CHAPTER 4 HAJJ AND FINANCE
5.2 THE EARLY MUALLIM SYSTEM
I will investigate how past and present hajj agents and operators have managed the hajj enterprise. Problems encountered by hajjis over the years will be identified. The establishment of SAHUC as well as its status and role in the hajj industry will also be discussed in this chapter. I will examine whether SAHUC has achieved its objectives as the overseer of the hajj enterprise.
Photo: Kobera Manuel Bakaar Manuel with the Duke of Kent
In the first quarter of the 20 century there were only White (European) travel agents, including Thomas Cook, Union Castle Lines and Trailers. The people that I interviewed including Mohammed Hanif Allie,3 Savad Abrahams4 and Cassiem Abrahams5 had made their travel reservations via these agents. In the 1930s, Hajji Muhammad Ebrahim Peerbhai became the first non-white travel agent in Cape Town. He was a sub-agent for Thomas Cook as well as for the Italian shipping company, Lloyd Triestino, which ran a steamer between Cape Town and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.61 was fortunate to have been able to interview Abu Bakr van der Schyff7 and Ruqayah Sadan8 who had made their travel arrangements with Hajji Muhammad Ebrahim Peerbhai.9
In 1936, when Abu Bakr van der Schyff was 18 years of age, he accompanied his father on hajj. They travelled with the Rosandra, an Italian liner to Jeddah. Being a cargo boat, it off-loaded goods at several ports. He remembers that only 15 Capetonians had gone on hajj that year, and that one family (Abdullah Poortjies, his wife and his son and daughter) was picked up in Port Elizabeth (PE). A Saudi woman named Sharifah Baron who had spent her holidays at the residence of the late Shaykh Achmat Behardien was also on this boat. A tent was erected on the deck wherein they slept; the women were separated from the men. At midnight, while still in PE harbour, the Rosandra received a cable that war
had been declared. Subsequently, the ItaUan flag was painted on both sides of the boat with many floodlights focused on the flags. At that time, the mu^allims/matawwifs of Mecca used to request the hajjis to bring (sleeping) stretchers, blankets, pillows as well as mosquito nets with them. Women used to take pots and primus stoves with them to Mecca because they cooked their own food. In the 1930s, the mu^allimslmatawwifs used small boats to fetch the hajjis from the main ships which could not enter the shallow Jeddah harbour. While the hajjis would spend a day or two in Jeddah, it was the mu^allim' slmatawwif s responsibility to organise accommodation and food for them.
According to Hajji Abu Bakr van der Schyff, in those days it took approximately 14 days to reach Medina by camel. Camels were also used as a means of conveying the hajjis from Mecca to Mina, Muzdalifah and vArafah. Only the king and some wealthy people had cars.10
Photo: M H Ebrahim Hajji Abu Bakr van der Schyff
performed hajj in 1936
Hajji Rugayah Sadan who travelled in 1939 with the Italian Liner Sabina for hajj had the following to say when I interviewed her:
The primus stoves, pots and pans that we took with us, were to cook food on the boat while sailing to Mecca and back. As food was expensive at the time, we took large wooden crates with us packed with foodstuff and other goods that were gifts for the mu^allims. We slept on the deck, but there were occasions when there were
rainstorms, we were allowed to sleep in the cabins. Though, we had taken the compulsory vaccinations prior to our departure, it was necessary to take the vaccinations again at different ports. While on our way to Jeddah, Hajji Abu Bakr Eksteen was diagnosed with smallpox - we had to remain on an island for three weeks before we could proceed with our voyage.
