HOUSES

Arabic bait ( بيت‎ ), pl. buyūt ; dār ( دار‎ ), pl. diyār , dūr ; Heb. ‏בַּיִת‎ . In the time of Muḥammad the houses of the Arabs were made of a framework of jarīd , or palm-sticks, covered over with a cloth of camel’s hair, or a curtain of a similar stuff, forming the door. Those of the better cla were made of walls of unbaked bricks, and date-leaf roofs plastered over with mud and clay. Of this description were the abodes of Muḥammad’s family. (Burton, vol. i. p. 433.) Sir William Muir, translating from the account given by the secretary of al-Wāqidī ( Life of Mahomet , new ed., p. 546), says:— “Abdallah ibn Yazîd relates, that he saw the house in which the wives of the Prophet dwelt at the time when Omar ibn (ʿAbd) al-Azîz, then governor of Medîna (about A.H . 100) demolished them. They were built of unburnt bricks, and had separate apartments made of palm branches, daubed (or built up) with mud; he counted nine houses, each having separate apartments in the space from the house of Ayesha, and the gate of Mahomet to the house of Asma, daughter of Hosein. Observing the dwelling-place of Omm Salma, he questioned her grandson concerning it; and he told him that when the Prophet was absent on the expedition to Dûma, Omm Salma built up an addition to her house with a wall of unburnt bricks. When Mahomet returned, he went in to her, and asked what new building this was. She replied, ‘I purposed, O Prophet, to shut out the glances of men thereby!’ Mahomet answered, ‘O Omm Salma! verily the most unprofitable thing that eateth up the wealth of a believer is building.’ A citizen of Medîna present at the time, confirmed this account, and added that the curtains (Anglo-Indice, purdas ) of the doors were of black hair-cloth. He was present, he said, when the despatch of the Caliph Abd al Malîk ( A.H . 86–88) was read aloud, commanding that these houses should be brought within the area of the Mosque, and he never witne ed sorer weeping than there was amongst the people that day. One exclaimed, ‘I wish, by the Lord! that they would leave these houses alone thus as they are; then would those that spring up hereafter in Medîna, and strangers from the ends of the earth, come and see what kind of building sufficed for the Prophet’s own abode, and the sight thereof would deter men from extravagance and pride. IMG:3048615538088815629_p179-1.png:THE USUAL PLAN OF AN ORDINARY HOUSE IN CENTRAL ASIA. THE USUAL PLAN OF AN ORDINARY HOUSE IN CENTRAL ASIA. “There were four houses of unburnt bricks, the apartments being of palm-branches; and five houses made of palm-branches built up with mud and without any separate apartments. Each was three Arabian yards in length. Some say that they had leather curtains for the doors. One could reach the roof with the hand. The house of Hâritha was next to that of Mahomet. Now, whenever Mahomet took to himself a new wife, he added another house to the row, and Hâritha was obliged succe ively to remove his house and build on the space beyond. At last this was repeated so often, that the Prophet said to those about him, ‘Verily, it shameth me to turn Hâritha over and over again out of his house.’ ” IMG:3048615538088815629_p179-2.png:A MUḤAMMADAN HOUSE IN PESHAWUR. A MUḤAMMADAN HOUSE IN PESHAWUR. The houses of the rural poor in all parts of Islām, in Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Arabia , Persia, Afg͟hānistān, and India, are usually built either of mud or of unburnt bricks. In mountainous parts of Afg͟hānistān they are built of stones (collected from the beds of rivers) and mud. They are generally one storey high, and of one apartment in which the cattle are also housed. The roofs are flat and are formed of mud and straw laid upon branches of trees and rafters. The windows are small apertures, high up in the walls, and sometimes grated with wood. There are no chimneys, but in the centre of the roof there is an opening to emit the smoke, the fire being lighted on the ground in the centre of the room. In front of the house there is an inclosure, either of thorns or a mud wall, which secures privacy to the dwelling. A separate building, called in Asia a ḥujrah , or guest chamber, is provided for male visitors or guests; this chamber being common property of the section of the village, except in the case of chiefs or wealthy land-owners, who keep ḥujrahs of