The
Pebbles Are Partly Brought From Muzdalifah, Partly From The Valley Of
Muna, In Which Stands The Pillar.
[FN#11] Mr. Bankes Confounds This Column With The Devil’S Pillar At Muna.
Finati Alludes To The Landmarks Of The Arafat Plain, Now Called
Al-Alamayn (The Two Marks).
The pilgrims must stand within these
boundaries on a certain day (the 9th of Zu’l Hijjah), otherwise he has
failed to observe a rital ordinance.
[FN#12] He appears to confound the proper place with Arafat.
The
sacrifice is performed in the valley of Muna, after leaving the
mountain. But Finati, we are told by his translator, wrote from memory—a
pernicious practice for a traveller.
[FN#13] This custom is now obsolete, as regards the grand body of
pilgrims. Anciently, a certificate from the Sharif was given to all who
could afford money for a proof of having performed the pilgrimage, but
no such practice at present exists. My friends have frequently asked
me, what proof there is of a Moslem’s having become a Haji. None
whatever; consequently impostors abound. Sa’adi, in the Gulistan, notices
a case. But the ceremonies of the Hajj are so complicated and
unintelligible by mere description, that a little cross-questioning
applied to the false Haji would easily detect him.
[FN#14] No wonder Mr. Bankes is somewhat puzzled by this passage.
Certainly none but a pilgrim could guess that the author refers to the
rites called Al-Umrah and Al-Sai, or the running between Mounts Safa
and Marwah.
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