Peters concurs that a number of boats with uncertain seaworthiness were often packed to the bulkheads with as many bodies as the human condition could endure. Food and specifically fresh water were often in short supply, pilgrims were expected to carry their own provisions and do their own cooking and the only sanitary facility was the sea itself.12
In the early 20th century, when a boat entered the port of Jeddah, its arrival was announced by a man specifically appointed to go around to a number of public places to announce the arrival and departure of boats. Thereafter the matawwifs' wakils (agents) and the landlords would proceed to the port. Another designated person would determine the name of the matawwif from the hajjis. Thereafter he would direct them to the relevant agents and record in his notebook the number of hajjis allocated to each agent. The wakils as well as landlords would pay a fee on behalf of each hajji allocated to them. Every wakil would then send a message to his specific matawwif informing him as to the number of hajjis to expect as well as the day on which they would depart from Jeddah for Mecca. The matawwif would send his servants to the entrance of the city of Mecca to receive them. The rental for accommodation at Jeddah was fixed by the government at the time - and no more than eight people were allowed to share a room.13
Transport from Jeddah to Mecca was by camel. A camel-owner was assigned by the Sharif to each national group of hajjis. He was required to compile a list of all the camel drivers, as well as of the hajjis or their caravan leaders. The wakils had to present themselves to the camel-owner and pay the rate fixed by the government. All had to be shared amongst the Sharif, the consul, the mutawwif and the camel drivers.
The mu"allim (teacher) system operated as follows: when a hajji arrived in Jeddah, he was supposed to give to the authorities the name of the tmfallim or mutawwif who would look after him while he was in the country.
The role of the mutawwif should be made clear. His service was seasonal, namely during the hajj period. He used to form a link between the Saudi Government and the hajji. In response he would benefit from a special fee for handling the passports, customs clearance as well as accommodation of the hajjis. The mutawwif was also a qualified guide, who used to lead the hajjis throughout their religious rites. He had to accommodate the hajjis in his own private house or in a house, which he had rented for the hajj season.
The hotels that were close to the Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque) were too expensive, and were beyond the reach of most of the hajjis at the time.14
The mutawwifs, muKallims and shaykhs were officially appointed by the Saudi Government to oversee the hajjis while they were in Mecca and Medina. They included the xAlwi and Wali families who served the South African hajjis for many years.
Hereunder is a list of family members of the vAlwi family.
Sayed Mansur vAlwT
Sayed vAbd al-Rahman v Alwl (brother of Sayed MansurvAlwi) Sayed Safi sAlwI (son of Sayed vAbd al-Rahman vAlwi)
Sayed Hashim vAlwi, Sayed Jamil vAlwi and Sayed Ahmad vAlwi (brothers and second cousins of Sayed SafIv AlwT)
According to Shaykh Amien Fakier, although the titles mutawwif, mu^allim and shaykh, have different meanings, in the context of hajj these differences are irrelevant. Initially, these terms referred to individuals who taught people how to perform hajj, but when they became pilgrim guides their meanings changed to reflect their new functions. The different terminologies can be explained by the fact that they were given by people of different nationalities whom they had served.
Figure 3 Diagram indicating the link between the Title and the Nationalities.
mutawwif mu^allim shaykh
Saudi Arabia India Indonesia Egypt Pakistan Malaysia South Africa Bangladesh Thailand
Shaykh Mouti Moerat, imam of Masjid al-Nur Ma'had al-Islam in Paarl, argues that some mutawwifs who had taken hajjis in at their residences were not officially appointed by the Saudi Government. There was a case of a mutawwif"by the name of Ghazafi, who actually travelled to Cape Town in order to get hajjis to make reservations with him.
When the Saudi authorities discovered this, he was reprimanded as he was not registered with them.
Often a mutawwif would deal specifically with hajjis of one nationality. If a mutawwif, for instance, was married to a wife from Malaysia, he might prefer to look after Malaysian pilgrims since he was already familiar with their language and their culture. In fact, several mutawwifs had married women from Cape Town and, therefore, preferred to cater for pilgrims from Cape Town. Sayed (gentleman/sir)16 SafI vAlwi was one of those mu^allims who used to frequent Paarl in the Cape where he was introduced by Hajji Abbas Moerat to Nur Latief (better known as Siti Nur), a teacher at the Muslim school in Paarl, whom he subsequently married. "Oemie Hajiera" of Cape Town was also related to well-known Saudi families through marriage, among them Sayed vAlwi Satta and Sayed "Alwi Maliki. One of her sisters was the mother of Sayed Hashim vAlwT, a prominent mutawwif in Mecca.18
Photo: Muslim News 1962
From left: Sayed HSshim sUmar 'Alwl and Sayed Savid vAlwI
There were regular advertisements in the Cape Muslim News offering accommodation and other services by the mutawwifs of Mecca. We cite one such example below:
Intending Pilgrimage to Mecca
I, Hashim yMwl (Matawwif of Mecca) wish to advise Intending Pilgrims to Mecca, that I
Would gladly welcome you for accommodation, and all necessary services for your hajj. For your entry visas, please forward
names, ages and passport number.
