Hijaz Railway: Why the Ottoman Empire's plan to unite the Muslims was helpless
Traveling on a dusty road in Oman, the Hijaz Railway Station may be out of sight. To get there,( Hijaz Railway )you'll also need to ignore the city's winding streets, which are no less than mazes and spread like devil's gut around famous places like the city's Hijaz Railway historic center, mountains and ancient castlesHijaz Railway. the he journey to the Hijaz railway station is about five kilometers,
Hijaz Railway :
but the traffic is often congested in the Jordanian capital, Amman, so the journey becomes longer.
As soon as you enter through the stone entrance of the railway station, you feel that you have reached another age and world. There is still a train of steam engines here. There is a lot of hope that this railway track can unite the Muslim world.
The Hijaz Railway was built in 1900 on the orders of Sultan Abdul Hamid II of present day Ottoman Empire to make the journey to Mecca easier and safer.
Prior to this, pilgrims used to reach Mecca in caravans on camels, traveling for weeks if not months. It would take at least 40 days to reach Madinah from Damascus and many pilgrims would lose their lives on the way due to dry deserts and steep mountains. But the construction of the railway shortened the journey from 40 days to only five days.
The project included the extension of the Damascus, Medina section of the railway line to the Ottoman capital Constantinople in the north and Mecca in the south. But the importance of this railway station for the religion of Islam does not end here.
At the time, financing to complete this extraordinary transport project was entirely funded by Muslim donations, Ottoman state revenues and taxes, and did not involve any foreign investment.
And that is why even today this path
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| 1914, the rise of Hijaz Railway continued for only a decade. |
is considered a waqf: an asset that is common to all Muslims.
"This is not the property of any country, this is not the property of any individual," says Azmi Nalshak, director general of the Despite providing"
"Any Muslim in the world, even a Muslim from Indonesia and Malaysia, can come and claim my share," says the great narrator.
For Sultan Abdul Hamid II, uniting the Muslim world was not only a spiritual necessity but also a practical benefit. During the last few decades before the railway was built, rival empires were far removed from the Ottoman Empire.
The French occupied Tunisia, the British invaded Egypt, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro gained independence.
By uniting the people of the Ottoman world, Sultan Abdul Hamid II wanted to unite not only the Muslims but also his empire, but it did not happen.
In 1908, the first train ran from Damascus to Medina, and the following year the Sultan was overthrown.
Today, the Ottoman Empire is a thing of the past. Similarly, the borders that were once the focus of this route are now divided into five countries (Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia).
Despite providing travel facilities to 300,000 passengers every year till 1914, the rise of Hijaz Railway continued for only a decade.
When the Turkish army began using it in World War I, it was attacked by British officer TE Lawrence (nicknamed "Lawrence of Arabia") and other Arab rebel soldiers.
After the war, when the British and the French restored the area of Levant in the Eastern Mediterranean, maintaining and rehabilitating this railway that united the Muslims was their first priority as most of this railway line had deteriorated by that time. ۔
Today, the steam's "colorful but silent" locomotives stand idle at the main railway station in Oman.
The museum here has various items related to this railway such as old tickets, pictures and lanterns. A scent restored in the early 20th century, luxurious velvet chairs and golden lamps still evoke the prosperity of the day.
Scholar Sheikh Ali Attanvi wrote after the decommissioning of this railway line that the story of Hijaz Railway is a real tragedy. There is a line but no train runs. There are stations but no passengers.
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| Despite providing travel facilities to 300,000 passengers every year till 1914, the rise of Hijaz Railway continued for only a decade. |
But the real fun is in this exciting journey.
As soon as the children left the train station, they started screaming and making noise. They would gather in each other's bogies and hang along the railing of the train.
In some places this historic track runs along a modern road, such as at a crossroads we pass a parked car and a pickup truck loaded with fruit and chicken boxe..
An old man and his grandson peeked at us through a hole in the wall. The little ones ran towards the train, throwing plastic cups. One girl heard the noise and put her hands over her ears.
But it didn't matter: the kids on the train were excited. Most were from Oman who were passionate about seeing their city differently, and a small group, smiling at everyone, were Syrian refugees.
Hijaz Railway was an 'adventure' for all of them.
There was a party atmosphere in the train bogies. The women were playing loud music on the speakers they had brought with them. As I passed a bogie, some women were dancing for joy, and when they saw me, they were a little embarrassed, and laughed.
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