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In an apartment near this, a narrow cell is shown, where Mohammed used to sit, and receive from the angel Gabriel the leaves of the Koran brought from heaven. This place is called Kobbet el Wahy. Mouled el Imam Aly, in the quarter called Shab Aly. This is a small chapel, in the floor of which a hole marks the spot where Aly, the cousin of Mohammed, is said to have been born.
A small hole is shown in the floor, in which Mohammed's mother sat when she was delivered of him. This is said to have been the house of Abdillah, Mohammed's father. Mouled Setna Fatme, or the birth-place of Fatme, the daughter of Mohammed, is shown in a good stone building, said to have been the house of her mother Khadidje, in the street called Zogag el Hadjar.
They are in the greatest number during the months following the pilgrimage to Arafat, and likewise during the month of Rabya el Thany, on the 12th of which, the birth-day of Mohammed, or Mouled el Naby, is celebrated. The Medinans make up for the paucity of beggars in their own town by going elsewhere to beg.
A staircase leads down to the floor of this building, which, like that of the former, is considerably below the street. This small edifice includes two holy places: in one is a hole, similar to that in the Mouled el Neby, to mark the place where Fatme was born; and just by is another,
The value of a shilling, distributed in paras at each of the Mouleds, fully answers the expectation of the greedy and the indigent. Mouled Abou Taleb, in the Mala, is completely destroyed, as I have already said; and will, probably, not be rebuilt.
DURING the time of the Wahabys, no person dared to visit these places without exposing himself to their hostility; and all the buildings which had been erected on these spots were ruined by them, or their domes were, at least, destroyed. In the town are shown: Mouled el Neby, the birth-place of Mohammed, in the quarter named from it.
Mouled Seydna Abou Beker, a small chapel, just opposite to the stone which gave a salutation, "Salam Aleykum," to Mohammed whenever he passed it. No sacred spot is here shown; but its floor is covered with very fine Persian carpets. All these Mouleds had undergone complete repair since the retreat of the Wahabys, except that of Mohammed, on which the workmen were still employed.
I believe the people of Medina have no other times of public rejoicing than the regular feast-days, except the Mouled el Naby or Prophet's birth-day, on the twelfth of the month of Rabya el Thany. This is considered a national festival: all the shops are shut during the day, and every one appears in his best dress.
In the time of Fasy a mosque stood near it, called Mesdjed el Mokhtaba. During my stay, workmen were busily employed in re- constructing the building over the Mouled upon its former plan. It consists of a rotunda, the floor of which is about twenty-five feet below the level of the street, with a staircase leading down to it.
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