A Photographer on the Hajj: The Travels of Muhammad ‘Ali Effendi Sa‘udi

by Farid Kioumgi

The diaries of Muhammad ‘Ali Effendi Sa‘udi, a civil servant and accomplished photographer, offer a rare glimpse of the Hajj through Egyptian eyes at the beginning of the twentieth century when the Ottoman Empire was on the wane and the advance of the Hijaz railway threatened to upset vested interests in the old pattern of pilgrimage. Sa‘udi twice accompanied the Amir al-Hajj, Ibrahim Rif‘at Pasha, attached to the official Egyptian caravan. His story of these journeys combines the thoughts of a devout Muslim with fine detail on the hardships and health hazards facing pilgrims, the high-level intrigues, and the ever-present dangers of taking photographs. The authors have compressed the diaries into a highly readable narrative with selected quotations, lavishly illustrated with Sa‘udi’s remarkable photographs.

144 pages, Hardcover

First published October 8, 2009

Reviews

[Ahmed Almawali · Rating 4 out of 5]

كم هي تلك المعاناةُ التي كان يعانيها الحجاجُ قبل مئةِ عام في طريقهم لأداءِ فريضةِ الحج؟ السعودي وهو حاجٌ مصري كان ممن قدمَ لنا توثيقا لتلك الأوضاعِ في بدايةِ القرنِ الماضي، أهميةُ رحلتِه ليست في مذكراته فحسب بل في الصورِ الفوتوغرافيةِ وبدقةٍ عاليةٍ في مقاييس ذاك الزمن. وواضحٌ أن صورَه لم تكن أتت بسهولةٍ وإنما تعرّضَ للكثيرِ من المضايقاتِ والتساؤلات والدهشةِ والريبةِ والتهديدِ بالقتلِ كذلك إذ كان من ينظرُ إليه يتوجسُ منها خيفةً.

[Abu Hasan محمد عبيد · Rating 4 out of 5]

اختصار لرحلة السعودي الثانية إلى الحج
الكتاب مزدان بالصور الجميلة عن الحجابي التقطها السعودي أثناء رحلته
كما أنه مليء بالمعلومات عن الصعوبات التي يواجهها الحجاج في ذلك الزمن
بالاضافة لبعض المعلومات التاريخية والسياسية والاجتماعية
الكتاب يشجع على قراءة الرحلة الأصلية التي كتبها السعودي والتي لا أعرف إن كانت طبعت أم لا

[آية · Rating 5 out of 5]

PHENOMENAL. The photos are amazing of course but also the writing. The writing is technically a secondary source - the authors summarize what Muhammad Ali Effendi Saudi wrote in his memoirs, so since it's not a direct translation it's clearly filled with their interpretations. The original memoir/primary source was sold for tens of thousands of dollars to a private buyer :( just imagine all the historical research that could come out of that!

Anyways, it follows Saudi's second hajj in January 1908, the last hajj that took place before the opening of the Ottomans' Hijazi railway. Super fascinating details about quarantining pilgrims, camels, politics between foreign Muslim leaders with the Hijazi ones and the Ottoman ones and the beduins.
Saudi is a photographer and worked for Egypt's Ministry of Justice on land property issues, so he has an eye for details in landscape/architecture/geography. He was also working with an archeologist to detail buildings, and his love and appreciation for the Egyptian reformer Muhammad Abduh gave him interesting religious insights. May Allah have mercy on him (and his mother who accompanied him on his second hajj) and accept his deeds.