The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-02-05
MEDINA CENTER OF
M|OHAMAEDANISM

10 the FORCES OF lDn Baud ruler 9I
the fanatieal Wahabls Of ceatral
Arabia. The town Is the subject Of
the following bulletin from the Wash
ington ID. c. headquarters Of the
National Geographic society.
Mecca and Medina, the two holy
cities Of Islam, have been first In
peace, first in war, and first In the
religious ,:devOtiOns Of MOslems the
world over for Is centuries" says the
bulletin. 'The fact that MOhammedan-
ism was planted Ia Mecca, but made
no growth until tr~ansplanted to Ne
dina, mirrors the physical differences
between the towns. While Mecca !
is setddeWn in a steppe which is al
most a desert, and while It's inhabi-
'tants, ever since the place has been
known, have made their livelihood as
merchants, (and raw raideTs), Ne
dina Is situated In an Sasis and has
always had strong, agricultural ties.
Its valuable groves produce 139 va
rieties Of dates, some famous through
out the Near East.
Flight "MadsO Medina.
Although tOwn had long existed
en- the site o. the present Medina It
was small, and the hegira or flight 0f
MOhammed made Medina almost az
truly as the trek Of the MoFmORB made
Salt Lake City. This moving day Of
MOhammed and, his little group Of
Meccan followers e Of such impOr-
lance to 'MOslems that Il was made
their year one. and on 1t. their ealen-
dar is based. 'This was In e22 A. d. OF
the Christian system.
From the year one TO tie year ten
M0hammed: lived IN Medina where he
dictated his revelations to 3 scribe,
completing the 'KOran, the Bible OF
Islam. During these ten years, tOO,
he conducted, from the Medina base,
expeditions Of his militant followers
against Meccans and other Arabians,
thus beginning the spread Of GOham-
mechanism by the sWord, a practice
that was to -remake the map Of much
OF the world. From Medina, Mecca
was captured; and because fits Kabah
had been the object Of heather pill
grimages for ages. the city was made
the spiritual center Of MOhammedan-
ism, and the old pagan shrine was ded-
icated to Allah.
medina. remained the temporal cap
ital and Mohammed continued to live
there and preach in the Medins
mosque. He died in the year ten IL
the house Of n Of his wives adjOin'
ing the mosque and was buried be
meath the floor where he died
"The mosque is not an imposing
structure. Only in fits main gateWa.
is there any p~Fetense at decoration
In the courtyard, beside the grave o
Mohammed, is that Of Abu BekF, hi
father-in-lRw and his immediate sue
cessOr as caliph. Nearby also is tn
grave Of Omar, the second caliph ali
er MOhammed and at q little distanC
is the resting place OF Fatima, tn
prophets favOrite daughter. The bul
ial plot Of the three ealiphs Is sal
rounded by a high fence Of iron an
brass network SO closely woven thl
the streams Of pilgrims who hle b
catch only gllmpses Of the interiO
Only mosque officials and great 6i
nitaries ever enter the sacred pr
.einets.
Non-Moslems Barred.
Medina, Ike Mecca, is fOrbiddC
ground to nOn-MOslems, and before Il
Great war it was actually less know
to the outside world than the spiritu
center Of Islam itself. Capture by Il
British of a detailed Turkish map al
photographs Of the city and the ST
rounding country. furnished the hI
authentic information since the ma
ing Of a sketch by Burton 20 years I
fore.
Medina preserves its inviOlability
spite. Of the fact that it is the termin
OF a more or less modern railwl
This, the famous pilgrim railw'
from Damascus into the Hedjaz, "
built by the Turks between 1900 a
1903, largely with contributions Fl,
the faithful. Practical Western dip
mats. however, saw marked mflfts
value IN the line, and their judgm'
proved to be correct during the Gr'
war. Because Of the road. Turkey y
able TO hold Medina against the Al
rebellion until 1919.
Before the war Medina, ike Nee
profted greatly from pilgrims from
parts Of the MOslem world. While
visit to Mecca Was practically Cd
nuIsory, the trip 70 Medina was vel
tary. but gave additional merit.
drawing factor is the assertion
Mohammedans that 'One prayer one
in the Mosque Of the Prophet Is We
q thousand elsewhere
MANY thousands Of pilgrims n
northern Syria and Asia Minor, boz
for Mecca. passed through Medina
cause Of the railway, and many "a
came from Africa because the ctts
especially holy 70 their secta. In
dition many Of the pilgrims who v
directly to Mecca made the addiuo
pilgrimage 70 the second hoiy city,
to Medina's profit these were often
more wealthy travellers Hundreds
pilgrims remained Ia Medina each ,