[figure description] Page 223.[end figure description]

Being freed from my ble&longs;&longs;ed
companion, I had an agreeable journey
from Medina to Mecca, which is the mo&longs;t
antient city in all Arabia; &longs;ituated about
two hundred miles &longs;outh ea&longs;t of Medina,
twenty one degrees and forty five minutes
north latitude, and one hundred and &longs;ixteen
degrees ea&longs;t longitude, from Philadelphia,
according to late American calculations. I
&longs;aw the great mo&longs;que in the centre of Mecca,
which it is &longs;aid, far &longs;urpa&longs;&longs;es in grandeur
that of Sancta Sophia in Con&longs;tantinople. It
certainly is a very augu&longs;t building, the
roof of which is refulgent; but even the

[figure description] Page 224.[end figure description]

inhabitants &longs;miled at my credulity, when
I ob&longs;erved that I had read it was covered
with plated gold. This mo&longs;que contains
within its limits the grand object of the
Mu&longs;&longs;ulman's pilgrimage; the Al Kaaba,
or hou&longs;e of God, &longs;aid to have been built
by the hands of the patriarch Abraham;
to confirm which the Arabian prie&longs;ts
&longs;hew a black &longs;tone, upon which they &longs;ay
Abraham laid his &longs;on I&longs;aac, when he had
bound him in preparation for his intended
&longs;acrifice. This &longs;tone and building
were great objects of veneration, before
the mi&longs;&longs;ion of the prophet, and he artfully
availed him&longs;elf of this popular prejudice,
in rendering the highe&longs;t re&longs;pect to the
holy hou&longs;e, in his life time, and enjoining
upon his followers, without distinction
among males, to vi&longs;it it once in their
lives. The advent of the prophet was
&longs;aid to be announced from the four corners
of the hou&longs;e, which exhibit the four
cardinal points. Few pilgrims are

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permitted to enter this &longs;acred, venerable
building; but, after travelling, &longs;ome of
them perhaps a thou&longs;and miles, they are
content to pro&longs;trate them&longs;elves in the
courts, which &longs;urround it. Few Mahometans
perform this pilgrimage in per&longs;on;
tho&longs;e who do are highly re&longs;pected.
This pilgrimage was enjoined, by the
prophet, to be performed in per&longs;on; but,
when he laid this injunction, it is not
probable he anticipated the exten&longs;ive
&longs;pread of his doctrines. So long as his
di&longs;ciples were limited by the boundaries
of Arabia, or had only extended themselves
over a part of Syria, this pious
journey was practicable and ea&longs;y; out,
when the cre&longs;cent ro&longs;e triumphant on the
&longs;ea coa&longs;t, and mo&longs;t of the interiour of Africa,
when it &longs;hone with &longs;plendour in
Per&longs;ia, Tartary, and Turkey, and even
adorned the Moori&longs;h minarit in Spain,
actual pilgrimage was deemed impracticable;
and the faithful were allowed to

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vi&longs;it the Kaaba by deputy. The ingenuity
of more modern times has alleviated
this religious burthen &longs;till further, by allowing
the deputy to &longs;ub&longs;titute other attornies
under him. Thus for example:
the pious Mu&longs;&longs;ulman in Belgrade will
employ a friend at Con&longs;tantinople, who
will empower another friend at Scandaroon
to procure a confidential friend at
Grand Cairo to go in the name of him at
Belgrade, and perform his pilgrimage to
Mecca. Certificates of the&longs;e &longs;everal substitutions
are pre&longs;erved, and the lazy
Mu&longs;&longs;ulman hopes by this to reap
the rewards of the faithful in paradi&longs;e.

p407-450

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