File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎276r] (556/898)

not allowed to be dumped on the Jeddah market. Considerable losses have been
incurred by the Mecca merchants on account of this embargo.
17. The details of the motor-car concession for the transportation of pilgrims
between Jeddah and Mecca have at last been published in the “ Umm-al-Qura,” the
Mecca newspaper. The usual pan-Islamism asserts itself in nearly every clause,
and. until the company takes on a more definite form, British manufacturers would
well advised to stand clear from all advances other than on a strictly cash-down
oasis. Of the eight or nine cars which the company started to use within the last two
months, four, no less, were broken down on the Jeddah-Mecca road some days
back, and frantic orders for spares are being despatched every other day. The fares
have been fixed at £E 1 each way, plus a surtax of 20 piastres Egyptian for the
Koshan or Government tax. The company recently sent two cars from Rabigh to
Medina to reconnoitre a possible motor road between those towns. I understand
that this party took some three days to do the distance, but report optimistically,
and state that fifteen hours is all that will be necessary for the journey from Mecca to
Medina after regular communication has been established.
18. The situation, in so far as concerns the religious freedom of the pilgrims]
and residents of the Hejaz, is becoming increasingly difficult. Many petty tyrannies,
not the least of which is the fact that all barbers have been instructed not to shave
the faces of pilgrims or residents completely, as this is against the orders of the
Prophet. At least fifteen hairs must be left on the face. A further cause of dissension
is the fact'that the Department of Public Health has issued orders that all bodies,
male or female, are to be examined by a doctor of the administration before burial.
This, I am given to understand, will be greatly resented by all Indians and Afghans
and many of the stricter sects of all Orthodox Moslems. Further, now only the
Wahabi Imam is allowed to lead the evening prayer in the mosque, and where
formerly thousands congregated, not more than a thousand may be seen in the
mosque of an evening.
19. A further cause of trouble is that the Egyptians have been requested
unofficially not to send the usual brass band with the Mahmal. What effect this may
have on Egyptian opinion, if the band is suppressed, or on the Wahabis, if it
accompanies the Mahmal, is still to be seen, but, either way, discontent will be
manifest
20. There is no doubt, as I stated, that Ibn Saud himself is a man with a wider
outlook and more modern ideas than his fanatical followers, and though he appears
at the present moment to be priest-ridden, there are still possibilities of events taking
a more favourable turn as regards religious freedom. One must not lose sight ot the
fact that these same fanatical people are his one source of strength and to
them by ignoring their religion, which he himself has inculcated, and o w nc i
the present head, would be tantamount to suicide, but he is slowly and with sub
reasoning bringing the Wahabi ulama to a more reasonable point of ymw as regards
the other sects of Islam. To prove this, it is but necessary to compare the actions
of the Wahabis when they first captured Mecca .some hundred years ago and t
actions to-day, when the J difference is at once manifest. Nyapprecia ion of their
actions can be complete until after the pilgrimage, w en ei ,
and elsewhere will be known. Though pessimists foresee clashes between the various
sects about that time, I think that it is as yet too early to lodge. s i 0 wlv
21. The general situation is unchanged Pilgrims are
which is a source of great regret to Hejazi and Wahabi a ike. o w |
have been recorded officiallv, but this does not include many hvorth Africans w
drift acrL from Suakfn and Massaua, biff who f %^t?h colteLKor^
penniless and no great source of revenue to the ‘-'b'oiti '. , - \ a w jij
Jne that the pilg^mage has received a ^
scSJir»™ «> «•*«>
Salih Husain, arrived on the steamship Jehangir a n ^ openly stated
was most bitter about the treatment they recmv niWims arriving at the
hiQ intpnHrm of encouraging “civil disobedience of all pilgrims arming at tue
quarantine 0 statiom^Most of the other pilgrims had no complaints to make m respect
of their treatment. , , . , prm<Jderation and
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