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[^721]: [^14] A description of Jewish attendances in Muslim intellectual assemblies – majlis – is reported by one of the visitors: “ At the first meeting there were present not only people of various [Islamic] sects, but also unbelievers, Magians, materialists, atheists, Jews and Christians, in short, unbelievers of all kinds.

Each group had its own leader, whose task it was to defend its views, and every time one of the leaders entered the room, his followers rose to their feet and remained standing until he took his seat. In the meanwhile, the…