The Hejaz Railroad: A symbol of Muslim Unity
09-05-2008
At the turn of the 20th century the Ottoman Caliphate was in a severely
weakened state. Nicknamed the “sick man of Europe” much of the Caliphate’s
lands were under control of colonial powers Britain and France. Growing
discontentment in the Arabs lands was surfacing as the concept of Arab
nationalism, first introduced by the western powers, took a strong hold
among some of the influentials. This nationalism eventually led to the
British backed Arab revolt in 1916 that saw the Arab lands declare
independence from the Ottoman Caliphate.
Faced with growing disunity and discontentment with the Ottoman Caliphate,
the Caliph Sultan Abdul-Hamid II devised an ambitious plan to awaken the
feelings of Islamic unity among the Ummah and strengthen the Caliphate’s
authority over the Arab provinces. This plan was the building of a railroad
from Damascus all the way to Medina for use by the pilgrims travelling for
hajj that become known as the Hejaz Railroad. The project was started in
1900 and finally reached Medina in 1908 when the railroad officially opened.
Before the railroad the journey between Damascus and Medina usually took two
months by camel caravan and was full of hardships. Since the Islamic
calendar is a lunar calendar, that moves each year, the hajj changes from
season to season. Sometimes it meant travelling through the winter, enduring
freezing temperatures or torrential rains. At the height of summer, it meant
crossing scorching hot deserts. Towns and settlements were sparse and there
were hostile tribes along the way.
With the introduction of the railroad the journey time for pilgrims was cut
from two months to four days. The arduous journey of travelling by camel
through the desert was replaced with a few days travelling in comfort on the
train. The cost of the journey was reduced from £40 to just £3.50 for a
train ticket.
On 1 September 1908 the Hejaz railroad officially opened, and by the year
1912 it was transporting 30,000 pilgrims a year. As word spread that
travelling for hajj was now quicker and easier more Muslims were able to
perform the hajj. The pilgrims using the railway soared to 300,000 in 1914.
The Hejaz railroad linked the Caliphate’s capital in Istanbul to the Arab
provinces by extending the existing rail link between Istanbul and Damascus.
The Caliphate used the railroad to quickly deploy military units to the Arab
provinces when needed and so strengthened the authority of the Caliphate in
these areas.
Sultan Abdul-Hameed also introduced a sophisticated fax system with fax
lines established between Yemen, Hejaz, Greater Syria, Iraq and Turkey.
These fax lines like the railroad were heavily used by the pilgrims and paid
for themselves in just a few years.
Muslims performing the hajj saw that the Caliphate was trying to practically
unify the Ummah and aid them in their worship of Allah (swt) through these
initiatives. This led to a growing unity and appreciation for the Ottoman
Caliphate among the Ummah. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of
Abdul-Hameed he was deposed from office in 1908 in a coup by the Young
Turks. The conspiracies by the colonialists against the Caliphate
accelerated and after the First World War the Caliphate was defeated and
finally destroyed a few years later in 1924.
The Hejaz end of the railroad was sabotaged during the Arab revolt led by
Lawrence of Arabia and Sharif Hussein of Mecca severing its link with
Damascus and Istanbul. With the destruction of the Caliphate in 1924 and the
carving up of the Arab lands under Sykes-Picot the possibility of such a
unity project emerging ever again disappeared. All that remains today are
some of the stations and locomotives as a reminder of this bygone era.
Although the Hejaz railroad is now discarded to the pages of history it
shows just what can be achieved with the authority and power of the
Caliphate.
Islam is not a religion like Christianity or Judaism that only has laws
governing the personal beliefs, worships and morals. Islam is a deen
(ideology) that contains sharia rules governing all aspects of life and
society. The sharia not only contains solutions to problems but details the
practical method (tareeqa) of implementing these solutions on society. This
method is the Caliphate that practically implements the Islamic belief of La
ilaha ilAllah onto life’s affairs.
The Caliphate will not just be Islamic in name or on paper. Rather it will
practically show the Muslims and the world the superiority of the sharia and
how it resolves life’s problems.
When the Ummah sees the oil wealth removed from the personal bank accounts
of the Kings and Sultans to the Bait ul-Mal (state treasury) as a public
property for the benefit of the entire Ummah, they will see the practical
manifestation of the hadith:
The Prophet (saw) said: “People share in three things: Water, Pasture lands,
and Fire.” [Ahmed] Fire here refers to fire based fuels such as oil.
When the Muslims of Darfur and Somalia see the vast natural resources in the
Middle East and Central Asia used for alleviating their poverty and building
much needed infrastructure, they will see practically the concept mentioned
by the Prophet (saw) when he (saw) said in his last sermon:
“All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a
non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has
no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white
except by piety and good action.”
When the Muslims under occupation in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan see the
army of the Caliphate marching to protect them and expel the occupiers they
will see the practical implementation of the verse of Qur’an:
“Fight them until there is no more persecution, and all worship is devoted
to Allah alone.” [TMQ 8:39]
The Muslim Ummah are sick and tired of the empty promises and inaction of
their so-called Muslim governments. These governments who give lip service
to Islam or pretend to have secret “Islamic” agendas in order for the Ummah
to support them, yet in practise they do nothing for the interests of Islam.
Thousands are killed in the occupied lands of Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan,
Chechnya and Kashmir without any Muslim regime lifting a finger to help.
Even worse they actively support the occupation through opening up their
airspace, lands and borders for the occupiers.
Compare this to the Abbasid Caliph Haroon Al-Rashid’s response to Byzantine
Emperor Nicephorus refusal to abide by its treaty obligations with the
Caliphate.
Haroon Al Rashid sent a letter to Constantinople saying: "From Haroon Al
Rashid, Caliph of the Faithful to Nicephorus, the Roman dog: I have read
your letter. You will not hear, you will see my reply." The Caliph then sent
a huge army to the Byzantine Empire and forced Nicephorus to abide by the
treaty.
The absence of a Caliphate to protect, implement and propagate Islam is at
the root of all the Muslim Ummah’s problems today. Only with its
re-establishment can we begin to resolve these problems and make Allah’s
(swt) word the highest on the earth once again.
Submitted by a Mujahid