A full and just account of the present state of the Ottoman Empire in all its branches; with the government, and policy, religion, customs, and way of living of the Turks in general ... from a serious observation, taken in many years travesl thro' those countries / [Aaron Hill].
- Aaron Hill
- Date:
- 1710
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A full and just account of the present state of the Ottoman Empire in all its branches; with the government, and policy, religion, customs, and way of living of the Turks in general ... from a serious observation, taken in many years travesl thro' those countries / [Aaron Hill]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![CHAP. XLVIIL Of the Turks Tilgrimage to their Prophet* Birth- ‘Place, and their Ceremonies at Mecca and Me¬ dina Telnabi. NEVER fure did a Bigot ted Superjlition lead away the Minds of Thoughtlefs Mortals, to fo wond’rous a degree, as it has done in The force of Turkey, where the Annual Practice of a Pilgrimage to Mecca, has pre- Superftiuon. vail’d fo ftrangely by the fix’d Injunction of their Prophet's Law, that ’tis by all believ’d the fur eft PaJJport from Mortality to Paradife. NAY they carry it ftill farther, and perfift in the Affertion, that unlefs Grange a Turk fhall once at leaft, before he Dies, perform that Pilgrimage, or bear Notion, the Charges of fome other Man to do it for him, ( if the want 0iHealth pre¬ vents his Piety ) it'is impoffible that he fhould ever reach thofe grofs En¬ joyments, they expeCt from the Romantic Blcjfings of another World, till they have Purified their Perfons from the Guilt of luch OmiJJion, by a long con¬ tinuance in the Tortures of the Grave, infliCted on them, by the two Black Angels, as I have at large inform’d you in the Part Foregoing. O H Miferable Frailty of deceiv’d Mortality, fo ftrangely open to the Moral Re. ftrong Affaults of our mijtaken Pajfions, and unguarded commonly againft the fleaions.* weakeft Efforts, made by Nature to delude our Senfes, but by far more liable to the Perfrvafive Ills of Super(litiorss Zeal, and the Deceitful Glofs of an ///- chofe Religion : There our Vices fculk with undetected Art, behind the Mafq ue of a pretended Vertue. And how eafily, alas ! are we mi/led in Exe¬ cution of our Duty, when the Dictates of our Reafon are themfelves too often Biafs'd to a Partial Sentence, and our Judgment, which fhould ever Rule a Wife Man's ACtions, Brib'd unfortunately by Erroneous Principles. HOWEVER, e’er I enter on the Subject of the Chapter, I am notv a- A vu]gai Er„ bout to treat of I will undeceive my Reader, who has probably been led a- ror, concer- Jtray, like many others, by a Vulgar Error, which inclines them to believe, that Mecca, as the Place, to which the Turks direCt their Pilgrimage, is the * Town, wherein the Great Impojtor Mahomet lies Buried, when it really is no other, than his Birth-Place, and as fuch, made Holy by his own Injunctions that, with fuch and fuch appointed Ceremonies, all his Followers fhou’d Vifit that Great City, in Commemoration of his being thence produc’d amongft them. SOME few Days Journey, North of Mecca, ftands the Celebrated Of m«c» and Tomb of Mahomet in a fmall Town, diftinguifh’d by the Name of Medina Telnabi, where he Died, and now lies Buried in the Form, I fhall defcribe hereafter: No Believer, (as they call themfelves) is by their Prophet's Law oblig'd to Vifit this Place in their Pilgrimage, but as they were aifur’d by the Impojtor, that, if not a Meritorious, ’twou’d at leaft be an Acceptable Acknorv-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30450895_0381.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