For further information contact:
Imam M N Nacerodien, 10 Dawes Street Cape Town.
From the above advertisement one can ascertain that the mutawwifs used to organise the accommodation as well as other services such as the entry visas for the hajjis, and that local persons had served as agents for the mutawwifs.
The passport of each hajji was kept and handled by the mutawwif throughout the different stages of the journey. Most mutawwifs were sincere and honest men, whereas some, unfortunately, were not. Khalifa, comments in his book entitled "The Sacred Journey":
"These pilgrim guides are to be found in every land where Muslims dwell, except those under alien rule or domination. There are many who are capable and sincere, there are others who are neither. The sincere pilgrim guide protects his followers from rapacious shopkeepers, bargains on their behalf, and acts as their interpreter. He is a father, brother, servant and guide and has been called the camel of the pilgrim. His responsibility does not end until the last of his party has completed the pilgrimage and is embarked on the vessel, aircraft, or other means of transport which has to bear him homeward.,ao
Shaykh Mouti Moerat who during his studies in Mecca resided at the residence of Sayed SafI described him as a honest, dedicated and extremely pious person who used to frequent the Masjid al-Haram a lot more than some of the hajjis who had stayed at his residence. He also claimed that Sayed SafI vAlwI, as well as the other mutawwifs, had
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very good personal relationship with all their hajj clients.
In the early 1940s, the mu^allims used to welcome the Cape Town hajjis at the Jeddah Harbour. Instead of hiring camels, they began to use Ford lorries to take the hajjis from Jeddah Harbour to Mecca (to their residence). These lorries were also used to transport the hajjis from Mecca to Medina- and during the days of hajj to Mlnah, "Arafah and Muzdalifah.22
It was the tradition of the mu^allims not to charge the hajjis for the first three days of their stay at their residence. If the hajjis were not satisfied with the service they received, they were free to join another mutawwifox stay at a hotel. It was customary for the men to be accommodated in one room, separated from their spouses. This was necessary because of the limited accommodation at these bayts (houses), besides it was much cheaper than the rooms that accommodated couples. The tnu"allims who were married to the Cape women used to visit Cape Town frequently to meet their in-laws as well as to collect outstanding debts from the hajjis who had boarded at their bayts?* The following notice appeared in The Cape Standard on 12 December 1925:
"A large gathering of local Muslims greeted His Holiness Sayed "Umar "Alwi and his son Sayed Hashim in the City Hall, Cape Town, last Sunday afternoon.
Our visitors, who have come direct from Mecca, are touring South Africa, and
they can be assured of a true Muslim welcome from al the sections of the Muslim community in this country".
In 1947, a number of hajjis had left Cape Town by train for Durban on the first stage of their hajj to Mecca. It was reported that due to a shortage, ships would be unable to take hajjis direct from Cape Town to Jeddah. Hajjis were, therefore, advised to board ships at the Durban harbour in order to take them either directly to Jeddah or to Bombay, from where they had to board another ship to Jeddah. Among the hajjis on board was H A Salie, chairman of the Cape Western Districts Bespoke Tailors Union and H Abrahams of Mowbray, the life president of the Western Province Coloured Cricket Union.25 Later in the same year there was an improvement in the shipping position and the hajjis were able to travel by ship from Cape Town. A reporter of The Cape Standard observed that a number of well-wishers had marched solemnly down Darling Street, Cape Town, on the first stage of their journey.
5.3 FIRST ATTEMPT AT MANAGING HAJJ AT THE CAPE: THE MUSLIM