Travels In Arabia

J >> John Lewis Burckhardt >> Travels In Arabia

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After these prayers are said, the visiter is desired to remain a few
minutes with his bead pressed close against the window, in silent
adoration; he then steps back, and performs a prayer of four
prostrations, under the neighbouring colonnade, opposite the railing;
after which he approaches the second window, on this same side, said to
face the tomb of Abou Beker, and goes through prayers similar to those
said at the former window, (called Shobak-en'-Neby,) which are recited
in honour of Abou Beker. Stepping back a second time to the colonnade,
he again performs a short prayer, and then advances to the third window
on this side of the railing, which is opposite that part of the curtain
behind which the tomb of Omar is said to lie: similar prayers are said
here. When this ceremony is finished, the visiter walks round the S.E.
corner of the Hedjra, and presents himself before the tomb of Setna
Fatme, where, after four prostrations, a prayer is addressed to Fatme-
e'-Zohera, or the bright blooming Fatme, as she is called. He then
returns to the Rodha, where a prayer is said as a salutation to the
Deity on leaving the mosque, which completes this ceremony, the
performance of which occupies at most twenty minutes.

[p.340]On every spot where prayers are to be said, people sit with hand-
kerchiefs spread out to receive the gifts of the visiters, which appear
to be considered less as alms, than as a sort of toll; at least, a well-
dressed visiter would find it difficult to make his way without paying
these taxes. Before the window of Setna Fatme sits a party of women,
(Fatme being herself a female saint,) who likewise receive gifts in
their handkerchiefs. In the Rodha stand the eunuchs, or the guardians of
the temple, waiting till the visiter has finished his last prayer of
salutation, to wish him joy on having successfully completed the zyara
or visit, and to receive their fees; and the great gate of Bab-es'-Salam
is constantly crowded with poor, who closely beset the visiter, on his
leaving the mosque: the porter also expects his compliment, as a matter
of right. The whole visit cost me about fifteen piastres, and I gave ten
piastres to my cicerone; but I might, perhaps, have got through for half
that sum.

The ceremonies may be repeated as often as the visiter wishes: but few
perform them all, except on arriving at Medina, and when on the point of
departing. It is a general practice, however, to go every day, at least
once, to the window opposite Mohammed's tomb, and recite there a short
prayer: many persons do it whenever they enter the mosque. It is also a
rule never to sit down in the mosque, for any of the usual daily
prayers, without having previously addressed an invocation to the
Prophet, with uplifted hands, and the face turned towards his tomb. A
similar practice is prevalent in many other mosques in the East, which
contain the tomb of a saint. The Moslim divines affirm, that prayers
recited in the mosque of Medina are peculiarly acceptable to the Deity;
and invite the faithful to perform this pilgrimage, by telling them that
one prayer said in sight of the Hedjra is as efficacious as a thousand
said in any other mosque except that of Mekka.

I have already stated, that the north and east sides, and part of the
west side, of the mosque are by no means so well built as the south
side, where are the Hedjra and Rodha. The columns in those parts are
more slender, and less carefully painted; the pavement is coarse, and no
kind of ornament is seen on the white plastered walls,

[p.341] except on the east side, where the coarsely painted
representations of the mosque of St. Sophia, of Sultan Ahmed, of Bayazed
Waly, and of Scutari, celebrated temples in the capital, attract some
notice: they are painted in water-colours, upon the white wall, without
the smallest attention to perspective. The whole north side was at
present under repair; and the old pavement had been removed, to be
replaced by a better one.

The open court enclosed between the colonnades is unpaved, and covered
with sand and gravel. In the midst of it stands a small building, with a
vaulted roof, where the lamps of the mosque are kept. Near it is a small
enclosure of low wooden railing, which contains some palm-trees, held
sacred by the Moslims, because they are said to have been planted by
Fatme, and another tree, of which the stem only now remains, and which I
believe to have been a nebek, or lotus-tree. By it is a well, called
Bir-en-Neby, the water of which is brackish, and for this reason,
probably, enjoys no reputation for holiness. Samhoudy says that it is
called Es-Shame.

