trur det finns mange legender kor det "M"-et kjem ifrå.
sitat frå wikipedia:
"Many tabbies have a distinct 'M' marking on their forehead. There are several legends about where this came from. One relates that the Virgin Mary bestowed an M on a tabby's head after it helped keep the baby Jesus warm. In another legend, the prophet Mohammed bestowed the marking upon his beloved cat's brow after it warned him of danger, and the M remains today to remind us of Mohammed's blessings upon cats.[1] In reality, neither of these figures would have used a Latin 'M': Mary spoke Aramaic and the first letter of her name is the Hebrew letter Mem (מ), and Mohammed's name begins with the Arabic letter Miim(م)."
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabby_cat )
sjølv om altså det ikkje kan vera sannt, verken med jomfru maria eller med mohammed (pga at bokstaven M er latinsk og maria snakkte aramaisk og mohammed arabisk), så liker eg legenden om mohammed og katten muezza.
"Islam's great Prophet, Mohammed, was said to have loved cats. The Hadith (an official collection of the sayings of Mohammed) says the leader condemned the practice of selling cats and told of a vision in which he saw a woman being attacked and disfigured by her cat in hell after she starved the creature to death.
"You neither fed it nor watered when you locked it up," God told her, "nor did you set it free to eat the insects of the earth." The message is clear: cats deserve good treatment because they do us all good.
Perhaps most memorable story — and certainly the loveliest — was of Muezza, Mohammed's favourite cat. It was curled up one day on the sleeve of his robe when the call to prayer was sounded. Mohammed had to leave, but rather than wake the animal he cut off his sleeve and quietly sneaked out. When he returned, the cat awoke and bowed to him in thanks. In return, it is said, Muezza was guaranteed a place in Heaven."
(
http://www.discoverychannel.ca/adventure/egypt/egypt_story2/also3/ )
sistnevnte historien har eg fått fortalt av ein moslimsk arbeidskollege. eg likte den veldig godt. I følge han har altså katter ein "M" på pannen fordi mohammed tok dei til seg.
heike