New Britain herald., 1924-01-29
STRANGE RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS ARE FOUND
Bodies of Faithful Are Cured, Salted and Re-dried Before Burial

IT.
 cent riots of the Shia Mohammedan> on the streets of Kirmanshah, Kun and other Persian towns because they believed their priests had been eXiled from the sacred shrines in Mesopo- tan1ia calls attention to the fact that among this sect of the followers oi the prophet some Of the most pe- culiar religious customs exist" says a bulletin from the Washington head quarters of the National Geographic Society.
 Instead of making the pilgrimage to Mecca. which is the lifelong am- bition of every Sunni Mohammedan, the Shiites pour from Persia. their greatest stronghold, through Bagdad to Kerbela and mystic Nedjef in Mesopotamia. Just beyond the walls of the last named city, perhaps more human bodies lie buried than in any other spot on the earth. The bodies of thousands of the faithful who have been so unfortunate as to die away from the sacred city are cured-salt- cd and dried-and brought by cara van for interment in the holy ground about the city.
 i Dreary Desert Trail.
 "The way is long and difficult and sometimes it takes almost whole year to make the round trip. The desert is weary, hot and monotonous, and the alt-encrusted earth crackles under the feet of the camels as they walk along. Ii takes two days to make the 60 miles between kerbela and Nedief. and sometimes the odor of badly cured bodies renders the at mosphere nauseating. The dry des- ert air. however. is the only salvation of Nedief against diseases which this practice would inevitably cause.
 "A burial site within view of the great mosque of Nedjef is always at a premium. and thousands of tombs of varying sizes and shapes nestle within it's shadow. When one of the faithful was asked by a traveller how many were sleeping in the earth about the city, he answered simply, Allah knows all their names
 "All modern conveniences Of Near Eastern life are provided for the pill grims. The ubiquitous merchants of the world. the Jews, mostly from Ragdad. have established a stage line. and in the city itself near the mosque there lives q colony of women who become the temporary wives of the visitors so that they can set up their establishments along the happily married-and- d-settled-down' lines 10 which they have been accustomed. A priest performs the ceremony ac- cording 10 an authorized provision, and the accommodating ladies in question get new husbands each year with tho annual religious tourist rush.
 Origin of Title "Hadii"
 "'The girl he left behind him may indeed suffer some qualms about rec ognizing her lord when he returns. home. for he always dyes his beard red in the sacred city and is hence- forth called by his friends by tho titlc.of Hadii--onn who has made the iladi or pilgrimage.
 'Shroud designers and brick-mak. CTS do the most ilourishing business of any Of the merchants Of Ncdief. The bricks are made from clay from the cemetery and are inscribed with a verse from the Koran When shia prays he faces Ncdief and pros. trates himself until his forehead touches the sacred brick which h. has placed on the ground
 Persia is The homo of many re- iigionsi beginning with the zoroasirian now represented by the I'arsacs. and several sects of rhristians down to Mohammedsnism in its many divi- sions. shiii" Mohammedaniam being ihc sfate religion or tho country. The Shiitrs have tboir uEn traditions Inc Wost marked ltring on inordinato re- spect for Al. nephew and snr-in-law of The prophet and probably his Hrat male convert. They believe fbat thr angel Gabriel visited M0hamncd on his last pilgrimage 10 Mecra and in- srnct"d him To proclaim All his uic- ccssor
 Fabulous Sioi'its nT Iaiiph.
 ''So thoroughly arc they convinced that thr raiphafr belongs to thr house of Mohammcd alcnr. that tn tho confession. 'Thorc is no god but God and lohammad is His amhas- sador, they add and Al tR flr, vice regent nf God But Ali. uhila on