In 395 al-Hakim re-enforced many old laws against Christians and Jews, and the decrees ordering the strict observance of these penal regulations contained many abusive expressions against Abu Bakr and Umar. A new decree of 395 forbade the use of _malukhiya_ or “Jews’ mallow” as food because it was traditionally stated to have been a favourite article of Muʿawiya the opponent of ʿAli. Similarly the use of _jirjir_ (_girgir_) or “watercress” was forbidden because it had been introduced by ʿAyesha: and of _mutawakkiliya_, a herb named after the ʿAbbasid Khalif Mutawakkil. The sale or making of beer (_fuqqaʿ_) was severely prohibited because it was especially disliked by ʿAli: it was forbidden to use _dalinas_, a species of small shell fish, for some reason not known: and very strict orders were made against the sale or use of any fish which had no scales. In the same year a law was published that the noon prayer was to be said at the seventh hour and the afternoon prayer at the ninth, that is to say the modern way of counting the correct hours was to be observed instead of the traditional method of observing the sun. In these cases tradition allowed the noon prayer to be said as soon as the sun is actually seen to begin its decline from the meridian (Bukhari: _Sahih_ ix. 11), and the afternoon prayer after it has declined (id. 13, 13A). Orthodox Islam allows the former at any time between noon and the hour when the shadow of a thing is equal to the thing itself in length, and the latter at any time between the moment of equal shadow and the sunset (cf. id.). The Fatimid Khalif now replaced these very primitive methods of reckoning, which are still in force, by the observance of fixed hours as marked by the dial. In the month of Safar of 395 al-Hakim caused inscriptions cursing the three first Khalifs, the “usurpers,” and certain others such as Talha, Zubayr, Muʿawiya, and Amru, all regarded as enemies by the Shiʿites, to be written up on the doors of the mosques and of shops, and on the guard houses and in the cemeteries, and compelled the people to display similar inscriptions in gold lettering and bright colours (cf. Maq. ii. 286, As-Suyuti: _al-Qaʾim_. Ibn Khall. iii. 450). These were extremely offensive to the Sunnis or orthodox who formed the large majority of the people, indeed at the present day the attitude to be observed towards the first three Khalifs is the sorest point of difference between the Sunnis and Shiʿites, and even in recent years more than one Shiʿite has risked death for the sake of spitting on the tomb of ʿUmar. At the same time efforts were made to induce citizens to join the Ismaʿilian sect, and two days were set apart every week for the admission of those who desired to be initiated. On some of these occasions the crowds were so large that several people were crushed to death (Maq. ii. 286).