In the evening lamps are lighted round the colonnades; but principally
on the south side, where they are in greater numbers than on the others;
they are suspended from iron bars, extending from column to column. The
eunuchs and the servants of the mosque are employed in lighting them;
for a small donation to the latter, the visiters to the tomb are
permitted to assist, and many foreign hadjys are anxious to perform that
office, which is thought meritorious, and for which they are
particularly praised by the eunuchs: but they are never allowed to light
the lamps in the interior of the Hedjra. On the sides of the Mambar, or
the pulpit, and of both the Mahrabs, large wax candles are placed, as
thick as a man's body, and twelve feet high, which are lighted in the
evening by means of a ladder placed near them. They are sent from
Constantinople. The lady of Mohammed Aly, who was now at Medina, had
brought several of these candles as a present to the mosque, which had
been transported with great difficulty from Yembo to this place.

The mosque has four gates: 1. Bab-es-Salam, formerly called Bab Merouan,
(according to Samhoudy), on the south-west corner, is the

[p.342] principal one, by which the pilgrim is obliged to enter the
mosque at his first visit. It is a beautiful arched gateway, much
superior to any of those of the great mosque at Mekka, though inferior
in size to several of them, and handsomer than any gate of a mosque I
had before seen in the East. Its sides are inlaid with marble and glazed
tiles of various colours; and a number of inscriptions in relief, in
large gilt characters, above and on the sides of the arch, give it a
very dazzling appearance. Just before this gate is a small fountain,
filled by the water of the canal, where people usually perform their
ablutions, if they do not choose to do it in the mosque itself, where
jars are kept for the purpose.

2. Bab Errhame, formerly called Bab Atake, in the west wall, by which
the dead are carried into the mosque, when prayers are to be read over
them.

3. Bab Ed' Djeber, called often likewise Bab Djybrail; and

4. Bab el. Nesa, on the east wall, the first close to the tomb of Setna
Fatme, the other a little farther on.

A few steps lead from the neighbouring streets up to the gates, the area
of the mosque being on a somewhat higher level, contrary to what is seen
at Mekka. About three hours after sun-set the gates are regularly shut,
by means of folding-doors coated with iron, and not opened till about an
hour before dawn; but those who wish to pray all night in the mosque,
can easily obtain permission from the eunuch in guard, who sleeps near
the Hedjra. During Ramadhan, the mosque is kept open the whole night.

On the north-west and north sides are several small doors opening into
the mosque, belonging to public schools or medreses originally annexed
to it, but which have now forfeited their ancient distinction. On this
side the schoolmasters sit with the boys in a circle round them, and
teach them the rudiments of reading.

The police of the mosque, the office of washing the Hedjra and the whole
of the building, of lighting the lamps, &c. &c. is entrusted to the care
of forty or fifty eunuchs, who have an establishment similar to that of
the eunuchs of the Beitullah at Mekka; but they are persons of greater
consequence here; they are more richly dressed, though in the

[p.343] same costume; usually wear fine Cashmere shawls, and gowns of
the best Indian silk stuffs, and assume airs of great importance. When
they pass through the Bazar, every body hastens to kiss their hands; and
they exercise considerable influence in the internal affairs of the
town. They have large stipends, which are sent annually from
Constantinople by the Syrian Hadj caravan; they share also in all
donations made to the mosque, and they expect presents from every rich
hadjy, besides what they take as fees from the visiters of the Hedjra.
They live together in one of the best quarters of Medina, to the
eastward of the mosque, and their houses are said to be furnished in a
more costly manner than any others in the town. The adults are all
married to black or Abyssinian slaves.

The black eunuchs, unlike those of Europe, become emaciated; their
features are extremely coarse, nothing but the bones being
distinguishable; their hands are those of a skeleton, and their whole
appearance is extremely disgusting. By the help of thick clothing they
hide their leanness; but their bony features are so prominent, that they
can be distinguished at first sight. Their voice, however, undergoes
little, if any change, and is far from being reduced to that fine
feminine tone so much admired in the Italian Singers.

The chief of the eunuchs is called Sheikh el Haram; he is also the chief
of the mosque, and the principal person in the town; being consequently
of much higher rank than the Aga, or chief of the eunuchs at Mekka. He
is himself a eunuch, sent from Constantinople, and usually belonging to
the court of the Grand Signor, who sends him hither by way of punishment
or exile, in the same manner as Pashas are sent to Djidda. The present
Sheikh el Haram had been formerly Kislar Agassi, or prefect of the women
of the Emperor Selym, which is one of the first charges in the court.
Whether it was the dignity of his former employ, of which the eastern
grandees usually retain the rank through life, even if they are
dispossessed of it, or his new dignity of Sheikh el Haram, that gave him
his importance, I am unable to say; but he took, on every occasion,
precedence of Tousoun Pasha, whose rank was that of Pasha of Djidda, and
of three tails; and the latter, whenever they met, kissed the Sheikh's
hands, which I have

