The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1926-02-04
MEDINA CENTER OF
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Second Best City in World''
to Faithful.

lions of Mohammedans recently fell
Ito the forces of Ibn Saud, ruler of
Y the fanatical Wahabis of central
Arabia. The town is the subject of
the following bulletin from the Wash.
ington %. 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 in Mecca, but made
no growth until transplanted to Me-
dina, mirrors the physical differences
between the two towns. While Mecca
is set down in a steppe which is al
most a desert, and while its inhabi-
tants, ever since the place has been
known, have made their livelihood as
merchants (and caravan raiders), Me-
dina is situated in an oasis and has
always had strong, agricultural ties.
Its valuable groves produce 139 va.
rieties of dates, some famous through
out the Near East
Flight "Made" Medina.
although town had long existed.
on the site of the present Medina it
was small, and the hegira or flight of
Mohammed made Medina almost as.
truly as the trek of the MOrmons made,
Salt Lake City. This moving day of
Mohammed and his little group Of
Meccan followers is of such impor-
lance to Moslems that it was made
their year one, and on it their calen-
dar is based. This was in CO. A D. Of
the Christian system.
"From the year one to the year ten
Mohammed lived in Medina where he
dictated his revelations to a 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 Moham-
mechanism by the sword, a practice
that was to remake the map of much
of the world. From Medina, Mecca
W dS StlpluICu, anu DCNdufSC It's AdbUH
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 Mohamme& continued to live
there and preach in the Medina
mosque He died in, the year ten in
the house of one of his wives adjoin-
irg the mosque and was buried be-
Meath the floor where he died.
"The mosque is not an imposing
structure. Only in its main gateway
is there any pretense at decoration.
In the courtyard, beside the grave of
Mohammed, is that of Abu Bekr, his
father-in-law and his immediate sue
cessor as caliph. Nearby also is the
grave of Omar, the second caliph aft
err MOhammed and at little distance
is the resting place of Fatima, the
prophets favOrite daughter The bur-
ial plot of the three caliphs is sur
rounded by a high fence of iron and
brass network so closely woven that
the streams of pilgrims who file by
catch only glimpses of the interior.
Only mosque officials and great dig
nitaries ever enter the sacred pre-
cinctS.
Non-Mosiems Barred.
medina, like Mecca, is forbidden
ground to MoSlemS, and before the
Great war it was actually less known
to the outside world than the spiritual
center of Islam itself Capture by the
British of a detailed Turkish map and
photographs of the city and the sur
rounding country furnished the first
authentic information since the max
ing of sketch by Burton 10 years be-
fore.
Medina preserves its inviolability in
spite of the fact that it is the terminus
Of a more or less modern railway.
This, the famous pilgrim railway
from Damascus into the HedjaZ, was
built by the Turks between 1900 and
1905 largely with contributions from
the faithful. Practical Western diplo-
mats, however, saw marked military
value in the line, and their judgment
proved to be correct during the Great
war. Because of the road, Turkey was
able to hold Medina against the Arab
rebellion until 1919.
"Before the war Medina, like Mecca,
profited greatly from pilgrims from all
parts of the Moslem world. While a
visit to Mecca was practically COM
pulsory, the trip to Medina was volun-
tary, but gave additional merit. A
drawing factor is the assertion by
Mohammedans that 'one prayer offered
in the Mosque of the Prophet is worth
thousand elsewhere
"Many thousands of pilgrims from
northern Syria and Asia Minor, bound
for Mecca passed through Medina be-
cause of the railway, and many more
came from Africa because the city is
especially holy to their sects. In adj
dition many of the pilgrims who went
directly to MECCA made the additional
pilgrimage to the second holy city, and
to Medina's profit these were often the
more wealthy travellers. Hundreds Of
pilgrims remained in Medina each year
and its pre-war population was ex-
ceedingly cosmopolitan.