A medieval friar testified from direct experience to Muslimsā meticulous prayer devotion.
Evidence
And what indeed shall I say of their prayer? So great is their scruple in prayer, and so great their devotion, that I was astonished when I saw it and proved it by experience. For three months and a half I travelled with and accompanied Muslim camel-men in the Arabian and Persian desert, nor once did the camel-men break up for any danger, without praying at the set hours both by day and by night, and especially morning and evening. They make the pretence of such devotion in prayer as to dismiss all other things entirely ā¦ ā Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1191
Categorization
- XREF: Ricoldoās first-hand testimony is rare empirical contact that strained against prevailing textual polemic, paralleling how the vault treats lived encounter vs. constructed category.
- QUESTION: Ricoldo uses āpretence of such devotionā ā does this word mean genuine outward display or feigned piety? The ambivalence itself shows how hard-earned empirical testimony got reframed by prior textual frames.