGERIA FROM WITHIN

not necessary to remind God of what He has already ordained. What seems so simple and right in this religion is the absence of any sort of intermediary in the shape of priest or minister. The good Mohammedan can observe the whole of his religion from the age of fifteen until he dies without ever setting foot inside a mosque or speaking to an imam. The mosques are all very simple indeed, with very little decoration, as pictures and statues are forbidden. The pilgrim who has been to Mecca and Medina is much respected, and has the prefix hadj (pilgrim) attached to his name. Yearly ships from Algiers transport bands of Arabs who have saved up to do this journey. There have been cases of men who have walked all the way across Tripoli and Egypt to per-form the rites at the Kaaba and to see the tomb of the Prophet. It would take too long in this book to go into the various divisions or sects which have created themselves in the Mohammedan religion, as in all other faiths. It will suffice to mention some of the main groups: The Sunnites are orthodox; The Shiahs, followers of Ali; The Ibadites, followers of Abd Allah ben Ibad; The Sofrites, followers of Abd Allah ben Sofar; The Kharedjites are dissenters. It was this last form of religion which the Berbers accepted and which is practised to this day in all their centers in Algeria. These groups are divided and sub-divided into some seventy sects which it would require years of study to examine, and, unless one is a specialist in this matter, are of little interest to the average traveler. What is interesting, however, is to read a well

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