Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Madinah and Meccah

Lieutenant Burton, having penetrated to Medina and Mecca, and entered the holiest sanctuaries of the Moslem faith, presents us with the picturesque story of his pilgrimage. The extreme reverence in which these cities are held, and that jealousy which prevents all acknowledged followers of other religions from visiting, or even approaching them, undoubtedly grew out of the fierce and fanatical character of Mohammedanism in its earlier days. The violence of that fanaticism is now over. Except in Arabia, the cradle and stronghold of Islam, the Frank Christians mingle freely with the followers of the Prophet, not only without indignity, but in many places as their friends and protectors. The rapid spread of intercourse between the East and the West, and, more than all, the recent alliance of Christian and Moslem powers in the war against Russia, has greatly weakened, and, in the course of time, may wholly obliterate, the bitterness of that religious prejudice which has hitherto been the characteristic of such inter- course. Its effect is already seen, in the facility with which travellers now obtain access to the sacred mosques of Constantinople and Cairo. Even the Mosque of Omar, at Jerusalem, where, five years ago, Christians were stoned for attempting to enter — whose gates would not open to a Frank for a firman of the Sultan himself— has alike become accessible to profane feet. The same change will eventually overtake the more bigoted population of the Hedjaz, and future travellers, perhaps, in green veils and spectacles, may languidly scrutinize the mosques of Mecca. The success of such men as Burckhardt and Burton should not be ascribed, however, to this circumstance. It is entirely due to their courage, prudence, and perseverance, and to their intimate acquaintance with eastern life, and the ceremonials of the Moslem faith.