Hajj is an obligatory religious duty for Ummah or all Muslim communities worldwide that forces them to pilgrimage to the Kaaba in the sacred city of Mecca. Only people who are financially and physically unable to complete Hajj are exempt from it. As with any sacred pilgrimage, it requires people to cross international borders, which causes many problems with security and unity. In Poland, Muslims faced a lack of support and comfort in completing their Hajj, while Ottomans struggled from cholera and political conflicts, trying to strengthen their influence on other Muslims after the Hajj.
The significant feature uniting Ummah is its commitment to religious ideas despite the lack of external support and complicated environment. However, the problems associated with the Hajj differ in Poland and Ottoman Empire. For example, European countries like Poland were never famous for having Muslim followers, meaning the early Hajj experience there was unbelievable. Even local Tatar traditions prove Muslims mental striving to accomplish the Hajj in such inconvenient circumstances that it becomes “from reality to a cherished dream” (Zagórski, 2017, p. 158). Despite the differences between the two nations’ levels of religious affiliation, when these Tatars crossed the borders, they realized the Muslim power in the world as its followers supported them. It is proved by Risale-i Tatar-I Leh where Ottomans respected Ummah in Europe regardless of political conflicts. Therefore, even in Polish lands of the 16th century, individuals were completing Hajj and obtaining foreign respect despite any obstacles.
In contrast, Ottomans never suffered from the lack of support, but they had healthcare problems with devastating results. One would assume that these issues would make Ummah shrink and cause fewer people to visit the Kaaba. However, people’s difficulties in their paths make them even more committed to Islam. For example, after his three-month pilgrimage, Hacci Mustafa brought a severe cholera outbreak in Istanbul from India (Low, 2020). It resulted in public anxiety, numerous deaths, and administrative confusion. Considering that there was Hacc-i ekber, a cholera outbreak caused by Hajj in 1865 that “killed between 15,000 and 30,000 pilgrims and sparked a global pandemic,” it also highlights Ummah’s motives for making a pilgrimage (Low, 2020, p. 120). Everyone knew this trip could become his last, but he never refused to visit Mecca.
One of the reasons to complete Hajj early in life is to purify from sins and ask for mercy from God. The story of Kontuś justifies how Polish people performed the Hajj to ask for God’s mercy when Łowczycki, the main character of this oral folklore, prays for his daughter so that she would be honored, as any other member of Ummah (Zagórski, 2017). However, for Ottomans, the Hajj was associated not only with religious aspects, like for Polish people but also with economic and political aspects of life. When Sultan Selim conquered Mamluk Egypt, he became known as caliph, a title given to Ummah’s religious and political leader (Can, 2020). It hints at the idea that the Hajj experience strengthened the influence of the Ottoman Empire on the Ummah and increased its number in the west.
To conclude, the road to Mecca was full of hardships when pilgrims passed away in the deserts, from epidemics, or at the hands of thieves. When the Polish experience was connected to the shortage of Muslims, the Ottoman Empire suffered from cholera during the Hajj. It emphasizes the commitment of the Ummah to perform sacred duties and ask for God’s mercy despite the death’s haunting. While Muslim followers were increasing in number in western countries, the Turkish people were strengthening their political and economic positions through the Hajj.
References
Can, L. (2020). Spiritual subjects: Central Asian pilgrims and the Ottoman Hajj at the end of empire. Stanford University Press. Web.
Low, M. C. (2020). Microbial Mecca and the global crisis of cholera. In Imperial Mecca: Ottoman Arabia and the Indian Ocean Hajj (pp. 115–166). Columbia University Press.
Zagórski, B. R. (2017). Polish connections to the Hajj between mystical experience, imaginary travelogues, and actual reality. In The Hajj and Europe in the age of empire (pp. 154–184) Brill.