BITS ‘N’ PIECES
Narrated Nafi (R.A):
Ibn Umar (R.A) said, “While the Prophet (S.A.W) was on the pulpit, a man asked him how to offer the night prayers. He replied, ‘Pray two rakat at a time and then two and then two and so on, and if you are afraid of the dawn (the approach of the time of the fajr prayer) pray one rakat and that will be the witr for all the rakat which you have offered.” Ibn ‘Umar said, “The last rakat of the night prayer should be odd for the Prophet ordered it to be so.”
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 8, Number 461
The famous magician Harry Houdini took his stage name from the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin.
Harry Houdini, born Erik Weisz in Budapest in 1874, came across stories of the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, often called the father of modern conjuring. Young Erik was so inspired that he took the name ‘Houdini’, adding an i to mean ‘like Houdin’. Little did he know he would one day outshine his idol, and later accuse him of deceit in his book The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin.
Houdini began his career performing simple card tricks and calling himself the ‘King of Cards’. However, it was his daring escape acts that catapulted him to international fame. He could wriggle free from handcuffs, straitjackets, locked boxes and even prison cells. His acts were often performed before police officers and reporters to prove there was no trickery involved. Crowds watched in awe as the police locked him in cells to test his claims, and he still managed to escape! His ability to hold his breath for long periods and remain calm under extreme pressure gave his performances a thrilling edge of danger. One of Houdini’s most famous stunts was the ‘Chinese water torture cell’, introduced in 1912. Suspended upside down and locked inside a glass tank filled with water, Houdini had to pick the locks and free himself before running out of air.
Away from the stage, Houdini had another passion: exposing frauds. He was also a tireless investigator of spiritualists and fake mediums. After his mother’s death, he attended séances hoping to contact her but was disillusioned by the trickery he witnessed. Determined to expose frauds, he used his knowledge of illusion to reveal how so-called mediums deceived their audiences.
In October 1926, while performing at Detroit’s Garrick Theatre, Houdini began suffering severe pain. Despite a fever of 104 degrees, he finished the show before collapsing backstage. Rushed to Grace Hospital, he was diagnosed with appendicitis and peritonitis. Although surgeons removed his appendix, the infection had already spread. Harry Houdini died at Grace Hospital on 31 October 1926.