Norwich bulletin., 1917-12-22

the coast province on the south, and Nejd, in the interior. Its sole import ance is due to the fact that it con- tains the two sacred cities. Mecca and Medina, which for more than thir | teen centuries have been the centers of pilgrimage for the A1oslem world. Before the railway was completed l frofm Damascus to Medina, the port | of that city, Yenbo, f1ourishing l as Jiddah is now; but at present it has almost the appearance of de- serted city. The whole pilgrim traf- | fic has been diverted, and even. the 1 dina is at present unsafe.
 1 The importance of Mecca is not
 due to it's resident population of per l haps 100000, but to the more than l 100000 pilgrims who visit it each year from every nation of IsIann. Statis- 1 ties. are hopelessly contradictory and
 confusing regarding the number of annual visitors. According to Turk
 ssh official estimates. in 1907. there
 were no less than 2so.ooo pilgrims. It is a marvel hcw so many thousands can find food. shelter. and. most Of all, drink in such desert city.
 '"rhe religious capital of Islam, and 1 now the temporal capital of the new 1 Kingdom of Arabia, affords an index 1 to, the growth and strength of Mo 1 illamm edanism in various parts of the l world, for one can, rightly gauge the lstrength of religious feryor in this great non-Christian faith by the num-
 Der of those who go 9p phgrimage. Cape Colony, and Russia. as we'll as from the most inaccessible provinces of China, they come every year and return to their native land-if, they escape the hardships of travel-to tell
 of the greatness and glory of their faith, however much they may have been disappointed in the actual con dition of the city and its sacred build ings.
 | Wben x,,o oonSidar Mecco Motan,- -
 med's words of prophecy in the sec
 end chapter of his book seem to have been literally fulfilled So we have made you the center of the nations I The old pagan pantheon has become l the religious sanctuary and the goal of universal pilgrimage for one-sev-
 enth of the human race.
 From Sierra Leone to Canton, and from Tobolsk to Cape Town, the faith | eul spread their prayer carpets, build their houses Gin fui6llment of an inn ;! portant tradition, even their outhous- meridian of Mecca. If the Old World I could be viewed from an aero plane the observer would see concentV.I circles of living worshippers covering an. overwhelming area, and one would also see vast areas of Moslem cenk~ J teries with every grave dug toward l the sacred city. II Mecca is no longer a yelled city. Il A score of intrepid travellers have un-
 yelled it.. From Bartena, Wild. and Joseph Pitts to Burton, Burcikhardt
 HurgroIfje. and EourtelIemorE, they took their lives in their hands, heard ed with strange companions, under
 went untold hardships, and by luck or
 pluck came scatheless out of this Il lions den :. of Islam. According to Il Doughty, scarcely pilgrimage takes place without some persons being put
 to death intruding Christians. An educated and DiOlIS MOSlem here in Cairo assured me only a few months ago that when he went on pilgrimage
 and took pictures of the city his life was endangered more than once by l the fanaticism of the inhabitants 1 However, there are many who believe l that the opening of the Hejaz Rail-
 way, especially @ branch is to be carried to Jiddah, the breaking up o1 <, Turkish power in Arabia. and the es- 7 tablishment of the new kingdom viii against non -Moslems.
 The Turkish Government was most unsuccessful in introducing liberty , and reform in the province of HtSaz the empire. Their task even hac they made conscientious effort would have been especially difficult
 there because of the mutual hatred be
 tween Turks and Arabs, the restles. character of the Bedouin population , and the utter collapse of all respec ? for authority after the Turkish defear l in the Balkan War. The Arabs have at last insisted upon ruling their sa-
 tered cities themselves and hay. \ Fusein Ibn Ali, on the tempora $ throne of the new kingdom. as well a. ! upon the spiritual throne of the whole Noslem world. save that portion dom 7 mated by the Sultan of Turkey ] --------"---------------