Perth Amboy evening news., 1905-08-11

prestige in Islam If he lost the holy
city.
Centuries before the birth of Mahom-
med, Mecca, on the highway leading
from Syria to Yemen, was a sanctuary
for many pilgrims. In the days of Ma
hommed, the prophet designated the
Kaaba the house of Allah, and a pill
grimage to the Kaaba became one of
the five cardinal duties of every Ma
hommedan. A Mahommedan whose
health and means make 1t at all pos
sible, must make the pilgrimage to
Mecca at least once.
The pilgrimage may be made at any
time, but the full rites. including the
sermon from the sacred mountain of
Arafat, can be carried out only during
the month Of pilgrimage, the twelfth
month of the Mohammedan calendar.
Mecca is described as a narrow val
ley surrounded by bare hills from 200
to 800 feet high. 1t lies about half way
down that long strip of Turkish terri
tory bordering on the Red sea, and the
city is situated about 60 miles inland.
Mecca ordinarily has a population of
some $4,000. The only manufactures
are rosaries and pottery. The people
live chiefly by letting out lodgings to
pilgrims.
During the month of the pilgrimage
SO many worshipers make the Hail
(pilgrimage), there are crowded in the
town sometimes 100, 900 strangers. An
editorial in the Chicago Record-Herald,
commenting On the probable Arab on
slaught On the city, remarks: "The
fighting around Mecca, if it comes, may
not be more costly in lives than is an
ordinary annual pilgrimage under the
hideous sanitary conditions which ex-
list when the hordes concentrate on the
little spot of territory"
System is used in caring for the pill
grims; each section of Mohammedan-
ism in the world has representatives
| stationed at Mecca, whose duty 1T is
| to take care each of its own pilgrims,
see that they are provided with lo1s-
ing-instructed concerning the cere-
monies.
There is infinite ceremonial to be
gone through with, prior to and sue
| ceeding arrival in the holy city. The
intending pilgrims assemble at various
appointed places near Mecca, and make
ready for the entrance. They battle
and clothe themselves in two wooden
wrappers, one around the shoulders.
the other about the middle; with bare
head and slippers lacking heel and in
step, they then wade their way toward
Mecca. Arriving, they walk seven times
around the Kaaba, the ceremony of
tawaf.
Daily they perform this rite, and
also the running between the two
mounts of Safa and Merwa, prayers ac-
companying the rites. Standing in
prayer and listening to a sermon on
the mountain of Arafat is followed by
a night spent in holy devotions, which
night is followed by the pilgrims pro-
ceeeding to the valley oG Nina and
casting stones to put the devil to
flight. The pilgrimage ends with the
sacrifice of a goat, sheep. COW or camel.
After three days more in Mecca, with
daily circuits of the Kaaba, and after
drinking from the holy well of Fem
zen, he may take his departure. From
the time the pilgrims garb was as
sumed outside the city until the end of
the pilgrimage, shaving and bathing
are prohibited.
Such is the fanaticism at Mecca, all
non-believers are excluded from the
sacred ground. Very few have ever
been able to gain entrance. The pill
grims are Malays, Indians. negroes,
P~ersians, Turks, Egyptians, S~yrians,
Tartars and Chinese.
ALFRED WHITEHOUSE.