The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1877-06-07
The Prophets Birthday.

How THE followers OF MOhammed Gel.
ebrated their Prophets natal day, is thus
pictured by the Alexandria correspondent
Of the London Times, writing on the last
day of March:
Last week was given up to religious
festivity by the Mohammedan world. It
was the occasion of the Mo0iid. en-N
bee, or birthday festival of the Prophet,
and comedies with the return of the pill
grims from Mecca. The mosques are full
OF worshipers, and crowds often perform
Hskro, kind Of prayer in unison, which
10 offered up by large company, seated
cross-legged, who cry aloud that there is
no Deity but God, and swing their bodies
rapidly backward and forward, rs they
shout, until they become 30 excited by the
motion that the alliterative sentence they
utter Ia Nah, NAH la'-becomes merged
i'll fierce howl. The pilgrims spread
their merchandise out for sale In the pub.
lie spaces, and they and their friends take
their pleasure on swings and whifligigs,
and sip and smoke In the coffee houses.
Tents are put up, when coffee and pipes
go on all day long, and story -tellers relate
never. ending love stories. encouraged by
frequent YAH Of lazy enjoyment from
the audience. Punch has found his way
to Egypt, and the Arabs intensely enjoy
the apotheosis of marital power, while
their prejudices are respected by the veil
ing of Judy's face after the strictest fash.
ion of the harem. The whole festivity cul-
inmates in the DOseh,' the treading, >
when the Sheikh of the Saadeeyah der
wishes rides over the PROSTATE bodies of
the faithful. The Princes and Ministers
all attend, the representatives of European
Powers, with their wives. go to see it;
tourists crowd to Cairo for the occasion,
as they would for an Easter ceremony at
Jerusalem, or mystery play in Bavaria.
Yet it Is almost as degrading sight as the
procession of the Juggernaut-car itself.
"Some 200 or 800 men Of the Saadee.
yah sect, the peculiarly Of whose re1ig.
ion is that they can eat serpents and hack
themselves with knives by way of pleas
ing Allah and his Prophet, voluntarily
lay themselves on the ground in order that
theil Sheikh may pass over them on
horseback, thus treading on their sins,
and preparing them for Paradise. They
prime themselves with hasheesh, strong
narcotic, made from hemp, with much
the effect of opium, and then ATE arranged
by skilled packers, face downward, SO as
to present compact, unbroken surface
for the horse to pass over. If the packers
| nn0 nav IN tnelf arrangements, tley
seize q man from the crowd and jam him
in to fill the gap, and it would be a
declaration of rank heresy to say them
nay. Vast crowds of natives assemble to
see the sight; the Sheikh, in all his
robes, appears; two men guide the horse,
who, by his hesitating. delicate tread,
alone seems to feel the shame and scan.
dial of the proceeding. As he progresses,
the men scramble up as best they can,
mostly with no apparent hurt, but some
hardly able to move, and few carried
away in fits. 1t is altogether degrad-
ing spectacle, and unworthy of q country
that claims to rank with civilized Ma.
tons. Its sole effect is to keep alive
fanaticism, and this year an Englishman
was set upon and beaten by Arabs, who
who would not raise finger against a
stI anger at any other time of the year.
The Khedive is said to disapprove, and
never goes, but the attendance Of the
Princes and dignitaries still give this
scene the importance Of State ceremony.
As they drive up in their broughams,
perfect Europeans in speech and dress,
one feels how much this is q country Of
contradictions"