É. Apor , I. Ormos (ed.): Goldziher Memorial Conference, June 21–22, 2000, Budapest.
SKJAERV0, P. Oktor: Goldziher and Iranian Elements in Islam
P. OKTOR SKJ/ERV0 in Paris. At one stage in his journey accompanied by Gabriel, Mohammad sees a white cock, whose comb grazes the foot of God's Throne and whose feet rest on the earth (Séguy, p. 269, plate 9). Its function is to alert people to the time for prayer. As shown by my colleague James Russell, the description of the cock is quite similar to that of the cock in the Avesta, who crows at dawn and tells people to wake up and praise the work of god. In Zoroastrianism the cock is the bird of Sraosha, a Zoroastrian deity who plays an important role in the descriptions of the journey of the soul. In Muslim Iran, as Sorush, he became a messenger from god. It is therefore quite likely that this entire complex of notions connected with the journey in the beyond, the scales, the bridge, the cock, the young man who meets the soul (in Iran a young woman, the daéná, dén), and, not least, the mir áj 'ladder' itself and the notion of several heavens in which the prophets are seated, are adapted from or influenced by Zoroastrianism (see Skjrervo 1983,302-3; Hinz 1971). Goldziher's final example of potential Persian influence on the thought of Muhammad is that of the importance of Friday. He argues the point in some detail, maintaining that the difference from Judaic practice and the similarity with Islam lie in the fact that Zoroastrianism also does not celebrate all of god's creation on a seventh day, but devotes one day to each of his creations (Fr., 14-17; Eng. tr., 17375)This is the only point of influence he cites in his book on Mohammad and Islam, as well, and I quote from the English translation (14) 1: "Besides Jews and Christians, the Parsees, whose disciples came under Mohammed's observation as Majüs (Magi) and whom he also regards as opposed to heathenism, left their impress on the receptive mind of the Arabian prophet. It was from the Parsees that he received the far-reaching suggestion which robs the Sabbath of its character as a day of rest. He chose Friday as the weekly day of assembly, but even in adopting the hexaemeron theory of creation, he emphatically rejects the idea that God rested on the 7th day. Therefore, not the 7th day, but the day preceding is taken, not as a day of rest, but as a day of assembly on which all worldly business is permitted after the close of worship. " It is not clear to me why Goldziher chose this particular feature of Islam as opposed to Judaism as an example of Zoroastrian influence on Islam. In fact, according to the Zoroastrian texts of late Sasanian and early Islamic times, it is every day that a Zoroastrian should go to the assembly as well as to worship, as explained in the so-called Book of Advice of Zarathustra , (ed. Kanga, i960, 27): Every day you should go to the assembly of good people to converse with them. For to him who goes most frequently to the assembly of good people the (gods) attribute most good deeds and righteousness. 1 [This work is an English translation of Vorlesungen über den Islam. According to Heller the whole edition was pulped. However, a few copies seem to have escaped destruction. Bemard Heller, Bibliographie des oeuvres de Ignace Goldziher , Paris 1927, 69 (no. 363). The reference above is to p. 14 of the German original. - Ed.] 248
