The Meccans' practices in the month of Ramaḍān

The Meccans' practices in the month of Ramadan include coordinated calls to prayer from the minarets, public recitation of the Qurʾān, the use of farqaʿa and other sounds.

وإذا أهل هلال رمضان تُضْرَب الطبول والدبادب عند أمير مكة، ويقع الاحتفال بالمسجد الحرام من تجديد الحصر وتكثير الشمع والمشاعل حتى يتلألأ الحرم نورًا ويسطع بهجةً وإشراقًا، وتَتَفَرَّق الأئمة فرقًا وهم الشافعية والحنفية والحنبلية والزيدية، وأما المالكية فيجتمعون على أربعة من القراء يتناوبون القراءة ويوقدون الشمع، ولا تبقى في الحرم زاوية ولا ناحية إلا وفيها قارئ يصلي بجماعته، فيرتجُّ المسجد لأصوات القراء وترق النفوس وتحضر القلوب وتهمل الأعين، ومن الناس من يقتصر على الطواف والصلاة في الحجر منفردًا، والشافعية أكثر الأئمة اجتهادًا، وعاداتهم أنهم إذا أكملوا التراويح المعتادة — وهي عشرون ركعة — يطوف إمامهم وجماعته، فإذا فرغ من الأسبوعضُرِبَت الفرقعة التي ذَكَرْنا أنها تكون بين يدي الخطيب يوم الجمعة، كأن ذلك إعلامًا بالعودة إلى الصلاة، ثم يصلي ركعتين ثم يطوف أسبوعًا، هكذا إلى أن يُتِمَّ عشرين ركعة أخرى، ثم يصلون الشفع والوتر وينصرفون، وسائر الأئمة لا يزيدون على العادة شيئًا، وإذا كان وقْت السحور يتولى المؤذن الزمزمي التسحير في الصومعة التي بالركن الشرقي من الحرم، فيقوم داعيًا ومذكرًا ومحرضًا على السحور، والمؤذنون في سائر الصوامع، فإذا تكلم أحد منهم أجابه صاحبه، وقد نُصِبَتْ في أعلى كل صومعة خشبة على رأسها عود معترض قد عُلّقَ فيه قنديلان من الزجاج كبيران يقدان، فإذا قَرُبَ الفجر ووَقَعَ الإيذان بالقطع مرة بعد مرة حط القنديلان وابتدأ المؤذنون بالأذان، وأجاب بعضهم بعضًا. ولديار مكة — شَرَّفَها لله — سطوح، فمن بَعُدَتْ داره بحيث لا يسمع الأذان يُبْصِر القنديلين المذكورين فيتسحر، حتى إذا لم يُبْصِرْهما أَقْلَعَ عن الأكل، وفي كل ليلة وتر من ليالي العشر الأواخر من رمضان يختمون القرآن، ويحضر الختم القاضي والفقهاء والكبراء، ويكون الذي يختم بهم أحد أبناء كبراء أهل مكة، فإذا ختم نُصِبَ له منبر مُزَيّن بالحرير وأوُْقِد الشمع وخَطَبَ، فإذا فرغ من خطبته استدعى أبوه الناس إلى منزله فأطعمهم الأطعمة الكثيرة والحلاوات، وكذلك يصنعون في جميع ليالي الوتر، وأعظم تلك الليالي عندهم ليلة سبع وعشرين، واحتفالهم لها أعظم من احتفالهم لسائر الليالي، ويختم بها القرآن العظيم خلف المقام الكريم، وتقام إزاء حطيم الشافعية خشب عظام توصل بالحطيم وتُعْرَضبينها ألواح طوال وتُجْعَل ثلاث طبقات وعليها الشمع وقنديل الزجاج، فيكاد يغش يالأبصار شعاع الأنوار، ويتقدم الإمام فيصلي فريضة العشاء الآخرة، ثم يبتدئ قراءة سورة القدر وإليها يكون انتهاء قراءة الأئمة في الليلة التي قبلها، وفي تلك الساعة يمسك جميع الأئمة عن التراويح تعظيمًا لختمة المقام ويحضرونها متبركين، فيختم الإمام في تسليمتين، ثم يقوم خطيبًا مستقبل المقام، فإذا فَرَغَ من ذلك عاد الأئمة إلى صلاتهم، وانفض الجمع، ثم يكون الختم ليلة تسع وعشرين في المقام المالكي في منظر مختصر، وعن المباهاة مُنَزّه موقّر، فيختم ويخطب. [ص. ١١٨-١١٩]

