Another occasional freak of Mohammedanism is the religious procession,
which is conducted on the principle of a rival show to the Christian
fêtes. It starts on Good Friday from Jerusalem to visit the tomb of
Moses--a late fiction, somewhat daring in its contradiction to the old
belief that the tomb of Moses was known to no man. It is amusingly
described by witnesses, but appears to be rather a poor affair on the
whole.
These extravagances apart, one is never out of sight of Mohammedan
religion for an hour of travel in Syria. The worship, like old idolatry,
seems to have claimed every high hill and every green tree for its own.
It has settled itself, in the very seat of old Judaism, on the sacred
area of the temple. Almost every one of the prominent hills of Palestine
is crowned with a little building, domed and whitewashed, opening in a
porch in front, and containing a single empty chamber. This is the weli
(_i.e._ monument, not necessarily tomb) of a Mohammedan saint. What the
terms of canonisation may be, it is perhaps best not to inquire too
minutely. Many of these departed saints are said to have been prophets,
but the discoverer of coffee has his monument in Mocha, to which great
processions come, and there is more than one weli in Palestine
commemorative of a dead robber chief. Not the less sacred are they to
the Mohammedans. In various parts of the country we were puzzled by
little piles of stones, gathered and arranged in considerable numbers on
the tops of long ascents or passes, and bearing a curious resemblance to
the cairns which in certain districts of the west of Scotland mark the
spots at which funeral processions have halted to change the
coffin-bearers. The explanation of these little piles is very simple.
When a Mohammedan comes to the hill-top, and looking around him sees a
weli shining in the distance, he offers up a prayer, and drops a stone
there, to call the attention of the next comer, that he also may look
and pray. Very picturesque and quaint these little holy houses are;
serving, like the hermit’s tower of old in Western lands, for landmarks
as well as for shrines--the white light-houses of the inland.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account