Istanbul newspaper 'Sırat-ı Müstakim' took aim at
accusations by Christians that Mecca pilgrims were the
source of cholera outbreaks and needed to be quarantined.
TNT will couple this article with one from 1871 detailing
anti-cholera measures for ships and passengers passing
through the Turkish Straits, to give a bit of a historical
context to Ottoman attempts to control contagious diseases
in its vast empire over the years and as a counterpoint to
our current COVID-19 pandemic.
BTW this Halim Sabit Efendi is the same person who
wrote a travel log about his 1911 journey from Istanbul
to the Altay Mountains, recently featured by TNT:
From Istanbul to the Altays
Is Quarantine Only for Mecca Pilgrims?
This year, the decision by the Health Ministry to quarantine all Mecca
pilgrims because of a few suspicious illnesses in Jiddah has come on
the agenda. This decision is a subject of discussion among all
Moslems and, in fact, some Islamic newspapers published in Arabic
have criticized it. In Egypt, the newspaper "Al Ahram", which is
published by Christian Arabs and Coptics and tows the English line, has
put out a long lead article about the issue, even though it has no relation
whatsoever with Christianity and concerns only Moslems.
The "Al Ahram" article begins by excoriating a Moslem who wrote
something against the quarantine decision and asserts that the writer
is unaware of international laws regarding quarantines. Next, "Al
Ahram" makes a reference to, and a warning about, a calamity that
occurred in Egypt 12 years ago. According to "Al Ahram", supposedly,
in 1901 a cholera outbreak that killed 92,000 Egyptians and ruined
another 60,000 well-off citizens and traders, was caused by a pilgrim
who escaped quarantine and entered Egypt with dates from the Hijaz
region that he preserved in 'zemzem' (holy water from Mecca)!
"Zemzem" holy water from Mecca.
In addition, the "Al Ahram" article purports that three years ago a
contagious disease that appeared in the Hijaz passed through Damascus,
Anatolia and Istanbul to Macedonia, Thrace, Russia and Austria! So,
in order to protect Egypt and other nations from cholera and other
infectious diseases, pilgrims coming from the Hijaz - supposedly the
source of these illnesses - must be held in quarantine!
There you have it. The Christians have this strange idea that all of the
contagious diseases of the past so many years have all come with the
pilgrims of the Hijaz. What a bizarre idea! I wonder why they think
with certainty that the 1901 calamity was caused by a cholera microbe
in Hijaz dates and 'zemzem'? Are those returning to Egypt coming
only from the Hijaz? Are Egypt's doors closed to everyone coming
from other countries?
They claim that the cholera microbe that caused an outbreak three years
ago came from the Hijaz but this is absolutely untrue. Because this
cholera outbreak in our country (Ottoman Empire) three or four years
ago did not come from the Hijaz. It may have come prior to pilgrimage
season via Odessa and Russia. It is known that cholera came to Russia
from Manchuria, where the Russian-Japanese War was fought
In fact, based on what I recall, some opposition newspapers published
in Russia, and a famous Austrian magazine, wrote that the cholera
microbes were the spirits of those who were martyred for no good
reason whatsoever in Manchuria coming to St. Petersburg to exact
revenge for this needless slaughter.
//END of PART I//
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