[p.344] seen him do in the mosque. He has a court composed in a manner
similar to that of a Pasha, but much less numerous. His dress is given
with the most minute accuracy in D'Ohhson's work: it consists of a fine
pelisse, over a rich embroidered silk gown, made in the fashion of the
capital; a khandjar, or dagger, set with diamonds, stuck in his belt;
and a kaouk, or high bonnet, on his head. The present Sheikh kept about
a dozen horses: whenever he walked out, a number of servants, or
Ferrashyn of the mosque, armed with large sticks, walked before him.

The person of the Sheikh el Haram was respected by the Wahabys: when
Saoud took Medina, he permitted the Sheikh, with several other eunuchs,
to retire to Yembo, with his wives, and all his baggage and valuables;
but would not receive another into the town; and the eunuchs themselves
then appointed one of their number to preside over them, till after an
interval of eight years, when the present chief was sent from
Constantinople; but his influence over the affairs of the town is
reduced to a mere shadow of what it was.

A eunuch of the mosque would be highly affronted if he were so termed by
any person. Their usual title is Aga. Their chief takes the title of
Highness, or Sadetkom, like a Pasha, or the Sherif of Mekka.

Besides those eunuchs, the mosque reckons among its servants a number of
the inhabitants of the town; these are called Ferrashyn, a name implying
that their duty consists in keeping the mosque clean, and spreading the
carpets. Some of them attend at the mosque to light the lamps, and to
clean the floor, together with the eunuchs; with others it is a mere
sinecure, and some of the first people of the town belong to this body.
I am unacquainted how the office is obtained, but believe that it is
purchased from the Sheikh el Haram. The name of each Ferrash is put down
in the lists which are yearly sent to Constantinople, and they all share
in the stipends which the town receives from that capital, and the whole
Turkish empire, in which there is always a considerable portion for the
Ferrashyn. It would appear that the office is hereditary; at least often
transmitted from father to son. The number is fixed at five hundred; but
to

[p.345] increase it, an expedient has, according to D'Ohhson, been
adopted, of dividing each number into half, and third, and eighth
shares; and any fractional part may be bestowed upon an individual, who
thus becomes an inferior member of the corps. Many of these Ferrashyn
are in partibus, the title having been given to great foreign hadjys,
dispersed over the whole empire, who think themselves honoured in
possessing it.

Many of these Ferrashyn are, at the same time ciceroni, or Mezowars, and
exercise also, the very lucrative profession of saying prayers for the
absent. Most hadjys of any consequence who pass here, form an
acquaintance with some of these men, their guides over the holy places.
On their return home, they often make it a pious rule to send annually
some money, one or two zecchins, to their ancient cicerone, who is thus
bound in honour to recite some prayers, in the name of the donor, before
the window of the Hedjra. These remittances, wrapped up in small sealed
papers, with the address upon them, are collected in every province or
principal town of Anatolia, or Turkey in Europe, from whence they are
principally sent, and brought to Medina by the Surra writer of
Constantinople, who accompanies the pilgrim caravan, and is at the head
of its financial department. Some of the principal Ferrashyns have
monopolized whole towns and provinces; the natives of those parts, who
pass through Medina, being introduced to them by their countrymen. The
correspondents of others are dispersed over the whole empire. The
profits which they derive from this profession, which resemble those
accruing to Roman Catholic priests for the reading of masses, are very
considerable: I have heard that some of the principal Ferrashyn have
from four to five hundred correspondents dispersed over Turkey, from
each of whom they receive yearly stipends, the smallest of which is one
Venetian zecchin.

The number of Ferrashyn, as well as of Mezowars, is very great. The
duties of their office can be so easily performed, that they are for the
greater part a very idle class. During the time of the Wahabys, however,
their perquisites ceased; and, as few pilgrims then arrived, they were
reduced to great extremities, from which they are now beginning slowly
to recover. They complain, that the long cessation of the yearly
stipends has accustomed so many original correspondents

[p.346] to withhold their gifts, that, although the caravan intercourse
is re-established, little inclination appears to renew them.

