be extended. This rule applies to the poor as well as to the rich, and throughout the Moslem countries one will find regular entertainment of guests the common practice. It even becomes a burden on the poor but a burden cheerfully accepted.
5. The pilgrimage to Mecca. The center of the Islamic world is Mecca, and the center of Mecca is the Kaaba. It was a master stroke of Mohammed when he made the pilgrimage to Mecca one of the duties of religion. Undoubtedly it has been one of the strongest factors for creating a sense of brotherhood and unity among the diverse peoples of the Moslem world.
We find the pilgrimage idea all down through human history. Christians during the Middle Ages made the pilgrimage to Palestine. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are stories told by pilgrims to the tomb of Thomas a Becket. Today we Protestants have summer conferences and conventions instead!
The pilgrimage to Mecca attracts pilgrims from every corner of the Moslem world by the tens of thousands, as we saw in the first chapter. In 1929 the number was reported as 85,000, and in 1934 at least 60,000 arrived at Mecca for the opening day's exercises. They come from everywhere, by sea and by land. In 1934 no less than 25,000 came by sea to Jidda alone from Singapore, Cape Town, and various other ports north and south. Many also come by the overland routes, using the Hejaz railway from Damascus to Medina; or by motor omnibus from Baghdad across the desert; and special haft parties
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