Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, vol 2 | Page 8

repairs to the parent
or guardian of the girl, and at the end of his visit exclaims, “The
Fatihah! we beg of your kindness your daughter for our son.” Should
the other be favourable to the proposal, his reply is, “Welcome and
congratulation to you: but we must perform Istikharah[FN#36]
(religious lot casting)”; and, when consent is given, both pledge
themselves to the agreement by reciting the Fatihah. Then commence
negotiations about the Mahr or sum settled upon the bride[FN#37]; and
after the smoothing of this difficulty follow feastings of friends and
relatives, male and female. The marriage itself is called Akd al-Nikah
or Ziwaj. A Walimah or banquet is prepared by the father of the Aris
(groom), at his own house, and the Kazi attends to perform the nuptial
ceremony, the girl’s consent being obtained through her Wakil, any
male relation whom she commissions to act for her. Then, with great
pomp and circumstance, the Aris visits his Arusah (bride) at her
father’s house; and finally, with a Zuffah or procession and sundry

ceremonies at the Harim, she is brought to her new home. Arab
funerals are as simple as their marriages are complicated. Neither
Naddabah (myriologist or hired keener), nor indeed any female, even a
relation, is present at burials as in other parts of the Moslem
world,[FN#38] and it is esteemed disgraceful
[p.24]for a man to weep aloud. The Prophet, ho doubtless had heard of
those pagan mournings, where an effeminate and unlimited display of
woe was often terminated by licentious excesses, like the Christian’s
half-heathen “wakes,” forbad [a]ught beyond a decent demonstration of
grief. And his strong good sense enabled him to see through the vanity
of professional mourners. At Al-Madinah the corpse is interred shortly
after decease. The bier is carried though the streets at a moderate pace,
by friends and relatives,[FN#39] these bringing up the rear. Every man
who passes lends his shoulder for a minute, a mark of respect to the
dead, and also considered a pious and a prayerful act. Arrived at the
Harim, they carry the corpse in visitation to the Prophet’s window, and
pray over it at Osman’s niche. Finally, it is interred after the usual
Moslem fashion in the cemetery Al-Bakia.
Al-Madinah, though pillaged by the Wahhabis, still abounds in books.
Near the Harim are two Madrasah or colleges, the Mahmudiyah, so
called from Sultan Mahmud, and that of Bashir Agha: both have large
stores of theological and other works. I also heard of extensive private
collections, particularly of one belonging to the Najib al-Ashraf, or
chief of the Sharifs, a certain Mohammed Jamal al-Layl, whose father
is well-known in India. Besides which, there is a large Wakf or bequest
of books, presented to the Mosque or entailed upon particular
families.[FN#40] The celebrated Mohammed Ibn Abdillah
al-Sannusi[FN#41] has removed
[p.25] his collection, amounting, it is said, to eight thousand volumes,
from Al-Madinah to his house in Jabal Kubays at Meccah. The
burial-place of the Prophet, therefore, no longer lies open to the charge
of utter ignorance brought against it by my predecessor.[FN#42] The
people now praise their Olema for learning, and boast a superiority in
respect of science over Meccah. Yet many students leave the place for

Damascus and Cairo, where the Riwak al-Haramayn (College of the
Two Shrines) in the Azhar Mosque University, is always crowded; and
though Omar Effendi boasted to me that his city was full of lore, he did
not appear the less anxious to attend the lectures of Egyptian professors.
But none of my informants claimed for Al-Madinah any facilities of
studying other than the purely religious sciences.[FN#43] Philosophy,
medicine, arithmetic, mathematics, and algebra cannot be learnt here. I
was careful to inquire about the occult sciences, remembering that
Paracelsus had travelled in Arabia, and that the Count Cagliostro
(Giuseppe Balsamo), who claimed the Meccan Sharif as his father,
asserted that about A.D. 1765 he had studied alchemy at Al-Madinah.
The only trace I could find was a superficial knowledge of the Magic
Mirror. But after denying the Madani the praise of varied learning, it
must be owned that their quick observation and retentive memories
have stored up for
[p.26]them an abundance of superficial knowledge, culled from
conversations in the market and in the camp. I found it impossible here
to display those feats which in Sind, Southern Persia, Eastern Arabia,
and many parts of India, would be looked upon as miraculous. Most
probably one of the company had witnessed the performance of some
Italian conjuror at Constantinople or Alexandria, and retained a lively
recollection of every manœuvre. As linguists they are not equal to the
Meccans, who surpass all Orientals excepting only the Armenians; the
Madani seldom know Turkish, and more rarely still Persian and Indian.
Those only who have studied in Egypt chaunt the