SubhanAllah! Makkah/Hajj in the year 1885: pictures and audio of recitation (amazing)

SubhanAllah! Makkah/Hajj in the year 1885: pictures and audio of recitation (amazing)

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/11/11/mecca.hajj.snouck/index.html

Adventurer's photos capture a bygone Mecca

(CNN) -- He was an adventurer, a scholar, and possibly a spy -- but as Dutchman Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje proved with his rare 1885 photographs and sound recordings of Mecca, he was also a pioneering multimedia journalist.
Snouck's extraordinary collection of sepia-tinted images of Mecca in a bygone age have gone on display in Dubai ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage that originally drew him to the heart of Islam.
Accompanied by crackling, eerie soundscapes captured by Snouck using Thomas Edison's newly-invented wax cylinders, the exhibition paints a very different picture from the ornate and built-up Mecca familiar to modern visitors.
Among the newly-restored platinum prints, one image taken from a nearby hillside shows the Kaaba, the instantly recognizable cubic building considered by Muslims to be the holiest place on the planet.
But though the galleried compound which surrounds it is echoed by Mecca's contemporary architecture, the sparsely-built city of Snouck's era bears only a passing resemblance, as do the rudimentary travelers' tents on the dusty plains outside the city.
The images are all the more astounding, says Elie Domit -- creative director of Dubai's Empty Quarter gallery, which is hosting the exhibition -- when one considers the lengths he went to to get them.
"People tend to forget the situation because cameras today are so versatile and light," he told CNN. "In Snouck's day they probably weighed about 40 kilos, and he needed to take all the chemicals for developing, which he would have done on site."
"And he not only took photographs, but also recorded sounds. Can you just imagine going there and going through all the hardship to record that moment in history? It's fascinating."
Also fascinating, says Domit, is the story of Snouck himself. A pioneering traveler, he was a rare Western presence in Mecca, but embraced the culture and religion of his hosts with passion, converting to Islam.
He stayed for five months, documenting the run-up to Hajj, but although he had intended to stay for the pilgrimage, he was forced to leave after unfounded accusations of his involvement in an attempt to steal a historical artifact.
"Being one of the first Europeans, people were suspicious of his agenda, particularly as he had gained the confidence of the Ottoman leader," added Domit.
"So when they heard the rumor he was a thief, he had to escape -- leaving his camera equipment behind."
The equipment wasn't wasted. After Snouck's departure, Al-Sayyid Abd al-Ghaffar, a local physician that the Dutchman had worked alongside, began using the camera, possibly becoming Mecca's first home-grown photographer.
Al-Ghaffar continued sending his images to Snouck in The Netherlands. Many of the photographs were originally credited solely to Snouck but they are now jointly credited, with experts unable to tell who shot what.
The images, archived by Leiden University Library, were published four years after Snouck's trip. Original copies of the album now sell for about $45,000, according to the gallery.
There was, says Domit, more to Snouck than pictures and sound.
"He never said himself that he was a spy because there was no Hollywood to pay tons of money for his inside story, but there have been many documents and historians claiming this.
"Most likely he was working as an agent of espionage in order to furnish information to the Dutch who had an interest in finding out about Muslim insurgents trying to topple the colonialism of the Netherlands.
"But he was also very convinced about the state of Islam, very knowledgeable and very dedicated. He was a kind of dichotomy: Here was a guy sent on a mission, but after he arrived he was convinced by and converted to Islam.
"I'm sure in terms of his personality, it was quite difficult."
According to Domit, Snouck also left behind a pregnant Ethiopian wife when he fled Mecca, but later married again while working in the what is now Indonesia. "He married several times, I believe. Very convenient when the Dutch government is paying your bill."
Mecca: A Dangerous Adventure -- Snouck Hurgronje's early photographs 1885 is showing until December 6 at Dubai's Empty Quarter Gallery.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• makkah
• hajj
• 1885
• old
• pictures
• audio
• adhan
• umrah
• kabah
• mecca
• medina

[saeem7]

i wish it stayed like that

[ShadowSoundsUK]

In the CNN report it says "recordingS". Does anyone know if any other of the recordings have been uploaded? It would be lovely to here some more.

[crook4real]

wow makkah lookd so genuine bak then

[raza9000]

@UmmKhilafah Those Scholars/Imams had a lot of knowledge compared to any person who is walking this earth right now. For instance Imam Abu Hanifah (RA) met Hazrat Anas bin Malik (RA) in Mecca and saw him prayer. Each fiqh ruling he or any Imam followed was carefully researched through Sunnah and the Quran. We will never Scholars like that anymore because of all the different sects. Especially Wahabism

[raza9000]

@UmmKhilafah Concerning marrying other people from a different madhab, the four Imams did not start this, this was the ignorance of people. They had a lot of love for each other and didn't care. It's simply people taking it overboard. Regarding reading behind a person with a different Madhab the only one that would not be allowed is a Hanafi behind a Shafi during Asr time since they have different timings. Read Al-Fiqh al-Akbar and read Hanafi fiqh.

[UmmKhilafah]

@xhollowbankaix Watch from 0.59 up to 1.16. You can see them. They are the shaded structures around the kabah.

[UmmKhilafah]

@GoogleJer And yes it came from fatawa of the shuyukh. It was an error they made, for those that called to it. Shaykhs aren't angels, or prophets, they are human beings like you and me. SO of course to say they made an error is not insulting, it just is what it is.

[UmmKhilafah]

@GoogleJer Clearly you know nothing about the history of the past. There was a point when what I said exactly happened. Read any history of fiqh and madhabs. The adherence to madhabs became a bit crazy at one point. You couldn't marry someone from another madhab and there were 4 different imams for each madhab at the time and you had to pray under your own one. That is the way it was.

[WeBorn2DieAnyTime]

@lovejihad

As Salaam aleykum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh.

He is just a muslim brother, remember it was in 1885, so no one can asnwer that, :)

JazakaAllah kheiran

wa salaam aleykum warahmatulahi wabarakaatuh

[swatiking]

MashaAllah SubhanAllah.