their own. In towns the houses of the inferior kind do not differ much from those in the villages, except that there is sometimes an upper storey. In some parts of Afg͟hānistān and Persia, it becomes nece ary for each householder to protect his dwelling, in which case a watch tower, of mud, is erected close to the house. IMG:3048615538088815629_p180-1.jpg:A MUḤAMMADAN HOUSE IN CAIRO. A MUḤAMMADAN HOUSE IN CAIRO . ( Lane .) The injunctions of Muḥammad regarding the seclusion of women have very greatly influenced the plan and arrangement of Muḥammadan dwelling-houses of the better cla throughout the world, all respectable houses being so constructed as to seclude the female apartments from public view. In cities such as Cairo, Damascus, Delhi, Peshawur, and Cabul, the prevailing plan of dwelling-houses is an entrance through a blank wall, whose mean appearance is usually relieved by a handsome door-way and a few latticed windows. A respectable house usually consists of two courts, the first being that used by the male visitors and guests, and the inner court is the ḥarīm or zanānah reserved for the female members of the family. Facing the outer court will be an upper chamber, or bālā k͟hānah as it is called in Persian, the ὑπερῷον or upper room of the New Testament, in which there will be a dīwān , or raised seat or sofa, upon which the inmates can sit, eat, or sleep. This is the usual reception room. In Asia, this bālā k͟hānah seems to take the place of the more elaborate qāʿah described by Mr. Lane in his Modern Egyptians , vol. i. p. 39, which is either on the ground or upper floor. Within the first enclosure will be the stables for horses and cattle, and in its centre a raised dais as seats for servants and attendants. It should be noticed that there are no special bed-rooms in Eastern houses. Male visitors and friends will sleep in the verandahs of the outer court, or on the dīwān in the upper court. IMG:3048615538088815629_p180-2.jpg:INTERIOR OF A MUḤAMMADAN HOUSE IN CAIRO. (Lane.) INTERIOR OF A MUḤAMMADAN HOUSE IN CAIRO . ( Lane .) The ḥarīm or women’s apartments in the inner court is entered by a small door. It is a quadrangle with verandahs on each of the four sides, formed by a row of pillars, the apertures of which are usually closed by sliding shutters. The back of the rooms being without windows, the only air being admitted from the front of the dwelling-place. The apartments are divided into long rooms, usually four, the extreme corners having small closets purposely built as store-rooms. On festive occasions these verandah rooms will be spread with handsome carpets, carpets and pillows being almost the only furniture of an Eastern dwelling, chairs being a modern invention. The roofs of these rooms are flat, and as the top is fenced in with a barrier some four feet high, the female members of the household sleep on the top of the house in the hot weather. [ HARIM .] In no point do Oriental habits differ more from European than in the use of the roof. Its flat surface, in fine weather the usual place of resort, is made useful for various household purposes, as drying corn, hanging up linen, and drying fruit. In the centre of the inner court or ḥarīm, there is usually a well, so that the female domestics are not obliged to leave the seclusion of the ḥarīm for water-carrying. In a large court, of a wealthy person, there is usually a raised dais of either stone or wood, on which carpets are spread, and on which the ladies sit or recline. In the better cla of dwellings, there are numerous courtyards, and special ones are devoted to winter and summer uses. In Peshawur, most respectable houses have an underground room, called a taḥ k͟hānah , where the inmates in the hot weather sleep at mid-day. These rooms are exceedingly cool and pleasant on hot sultry days. Over the entrance door of a Muḥammadan dwelling it is usual to put an inscription, either of the Kalimah, or Creed, or of some verse of the Qurʾān. We have only attempted to describe, briefly, the ordinary dwelling-houses of Muḥammadans, which are common to all parts of the Eastern world; but in large wealthy cities, such as Damascus, Cairo, Delhi, and Lucknow, there are very handsome houses, which would require a longer description than our space admits of. For Mrs. Meer Ali’s account of a Muḥammadan ḥarīm or zanānah, see HARIM .