The Wahabys are forbidden by their law to visit the tomb of the Prophet,
or to stand before the Hedjra and pray for his intercession in heaven.
As Mohammed is considered by them a mere mortal, his tomb is thought
unworthy of any particular notice. It was as much a strict religious
principle, as a love of plunder, that induced Saoud to carry off the
treasures of the Hedjra, which were thought little adapted in decency
and humility to adorn a grave. The tomb itself he left untouched; and,
for once, gave way to the national feelings of the Arabians, and perhaps
to the compunctions of his own conscience, which could not entirely
divest itself of earlier impressions; he neither removed the brocade
from the tomb, nor the curtain which encloses it. Dreams, it is said,
terrified him, or withheld his sacrilegious hand; and he in like manner
respected that of Fatme: but, on the other hand, he ruined, without
exception, all the buildings of the public burial-ground, where many
great saints repose, and destroyed even the sculptured and ornamented
stones of those tombs, a simple block being thought by him quite
sufficient to cover the remains of the dead.

In prohibiting any visit to the tomb, the Wahabys never entertained the
idea of discontinuing the visit to the mosque. That edifice having been
built by the Prophet, at the remarkable epoch of his flight from Mekka,
which laid the first foundations of Islam, it is considered by them as
the most holy spot upon earth, next to the Beitullah of Mekka. Saoud had
indeed once given orders, that none of these Turkish pilgrims, who still
flocked from Yembo to this tomb, even after the interruption of the
regular pilgrim-caravans, should any more be permitted to enter Medina:
and this he did to prevent what he called their idolatrous praying; a
practice which it was impossible to abolish without excluding them at
once from the mosque; this prohibition Saoud did not think proper to
enforce: he therefore preferred keeping them from the city, under
pretence that their improper behaviour rendered such a proceeding
necessary. He himself, with all his adherents, often paid a devout visit
to the holy mosque; and in the treaty of peace which his son Abdallah,
concluded with

[p.347] Tousoun Pasha in 1815, it is expressly stipulated that the
Wahabys should be permitted to visit the Mesdjed-e'-Neby, or the mosque
of the Prophet, (not his tomb,) without molestation.

Even with the orthodox Moslims, the visit to this tomb and mosque is
merely a meritorious action, which has nothing to do with the
obligations to perform the Hadj, incumbent upon the faithful; but which,
like the visit to the mosque at Jerusalem, and the tomb of Abraham at
Hebron, is thought to be an act highly acceptable to the Deity, and to
expiate many sins, while it entitles the visiter, at the same time, to
the pratronage of the Prophet and the Patriarch in heaven: and it is
said, that he who recites forty prayers in this mosque, will be
delivered from hell-fire and torments after death. As saints, however,
are often more venerated than the Deity himself, who it is well known
accepts of no other offerings than a pure conscience or sincere
repentance, and is therefore not so easily appeased; so the visit to
Medina is nearly as much esteemed as that to the house of God, the
Beitullah at Mekka; and the visiters crowd with more zeal and eagerness
to this shrine, than they do even to the Kaaba. Throughout the year,
swarms of pilgrims arrive from all parts of the Mohammedan world,
usually by the way of Yembo. The Moggrebyns especially seem the most
fervent in their visits: they are, however, brought here by another
object, for in this town is situated the tomb of the Imam Malek ibn
Anes, the founder of the orthodox sect of the Malekites, to which belong
the Moggrebyns.

The mosque at Mekka is visited daily by female hadjys, who have their
own station assigned to them. At Medina, on the contrary, it is thought
very indecorous in women to enter the mosque. Those who come here from
foreign parts, visit the tomb during the night, after the last prayers,
while the women resident in the town hardly ever venture to pass the
threshold: my old landlady, who had lived close to it for fifty years,
assured me that she had been only once in her life within its precincts,
and that females of a loose character only are daring enough to perform
their prayers there. In general, women are seldom seen in the mosques in
the East, although free access is not forbidden. A few are sometimes met
in the most holy temples, as that

[p.348] of the Azhar at Cairo, where they offer up their thanks to
Providence, for any favour which they may have taken a vow thus to
acknowledge. Even in their houses the women seldom pray, except devout
old ladies; and it is remarked as an extraordinary accomplishment in a
woman, if she knows her prayers well, and has got by heart some chapters
of the Koran. Women being considered in the East as inferior creatures,
to whom some learned commentators on the Koran deny even the entrance
into Paradise, their husbands care little about their strict observance
of religious rites, and many of them even dislike it, because it raises
them to a nearer level with themselves; and it is remarked, that the
woman makes a bad wife, who can once claim the respect to which she is
entitled by the regular reading of prayers.

