This Is Not An Overdrawn
Portrait Of The Farmer Race Of Arabs, The Most Despised By Their
Fellow-Countrymen, And The Most Hard-Favoured, Morally As Well As
Physically, Of All The Breed.
Before entering the Mosque of Al-Kuba[FN#16] it will be necessary to
call to mind some passages of its past history.
When the Apostle's
she-camel, Al-Kaswa, as he was approaching Al-Madinah after the flight
from Meccah, knelt down here, he desired his companions to mount the
animal. Abu Bakr and Omar[FN#17] did so; still she sat upon the ground;
but when Ali obeyed the order, she arose. The Apostle bade him loose
her halter, for she was directed by Allah, and the Mosque walls were
built upon the line over which she trod. It was the first place of
public prayer in Al-Islam. Mohammed laid the first brick, and with an
"Anzah," or iron-shod javelin, marked out the direction of
prayer[FN#18]: each of his successors followed his example. According
to most historians, the
[p.408]land belonged to Abu Ayyub the Ansari, the Apostle's host; for
which reason the "Bayt Ayyub," his descendants, still perform the
service of the Mosque, keep the key, and share with the Bawwabs, or
porters, the alms and fees here offered by the Faithful. Others
declared that the ground was the property of one Linah, a woman who was
in the habit of tethering her ass there.[FN#19] The Apostle used to
visit it every Saturday[FN#20] on foot, and always made a point of
praying the dawn-prayer there on the 17th Ramazan.[FN#21] A number of
traditions testify to its dignity: of these, two are especially
significant. The first assures all Moslems that a prayer at Kuba is
equal to a Lesser Pilgrimage at Meccah in religious efficacy; and the
second declares that such devotion is more acceptable to the Deity than
prostrations at the Bayt al-Mukuddas (Jerusalem). Moreover, sundry
miracles took place here, and a verset of the Koran descended from
heaven. For which reasons the Mosque was much respected by Omar, who,
once finding it empty, swept it himself with a broom of thorns, and
expressed his wonder at the lukewarmness of Moslem piety. It was
originally a square building of very small size; Osman enlarged it in
the direction of the minaret, making it sixty-six cubits each way. It
is no longer "mean and decayed" as in Burckhardt's time: the Sultan Abd
al-Hamid, father of
[p.409]the Sultan Mahmud, erected a minaret of Turkish shape and a neat
structure of cut stone, whose crenelles make it look more like a place
of defence than of prayer. It has, however, no preten[s]ions to
grandeur. To the South a small and narrow Riwak (porch), with
unpretending columns, looks out Northwards upon a little open area
simply sanded over; and this is the whole building.
The large Mastabah or stone bench at the entrance of the Mosque was
crowded with sitting people: we therefore lost no time, after ablution
and the Niyat ("the Intention") peculiar to this Visitation, in
ascending the steps, in pulling off our slippers, and in entering the
sacred building. We stood upon the Musalla al-Nabi (the Prophet's place
of Prayer)[FN22]: after Shaykh Nur and Hamid had forcibly cleared that
auspicious spot of a devout Indian, and had spread a rug upon the dirty
matting, we performed a two-bow prayer, in font of a pillar into which
a diminutive marble Mihrab or niche had been inserted by way of
memento. Then came the Dua, or supplication, which was as follows:
"O Allah! bless and preserve, and increase, and perpetuate, and
benefit, and be propit[i]ous to, our Lord Mohammed, and to his Family,
and to his Companions, and be Thou their Preserver! O Allah! this is
the Mosque Kuba, and the Place of the Prophet's Prayers. O Allah!
pardon our Sins, and veil our Faults, and place not over us one who
feareth not Thee, and who pitieth not us, and pardon us, and the true
Believers, Men and Women, the Quick of them and the Dead: for verily
Thou, O Lord, art the Hearer, the near to us, the Answerer of our
Supplications." After which we recited the Testification and the
Fatihah, and we drew our palms as usual down our faces.
We then moved away to the South-Eastern corner of the edifice, and
stood before a Mihrab in the Southern wall.
[p.410]It is called "Takat al-Kashf" or "Niche of Disclosure," by those
who believe that as the Prophet was standing undecided about the
direction of Meccah, the Archangel Gabriel removed all obstructions to
his vision. There again we went through the two-bow prayer, the
Supplication, the Testification, and the Fatihah, under difficulties,
for people mobbed us excessively. During our devotions, I vainly
attempted to decipher a Cufic inscription fixed in the wall above and
on the right of the Mihrab,-my regret however, at this failure was
transitory, the character not being of an ancient date. Then we left
the Riwak, and despite the morning sun which shone fiercely with a
sickly heat, we went to the open area where stands the "Mabrak
al-Nakah," or the "Place of kneeling of the she-Dromedary.[FB#23]"
This, the exact spot where Al-Kaswa sat down, is covered with a
diminutive dome of cut stone, supported by four stone pillars: the
building is about eight feet high and a little less in length and in
breadth. It has the appearance of being modern. On the floor, which was
raised by steps above the level of the ground, lay, as usual, a bit of
dirty matting, upon which we again went through, the ceremonies above
detailed.
Then issuing from the canopy into the sun, a little outside the Riwak
and close to the Mabrak, we prayed upon the "Makan al-Ayat,[FN#24]" or
the "Place of Signs." Here was revealed to Mohammed a passage in the
Koran especially alluding to the purity of the place and of the people
of Kuba, "a Temple founded in Purity from its first Day;" and again:
"there live Men who love to be
[p.411]cleansed, and verily Allah delights in the Clean." The Prophet
exclaimed in admiration, "O ye Sons of Amr!
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