thoughIslamicauthorities pronounced the drink intoxicating and therefore prohibited by theQurʾān, many Muslims were attracted to the beverage as a substitute foralcohol, also prohibited by the Qurʾān. Despite the threat of severe penalties, coffee drinking spread rapidly among Arabs and their...
such as theLobiofCôte d’Ivoire, build compounds with straight walls. Throughout the western savanna region the trend has been toward rectangular-plan houses, largely because of Islamic influence from the north (see belowInfluences of Islam and Christianity) and contact with rainforest peoples fr...
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prophylactic purpose—i.e., to protect the wearer against demons. Likewise, the wearer of these objects was, for the prayer’s duration, under the protection of the Almighty, whose name he bore. The importance of knots in Semitic magic is alsoalludedto in theQurʿān(the Islamicholybook...