When the new moon of Ramaḍān appears, the drums [ṭubūl] and cylindrical drums [dabādib] are beaten at the house of the amīr of Mecca, and great preparations are made in the Sacred Mosque by way of renewing the mats and augmenting the number of candles and torches, until the Sanctuary gleams with light and glows, radiant and resplendent. The imāms form separate groups [each with the followers of his own rite], that is to say, the Shāfiʿīs, Ḥanafīs, Ḥanbalīs, and Zaydīs; as for the Mālikīs, they collect round four reciters, who take it in turn to recite the Qurʾān, and light candles. There is not a corner or spot left in the Sanctuary but it is occupied by some Qurʾān reciter leading a group in prayer, so that the mosque is filled with a babel of readers' voices, and all spirits are softened, all hearts wrung, and all eyes bathed in tears. Some persons, however, restrict themselves to making the circuit and to solitary prayer in the Ḥijr. The Shāfiʿīs are the most zealous of the imāms in their devotional exercises. It is their practice that, after completing the customary night-prayers,of twenty bowings, their imām makes the circuit of the Kaʿba together with his congregation. At the end of the sevenfold circuit, the farqaʿa — the object which we have mentioned as being carried before the preacher on Fridays — is sounded. This is a signal to resume the prayers. The imām then performs a prayer of two bowings and after that makes a sevenfold circuit, and so on until he completes twenty additional bowings [with his congregation], when they pray the 'even' and the 'odd' and disperse. The rest of the imāms make no addition whatever to the customary [prayers]. When the time conies for taking the last meal before dawn the muezzin of Zamzam has the duty of announcing its hour from the minaret which is at the eastern angle of the Sanctuary. He takes up the call, summoning, reminding, and urging [all men] to make their early repast, followed by the muezzins on the remaining minarets; when one of them recites, his neighbour responds to him. There is also erected on the top of each minaret a post with a crosspiece at its head, on which are suspended two great glass lanterns. These are kept alight [during the hour of the saḥūr], and when the hour of dawn approaches and the warning to cease from eating has been issued time after time, the two lanterns are lowered, and the muezzins begin the call to prayer, responding one to the other. The houses of Mecca (God ennoble her) have terraced roofs, so that those whose houses are at such a distance that they cannot hear the call to prayer are able to see these two lanterns, and may continue to make their meal until, on seeing them no longer, they cease from eating. In every odd night of the last ten nights of Ramadan they 'seal' the Qurʾān. The ceremony is attended by the qāḍī, the scholars and the notables, and the person who reads the last portion to them is one of the sons of the notables of Mecca. When he ends the reading, a rostrum is put up for him, adorned with silk, candles are lit, and he delivers an address. At the conclusion of his address, his father invites those present to his house, where he entertains them with a great variety of viands and sweetmeats. This they do on the eves of all the odd days [in the last decade of the month], but the most solemn of these nights with them is the eve of the twenty-seventh, and their celebration of it is more elaborate than their celebration of the other nights. The Glorious Qurʾān is 'sealed' on this occasion behind the holy Station [of Abraham] and opposite the enclosure of the Shāfiʿites there is put up [a stand, formed of] large wooden beams, extending [across the breadth of the Sanctuary] as far as this enclosure. [Strong wooden traverses are attached to the beams] and long planks are laid between them [on these traverses], the whole forming three stories. On these are placed candles [on the upper story] and glass lanterns [on the two lower stories], so that the dazzling rays of the lights all but blind the eyes. The imām then comes forward and performs the prescribed last prayer for the evening. After this he begins to recite the Chapter of Destiny, this being the chapter to which the recital of the imāms would have reached in the previous night. At that moment all the imams interrupt their night-prayers, in respect for the 'sealing of the Station', and themselves attend it to profit by the blessing. The imām completes the recitation [by reciting the last sūras] in the course of four bowings and after doing so stands up to deliver an address, with his face towards the Station. When he concludes the address, the imāms return to their night-prayers, and the assembly disperses. Finally there is the 'Sealing' on the eve of the twenty-ninth, [which takes place] in the Mālikite oratory, with a modest show. The Qurʾān is sealed and an address is delivered.

238-241

1326 circa