تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 12.33: ذكر اشتداده في إقامة الصلاة

The sultan was strict about the performance of the prayers, ordering that they be attended regularly in congregation and punishing their neglect most severely. In a single day he executed nine persons for neglecting them, one of whom was a singer. He used to send men appointed for this to the markets, and whoever was found there when the prayer was being held was punished, so that it went as far as punishing the sitāʾiriyyūn, who hold the servants' mounts at the door of the council hall, if they neglected

the prayer. He ordered that people be required to know the obligatory acts of ablution and prayer and the conditions of Islam; they would be questioned about this, and whoever did not know it well was punished. People took to studying this together in the council hall and the markets, and writing it down!