Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-03-04
Mohammedan Pilgrims Crossing
the Desert on Their Way
to Mecca.

~UT of the maelstrom of the great
war queer new kingdom has
arisen.
A portion of the ancient kingdom of
Arabia has asserted it's independence OF
the Turks. descendant OF the prophet
Mohammed has mounted the throne of
his ancestors. He aspires to revive the
former glories of Islam, the religio-politi
cal empire that was founded at Mecca
and Medina and at the summit of
Its greatness had its capital at Bagdad.
where the Caliph Harun-al Raschid ruled
and where many of THE Arabian Nights"
romanceS were staged
The new ruler is Hussein Ben ALL I'M
TIL recently known as Grand Shereef of
Mecca. He has taken the title of King
Of the Hejaz because he is in possession
of the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina
and OF the territory known as the Hejaz,
which originally formed the nucleus of
the great Mohammedan empire.
Hussein Ben Ali has received at least
temporary recognition from the United
States, which has ascertained that there
Is no other effective authority in his ter
r1tory. He has received full recognition
from the Governments of England,
France, Italy, Russia and Japan.
king Hussein Ben Ali is the chief
living descendant of the prophet Moham-
med through his favorite daughter Fa-
TINA Consequently he possesses higher
claims that the Sultan of Turkey, in the
opinion of many Mohammedans, to be
Caliph OF Bagdad, which was the chief
temporal position of ancient Islam.
Arabia touches the Red Sea, the Indian
Ocean and the Persian Gulf. On the land
side it Is separated from the other Turk
1sh possessions by vast expanses of
Tnr ko, -t,,rv I,os,
at war with England, has no opportunity
to reach Arabia through its extensive
seacoast
Early In the present war Hussein and
the Arabs saw the opportunity for indie
pendence and seized it. Hussein's three
sons became leaders of the rebellion
One column captured Jeddah, the chief
seaport of Arabia, from its Turkish gar
riSon.
The Turks were next driven from Me-
dina, the sacred city, where the tomb of
Mohammed is situated. Then they took
the principal sacred city Mecca, and fin
ally they destroyed the roadbed of the
Hejaz railway for distance of hundred
miles, thereby making it impossible for
the Turks to send reinforcements by
land
The word Mecca" has acquired a De-
culiar meaning in the English language
as expressing the final goal of ones life.
Ihat is because it has a deep significance
among the worlds most fervent religious
devotees. 1t has always been the aim of
every true Mohammedan to visit Mecca
before his death. an object that could
only be achieved by most Of them with
great difficulty.
Mecca and the other sacred places
have been guarded until recently with
such strictness that II meant death for
non-believer to be found there Sir
Richard Burton reached there because he
was an absolutely perfect Mohammedan
externally The enterprise of American
photographers and moving picture men
has lately lifted the veil of mystery to
some extent.
In times of peace at this season of
the year between two and three hum
dred thousand Mohammedans flock to
Mecca and Medina. The strangest scenes
that can be witnessed in the world to-
day there take place. Here are some
points of interest from a description of
the ceremonies connected with these Mo-
hammedan pilgrimages by distinguished
European Oriental traveller.
In the tenth year of the Hegira, or
about 6S3 of the Christian era, the
prophet, then sixty-three years old, being
SICK and feeling near the close of his
NE desired to see for the last time