THE PILGRIMAGE OF THE HOLY CARPET.

Waikato Times, Volume 88, Issue 13488, 19 May 1917, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE PILGRIMAGE OF THE HOLY CARPET.

An old custom, long of religious significance, which may now take on an international importance, is the pilgrimage of the Holv Carpet to Mecca. For hundreds of years the pilgrimage has been an annual affair, representing the respects of the ruler of Egypt to the keeper of the mosoue at the Moslem capital. Now, with the proclamation of the Arabian Kingdom, it is possibly that the new ruler will take charge ot the mosque at Mecca, and that the ptl. grimage from Cairo will metamorphose into an international festival.

In the Kansas City Star we are given a few of the details about this extraordinary function, starting with its inception in,-the days of Shargaret El-| Dorr, Queen of Egypt in the thirteenth ; century. We learn : "Somewhere in the Arabian desert, skirting the P,ed Sea, a long caravan of camels, guarded by a convoy of British troops, is slowly'marching through the sands heading for the sacred Moslem city of Mecca. Among the camels i? one which is fairly hidden under trappings of silk, with a myriad tassels of golden thread and tiny pendent bells shimmering and tinkling. Beneath those gorgeous silken covers is folded upon the camel's baek a ' Holy Carpet' which seventy of the most expert weavers and embroiderers in the rvorld have been at work on for uoward of a year. The like of that sacred rug has never been seen in America, and if one could 1 1 l.j 1 U „.„.,I,J aaM tnr. o fftT.

i dred .years, until two year* ago, when the war interrupted the ancient custom. "Away lack in the thirteenth century, tlio Queen of Egypt, Shargaret El-Dorr, made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and a set of rich trappings was made lor the camel she rode She also had made, and took with her, a richly embroidered curtain with which to cover the! "Kaaba," the .Moslem Holy of Holies in Mecca. And from that day, until two years ago, the gift of a curtain and the pilgrimage have been repeated once a year by each succeeding ruler of Egypt. Two years ago the desert was made dangerous by bands of people, taking advantage of the war in which Turkey was plunged, broke out to maraud and rob, and the pilgrimage, was deferred. But this year the British 'Government instructed the commander of its troops in Egypt to give safe conduct to the pilgrimage."

As a matter of fact, the account tells us that the Holy Carpet is not properly a. carpet at all, but rather a finely woven curtain. It is made in Cairo under the eyes of the governor, and its tremendous cost is defrayed by rich Moslems of Egypt. When it is finished, and proved flawless, it is sent to Mecca by the pilgrimage previously described. Then wo read: "After the curtain reaches Mecca the old curtain which has hung there for a year is taken down and the new one is put up and becomes the veil' hiding the mysteries of that place which has heen seen bv few infidel eves.

"The Kaaba is the oldest sacred shrine in the world. It is generally believed to be the oldest building in the world. It is a tube-shaped building about forty feet square, with the sacred black stone embedded.in its walk This is supposetl' to have dropped! from heaven. Millions of Moslem lips have kissed it in the last thousand years and more. so many that their impress has worn awav the surface of the stone.

"S"o one, knows how old the Kaaba is. Mohammed says in the Koran that the patriarch Abraham built it. One Arab legend has it that Adam built it and another says Ishmael dwelt there. At any rate, it was very old when Mohammed founded his religion in the seventh century, and before then it was the shrine of the God Hubal. A year hefore Mohammed died he made a pilgrimage from his home in Medina, 250 miles to the Kaaba, imbued with the conviction that the Kaaba, purged of idolatry, would be, the most acceptable temple of Allah on earth, and with thousands of his religious followers looking on, he walked seven times around the ancient, shrine, and then exhorted bis adherents to protect the weak, the poor, and the women, to abstain from usury, to live righteous livens and closed with: "Oh, Allah! Have I not completed my mission?" He returned to Medina, was stricken with pleurisv, and died Monday, June 8, 032. Many suppose that the prophet Mohammed is buried in the Kaaba, but his tomb is in Medina. Moslems believe he. lies stretched at full length on his right side with the fight palm supporting the right cheek, the face directed toward Mecca; that beside him rest the two califs, Abu Bekr and Omar, and at the other side of the prophet is an empty tomb for Jesus. The fact, however, is that when the tomb was struck by lightning in the year 891' and had to be rebuilt, three deep graves were found in the interior, filled only with rubbish.

The Moslem makes a pilgrimage to Mecca because Mohammed himself imposed upon each one of his followers the duty to make that pilgrimage at least one in his lifetime, to walk seven times around the Kfiaba, to kiss the sacred black stone, and to perform certain other rites that were to cleanse his soul of all sin and prepare him to enter heaven. One hundred thousand Moslems from all parts of Asia and Africa make that pilgrimage to Mecca each year. And each year the ''Holy Carpot" goes, as it is going now. to cover the sacred Kaaba and protect its wall from the weather."