Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/511

* HAJJ. 450 HAJJ. while referring originally to the pilgrimage to the sanctuary at Jerusalem in the fall of the year, 13 generalized as the designation of any of the three great festivals — Passover, Pentecost, Tahernacles — as provided for in the IVntateuchal codes. As concerns the Arabic institution, it appears that many generations before ilohamnicd a sanctuary in Mecca had acquired consideral>le pojuilarily among the Arabs. This was due in jiart to the position of Mecca on the highway leading from Syria to Yemen, and in part to the fact that ilccea was visited annually by many thousands on their way to Okaz, where a great fair was held, which brought Arabs from all parts together. Far more sacredj however, than the sanctuary at Mecca was a mountain. Arafat, out- side of the city, and the visit to this mountain, which was the real goal of the ancient Arabic Hajj, was combined naturally with a circuit around the Kaaba. The care of the latter at the time of Mohammed was iu the hands of his fam- ily, the Koreish, and this circumstance may ac- count for the devotion of the Prophet to the old sanctuary — a devotion which, though inconsistent with his general religious doctrines, he was un- able to throw off. ^^'ith increasing years his fondness for the Kaaba.. which he designated as the licit Utah (house of Allah), increased, and his visit to it the year before his death led to the institution of the pilgrimage as one of the five cardinal duties of every Mohammedan. (See MoHAMMEi).NiSM.) The visit to the Kaaba may be made at any time, but the full rites of the Hajj. including the visit to Arafat, can only be carried out in the twelfth month of the Jloham- medan calendar, known as Dhul Hajjeh, or month of pilgrimage. The pilgrims have to set out for their journey one or two months before, according to the respective distances they have to traverse. They first assemble at several vari- ously appointed places near JNIecca in the begin- ning of the holy month, and the commencement of the rites is made by bathing and assuming the ihram or sacred habit, which consists of two woolen wrappers — one around the middle, the other around the shoulders ; the head remains bare, and the slip])ers must cover neither the heel nor the instep. It is enjoined that the pilgrims. while they wear this dress, shall be particularly careful to bring their words and thoughts into harmony with the sanctity of the territory they now tread — a territory in which even the life of animals is to be held sacred from attack. After assuming the sacred garb the pilgrim must not shave any part of his body, anoint liis head, pare his nails, or bathe until the end of the pilgrim- age. Arriving at Mecca, the pilgrims proceed at once to the temple, and begin the holy rites there by walking first quickly, then slowly, seven times round the Kaaba. starting from the corner where the black stone is fixed. (See K.^aba.) This ceremony (called Inuuf) is followed by the sai, or running, likewise performed first slowly, then quickly, between the two mounts Safa and Merwa, where, before ^lohammed's time, the two idols Asaf and Nayelah had been worshiped. These ceremonies, accompanied by prayers, are re- peated daily. The next rite takes place on the ninth of the month, and consists in the inil-iif, or .standing in prayer and listening to a ser- mon on the mount.ain of Arafat. The whole of the succeeding night is spent in holy devotions at Mozdalifa, between Arafat and Mina. The Vol. IX —30. next morning, by daybreak, the pilgrims proceed to the valley of Mina, where they throw seven stones at each of three pillars, for the purpose of putting the devil to Uiglit. The pilgrimage is completed with the slaughtering of the sacrifices — a sheep, goat, cow, or camel, according to the pilgrim's means — on the same day and in the same place. The sacrifice over, they shave their heads and cut their nails, burying the latter on the same spot. After remaining three nu)rc days at Mecca they take leave of the Kaaba, making the seven circuits and drinking water from the holy well Zemzem. Most Mohanunedans combine with the Hajj a visit to Mohammed's grave at Medina — some three days' journey from Mecca. The return of the holy caravans is watched every- where with the most intense anxiety, and is celebrated — as is also the departure — with great pomp and rejoicings. Henceforth the jjilgrim never omits to prefi.x the proud title of Hajji to his name. It is permitted to those who, through bodily infirmity, are incapacitated from performing the holy journey themselves, to send a substitute, who acts as their representative in almost every respect, but this substitute has no share whatever in the merits and rewards belong- ing to the Hajj. The number of pilgrims who assemble at Mecca varies greatly from year to year. It has often exceeded 100.000. Sir Wilfrid Blunt (Fu- ture of Islam. London. 18S.'?) estimates the num- ber in 1880 at about il.S.OOO. The fanaticism of Mohammedans rigidly excludes all non-believers from the sacred soil of Mecca. Consequently the few Christians who have succeeded in visiting the place have done so in disguise and at the risk of their lives. As early, however, as the first decade of the sixteenth centviry an Italian, Ludovico di Varthema. witnessed the ceremonies and de- scribed them in his book of travels (Rologna. 1510; Eng. trans, by .J. V. Jones, edited with notes by G. P. Badger in the ''Hakhiyt Society Publications," vol. xxxii.. London. 1803). The first Englishman to enter the sacred city was •Joseph Pitts, of Exeter, a sailor, who was cap- tured by Algerine pirates in IfiTS and held as a slave for fifteen years, during which time he made the pilgrimage in company with one of his masters. His narrative was pul)lished at Exeter in 1704. During the nineteenth century the pil- grimage was performed by the following: The Spanish adventurer Badia. commonly known as -Vli-Bei (1807: Loi/n.'/e d'AIi-Bci en Afruiiie et en Asie, Paris, 1814) : Seetzen (1800), whose jour- nal was published after his death bv Kruse and rieischer (Berlin, 18.54-59): Burckhardt (1814- 15: Travels in Arnbin. London. 1820): Burton (185.3; Personal Xarrative of a Pihp-ininpc to El- Medhiah and Meecah. 3 "vols., London, 1855, several later editions); Bicknell (1802): Von Maltzan (1864: Meine Wallfahrt naeh Melka, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1805) : Keane (1880; Sir }fonlhs in Mecca and ili/ Journci/ to Jledina. London, 1S81); Snouck-Huraronje' (1884-85; Mcl.ln. ? vols, and a third of illustration. The Hagie. 1S88- 89); Courtellemont (1894; J/ oh roifiifir I'l In Mecqiie. Paris, 1896). The most tluuough and accurate descriptions of the pilgrimage cere- monies are those given by Burckhardt and Bir- ton. .Snouck-Hurgronje gives an account of life in Mecca, a history of the city drawn from orig- inal manuscript sources, and details regarding