Description

Original imitation leather bdg. in traditional Ottoman style. In publisher's special box. Oblong folio. (30 x 44 cm). In English, Turkish, and Arabic. 313 p., b/w photos. Makka Al-Mukarrama and Al-Madina Al-Munawwara in photographs from the Ottoman period.= Osmanli dönemi fotograflariyla Haremeyn.= Fotograf dari zaman Uthmaniyah. Makkah and Madinah are specifically safeguarded by Islamic jurisprudence and considered to be "harem" (sacred) and are called "haremeyn", meaning sacred cities. They were where the Holy Qur'an was revealed and the originating points of the Islamic faith's history and civilisation, besides being the locations where Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) spent his worldly days. They are maintained not only as places of worship, but also as sources of inspiration and invaluable heritage of the Islamic civilisation. In support of this effort, the National Visual Arts Development Board (NVADB) in cooperation with IRCICA, a body established under the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), is currently presenting an exhibition of rare photographs that record various events that took place in Makkah and Madinah during the Ottoman rule. The photographs offer the audience the bucolic glimpse of how both holy cities looked like prior to massive modernisation and development, including the conditions that pilgrims of the past had to endure when performing Hajj and Umrah, which strike a chord among present day pilgrims. Holy Islamic vestiges such as the domes the cover the cemetery of Prophet Muhammad's immediate family members and companions in Madinah that had been demolished could also be seen in the images displayed. The photographs exhibited are selected from the collection of Sultan Abdulhamid II (r. 1876 - 1909), the 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire who was also known as "The Great Khan", and from the collection of Fahreddin Pasha (1868 - 1948), the Commander of the Ottoman Army and Governor of Madinah, also known as "The Lion of the Desert." Some of these exhibits have been preserved and maintained by IRCICA, which is involved in research, publication, archives and documentation on Islamic history, culture and civilisation.