ABSTRACT

When Muhammed, accompanied by Abubekr, fled from Meccah, he took refuge in a cave o f Mount Thor, Bituated about three miles to the south o f that city, to which spot he was traced by the emissaries o f the hostile chiefs of the Koraish ; but on noticing that a dove or pigeon had laid its eggs in the narrow passage, and that a spider had spun its web across it, they discontinued the search, remarking that i f the refugees had entered there, the eggs would have been broken, and the web de­ stroyed. The reverence for the pigeon which prevails among the Mos­ lems o f the Hij&z is supposed to originate in this tradition; neverthe­ less, Burton states that at El-Medinah it is sometimes used as an article o f food. The same is true o f many other parts o f the East, but, as a general rule, Moslems everywhere have a superstitious notion that illluck is associated with the killing o f pigeons.