medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Having lived in Eastern Europe & India and frequented many tea stalls
and coffee houses, I can make the observation that some of the beads
in question may not be religious. Many men had (have) a loop of beads
with a tail, which they usually twirl around their thumb but also do
other fascinating movements while in conversation. They appear to be
an almost required social hand prop in some places. They were (are?)
called "worry beads" and have no religious connotations. At least
that is what I was told when I was there.
yrs, tom ault
On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 08:49:26 -0500
Christopher Crockett <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
>culture
>
>From: Chris Laning <[log in to unmask]>
>> Can anyone refer me to someone who would know about the history of
>Islamic prayer beads?
>> Until recently the best documentation I could find was a couple of
>
>> 16th-century Safavid Persian paintings showing people with what are
>clearly prayer beads. _Beads of Faith_ does have a manuscript
>illustration which it says is a "12th century Mogul painting" showing
>an Islamic "saint" in India with his beads, but apparently the
>manuscript is in private hands (?) which means I have no way to check
>the date.
>
>> Suggestions?
>
>knowing nothing whatever about the subject, i am free to speculate
>that the
>chances of the Islamic practice *not* being influenced by the much
>more
>ancient Hindu and Budhist traditions are pretty slim.
>
>c
>
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