There are no sacred pigeons in this mosque, as in that at Mekka; but the
quantity of woollen carpets spread in it, where the most dirty Arabs sit
down by the side of the best dressed hadjys, have rendered it the
favourite abode of millions of other animals less harmless than pigeons,
and a great plague to all visiters, who transfer them to their private
lodgings, which thus swarm with vermin.

This mosque being much smaller than that of Mekka, and a strict police
kept up in it by the eunuchs, it is less infested with beggars and idle
characters than the former. It should seem also, that the tomb of
Mohammed inspires the people of Medina with much greater awe, and
religious respect, than the Kaaba does those of Mekka; which sentiment
deters them from approaching it with idle thoughts, or as a mere
pastime: much more decorum is therefore observed within its precincts
than within those of the Beitullah.

As at Mekka, a number of Khatybs, Imams, Mueddins, and other persons
belonging to the body of Olemas, are attached to the mosque. The olemas
here are said to be more learned than their brethren of Mekka; and those
of former days have produced many valuable writings. At present,
however, there is less appearance of learning here than at Mekka. During
my visits to the mosque I never saw a native Arab teaching knowledge of
any kind, and only a few Turkish hadjys explaining some religious books
in their own language, to a very few auditors, from whom they collected
trifling sums, to defray

[p.349] the expenses of their journey home. Tousoun Pasha, the only one
of his family who is not an avowed atheist, frequently attended those
lectures, and sat in the same circle with the other persons present. I
was told, that in the medrese called El Hamdye some public lectures are
delivered; but I had no opportunity of ascertaining the fact. I believe
that there is not in the whole Mohammedan empire a town so large as
Medina where lectures are not held in the mosques; that this was
formerly the case also in this town, is proved by the many pious
foundations established exclusively for this purpose, the emoluments of
which many olemas still enjoy without performing the duties.

The haram or mosque of Medina, like that at Mekka, possesses
considerable property and annuities in every part of the empire. Its
yearly income is divided among the eunuchs, the olemas, and the
Ferrashyn. The daily expenses of lighting and repairing the building are
made to account for the expenditure of the whole. As, excepting the
precious articles contained in the Hedjra, no money-treasure has ever
been kept in the mosque, a double advantage accrues to the inhabitants
of the town, numbers of whom gain a comfortable livelihood, while all
are exempted from the danger and the internal broils which would, no
doubt, occur, were it known that a large sum of money might be obtained
by seizing the mosque. The days are past, in the East, when a public
treasure can be deposited in a place sufficiently sacred to guard it
from the hands of plunderers. The smallest part of the income of all
public foundations is spent in the relief of the poor, or the pious
purpose to which it was destined: it serves merely to pamper a swarm of
idle hypocrites, who have no other motives for acquiring a smattering of
learning, than the hope of sharing in the illegal profits that accrue to
the guardians or agents of these institutions.

Like most of the public buildings in the East, the approach to the
mosque is choked on all sides by private habitations, so as to leave, in
some parts, only an open street between them and the walls of the
mosque; while in others the houses are built against the walls, and
conceal them. Either three or five minarets (I forget

[p.350] which) are erected on different sides of the building; and one
of them is said to stand on the spot where Bellal, the Abyssinian, the
Mueddin of Mohammed, and one of his great favourites, used to call the
faithful to prayers.

The following brief history of the mosque is taken from Samhoudy, the
historian of Medina:

"The mosque of Medina was founded by Mohammed himself, and is therefore
called his mosque, or Mesdjed-e'-Neby. When he reached the city, at that
time an open settlement of Arabs, called Yathreb, (subsequently Medina)
after his flight from Mekka, and was sure of being now among friends, he
erected a small chapel on the spot where his camel had first rested in
the town, having bought the ground from the Arabs; and he enclosed it
with mud walls, upon which he placed a roof of palm-leaves, supported by
the stems of palm-trees for pillars: this edifice he soon after
enlarged, having laid the foundations with stone. Instead of the Mahrab,
or niche, which is placed in mosques to show the direction in which the
faithful ought to turn in their prayers, Mohammed placed a large stone,
which was at first turned to the north, towards Jerusalem, and placed in
the direction of the Kaaba of Mekka, in the second year of the Hedjra,
when the ancient Kebly was changed.