Place 1200 years ago, when
profoundly ignorant of what their grandfathers witnessed. Many
incredible tales also I heard concerning the present wealth of the
Al-Madinah Mosque: this must be expected when the exaggeration is
considered likely to confer honour upon the exaggerator.
The establishment attached to the Al-Madinah Mosque is greatly altered
since Burckhardt's time,[FN#58] the result of the increasing influence
of the Turkish half-breeds
[p.371]It is still extensive, because in the first place the principle
of divided labour is a favourite throughout the East, and secondly
because the Sons of the Holy Cities naturally desire to extract as much
as they can from the Sons of other cities with the least amount of
work. The substance of the following account was given to me by Omar
Effendi, and I compared it with the information of others upon whom I
could rely.
The principal of the Mosque, or Shaykh al-Harim, is no longer a
neuter.[FN#59] The present is a Turkish Pasha, Osman, appointed from
Constantinople with a salary of about 30,000 piastres a month. His Naib
or deputy is a black eunuch, the chief of the Aghawat,[FN#60] upon a
pay of 5000 piastres. The present principal of this college is one
Tayfur Agha, a slave of Esma Sultanah, sister to the late Sultan
Mahmud. The chief treasurer is called the Mudir al-Harim; he keeps an
eye upon the Khaznadar, or treasurer, whose salary is 2000 piastres.
The Mustaslim is the chief of the Katibs, or writers who settle the
[p.372]accounts of the Mosque; his pay is 1500, and under him is a
Nakib or assistant upon 1000 piastres. There are three Shaykhs of the
eunuchs who receive from 700 to 1000 piastres a month each. The
eunuchs, about a hundred and twenty in number, are divided into three
orders. The Bawwabin, or porters, open the doors of the Mosque. The
Khubziyah sweep the purer parts of the temple, and the lowest order,
popularly called "Battalin," clean away all impurities, beat those
found sleeping, and act as beadles, a duty here which involves
considerable use of the cane. These men receive as perquisites presents
from each visitor when they offer him the usual congratulation, and for
other small favours, such as permitting strangers to light the
lamps,[FN#61] or to sweep the floor. Their pay varies from 250 to 500
piastres a month: they are looked upon as honourable men, and are,
generally speaking, married, some of them indulging in three or four
wives,-which would have aroused Juvenal's bile. The Agha's character is
curious and exceptional as his outward conformation. Disconnected with
humanity, he is cruel, fierce, brave, and capable of any villany. His
frame is unnaturally long and lean, especially the arms and legs, with
high shoulders, protruding joints, and a face by contrast
extraordinarily large; he is unusually expert in the use of weapons,
and sitting well "home," he rides to admiration, his hoarse, thick
voice investing him with all the circumstances of command.
Besides the eunuchs, there are a number of free servants, called
Farrashin, attached to the Mosque; almost all the middle and lower
class of citizens belong to this order. They are divided into parties
of thirty each, and are changed every week, those on duty receiving a
Ghazi or twenty-two piastres for their services. Their business
[p.373]is to dust, and to spread the carpets, to put oil and wicks into
the lamps which the eunuchs let down from the ceiling, and, generally
speaking, diligently to do nothing.
Finally, the menial establishment of the Mosque consists of a Shaykh
al-Sakka (chief of the water-carriers), under whom are from forty-five
to fifty men who sprinkle the floors, water the garden, and, for a
consideration, supply a cupful of brackish liquid to visitors.
The literary establishment is even more extensive than the executive
and the menial. There is a Kazi, or chief judge, sent every year from
Constantinople. After twelve months at Al-Madinah, he passes on to
Meccah, and returns home after a similar term of service in the second
Holy City. Under him are three Muftis,[FN#62] of the Hanafi, the
Shafe'i, and the Maliki schools; the fourth, or Hanbali, is not
represented here or at Cairo.[FN#63] Each of these officers receives as
pay about two hundred and fifty piastres a month. The Ruasa,[FN#64] as
the Mu'ezzins (prayer-callers) here call themselves, are extensively
represented; there are forty-eight or forty-nine of the lowest order,
presided over by six Kubar or Masters, and these again are under the
Shaykh al-Ruasa, who alone has the privilege of calling to prayers from
the Raisiyah minaret. The Shaykh receives a hundred and fifty piastres,
the chiefs about a hundred, and the common criers sixty; there are
[p.374]forty-five Khatibs, who preach and pray before the congregation
on Fridays for a hundred and twenty piastres a month; they are under
the Shaykh al-Khutaba. About the same sum is given to seventy-five
Imams, who recite the five ordinary prayers of every day in the Mosque;
the Shaykh al-Aimmat is their superior.[FN#65]
Almost all the citizens of Al-Madinah who have not some official charge
about the temple qualify themselves to act as Muzawwirs. They begin as
boys to learn the formula of prayer, and the conducting of visitors;
and partly by begging, partly by boldness, they often pick up a
tolerable livelihood at an early age. The Muzawwir will often receive
strangers into his house, as was done to me, and direct their devotions
during the whole time of their stay. For such service he requires a sum
of money proportioned to his guests' circumstances, but this fee does
not end the connexion.
