Patterns of the Hajj Pilgrimage in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Relevance to Migration and Trade

Reasons for the Hajj

1. Can the Hajj be for other reasons?
2. Was it a prestige to carry a hajj title in the name?
3. Can a would-be pilgrim engage in trade and profit?

Early Imperial trade and commerical nature attached to the Hajj

1. Was there a commercial dimension of the Hajj?
2. Who owned steamships? Europe - Britain, Germany; Asia - Russia, China
3. Did the European shipping practice affect the annual Hajj pilgrimage?
4. What was the effect of European shipping practice on the annual pilgrimage to Makkah?
5. Was the Hajj tied to any economy? Whose economy? Yes, the steam ship trade of the Europeans.
6. Did the European shipping trade facilitate the pilgrims' travel to Makkah and back?
7. Was there intrusion of the Western businessmen in the Hajj trade?
8. Was there colonial intervention into the Hajj? Yes.
9. Would Imperial forces trade to their advantage or follow the Hajj needs of the pilgrims and their mass movement? The Imperial forces traded for profit, including the Hajj travels.
10. Did foreign shipping practices dominate and shape the early Hajj travels? Yes, the pilgrims were transported according to foreign shipping schedules, irregardless of the Hajj schedule. The pilgrims travelled many months prior to the Hajj and many months after the Hajj, whenever steamships were available. Later on the Hajj authorities chartered Chinese registered vessels specifically for the Hajj travels.

Attitudes of the modern Saudis towards commercialisation of the Hajj and commerce in Makkah

When did the Saudi engage in commerce?
When were the Hajj facilities improved?
Who funded the improvements of the Hajj facilities?
Have the improved facilities helped the Hajj pilgrims? How?

1. The modern Saudi state took its responsibilities towards the Hajj far more seriously, because this
   conferred status and international leadership upon the Saudi kingdom and dynasty.
2. Yet, until the development of the oil fields after the Second World War, the Hajj was the Saudis’ principal source of revenue, and so for them, too, it was a business as well.
3. At the turn of the century, civil and religious authorities, including the governor and the sharif of Makkah, evolved a multitude of schemes to fleece pilgrims.
4. The Saudi government regulated the ancient mutawwifin system and their roles in trade practices.

Is the Hajj a commercial venture?

1. Is the Hajj for monetary gains?
2. Is it true that 'the pilgrimage is commercial before it is religious?
3. Are the would-be pilgrims authorized to draw profits?
4. Did the would-be pilgrims migrate to earn income?
5. Did the populace of Makkah live largely off the Hajj? Hotel owners, yes.
6. Did the pilgrims remain in Makkah as residents after completing the Hajj? No, they have to return.

Role of the guides or mutawwifin

1. The guides spoke Arabic and acted as go-betweens for the non-Arab speaking pilgrims
2. Did guides, or mutawwifin (or muallims, as they were known in India), convert the Hajj into a business? What did they sell?
3. Even though the mutawwifin system was regarded as ancient, the guides were indispensable.
4. Nearly all foreign pilgrims needed an Arab guide who knew their language and could instruct as to prayers and required rituals.
5. Guides, moreover, performed a multitude of useful functions.
6. They arranged meals and lodgings, camel and tent hire to Arafat and Al Madinah (Medina), and the purchase of sheep for sacrifice.

Transportation during the Hajj

1. What modes of transportation were available for the Hajj?
2. Muslim companies introduced motor transport in the mid 1920s.
3. By the 1930s, despite breakdowns, reckless driving and extortion by drivers, a large number
   of pilgrims were travelling between the three cities of Jiddah, Makkah, and Madinah in cars or buses (although many still assigned their luggage to camels).
4. Reorganized into a Saudi monopoly in the 1930s, the Arab Motor Company was reported to have reaped huge profits from the 1938 pilgrimage.
5. National Archives, London, Public Record Office (hereafter PRO), CO 273/535/5, 24 Sept. 1927; Records of the Hajj, vii, 117–19 (3 Aug. 1936), 277–81, 287–8
   (29 Aug. 1938).
6. On the further development of inland transport after the Second World War, see Long, Hajj Today, 48–50.
7. In shipping, there was always a presence by Persian, Indian and other non-European shipping lines, such as the Shustari Line, the Nemazee Line (registered in Hong Kong), the Bank Misr Steam Navigation Line and, from the 1930s, the Scindia Line.
8. The Khedivial Mail Line, which conducted the largest share of sea transport from Egypt (one of the big three overseas traffics), was a government company in the late nineteenth century.
9. British shipping interests purchased it, until, at some point in the middle decades of the twentieth century, it reverted to Egyptian control.
10. Munro, Maritime Enterprise and Empire, 167, 352–3;
11. Boyd Cable, A Hundred Year History of the P&O: Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, 1837–1937 (London, 1937), 218, 228

Is the Hajj a form of migration?

1. Whether pilgrimage to Makkah (Mecca) qualifies as migration can be debated.
2. But the Hajj, often lasting many months, can be likened to migrant labour trends.
3. Moreover, would-be pilgrims migrated to earn the income to make the voyage, or remained in Makkah as residents after completing the Hajj.
4. Like those migrants who emigrated for temporary gain, some journeyed for the personal prestige and social mobility accorded to hajjis, as much as for the spiritual experience.

Colonial intervention into the Hajj

1. Colonial intervention into the Hajj, for political or medical purposes, has, for instance, been well documented by William R. Roff and Faroqhi.
2. William R. Roff, ‘Sanitation and Security: The Imperial Powers and the Nineteenth Century Hajj’, Arabian Studies, vi (1982);
3. Faroqhi, Herrscher über Mekka, 234–7.

Makkah dominates as a centre of trade in the Hijaz

Which city was the centre of trade in the Hijaz?
Was it Arafah or Mina?
Was it Jiddah or Makkah?
Was Makkah a significant trading post?
Is Makkah still a significant trading post?
Was trade in Jiddah independent of Makkah or the Hajj?
The Hajj is based on a lunar calendar (354 days).
Maritime trade is based on the solar calendar (365 days) and subject to weather conditions (seasons) and monsoon winds.
Was business in Jiddah compatible with the Hajj in Makkah?

1. Business and the Hajj have, from earliest times, been intimately interlinked — though to what extent has generated debate.
2. Pilgrimage fairs gathered in Makkah before the time of Muhammad; but it has been argued that the true site of these fairs was Arafat or Mina, rather than Makkah itself.
3. McDonnell, ‘Conduct of Hajj from Malaysia’, 1–2; Barber, Pilgrimages, 31–2;
4. Peters, Hajj, 31.
5. For Ashin Das Gupta, the early modern Hajj was crucial to Gujarati trade in the Arabian Seas; but Michael Pearson has demonstrated that Makkah was never a significant trading post, that the considerable transit trade that passed through Jiddah was largely independent of Makkah or the Hajj, and that the lunar calendar that determined the dates of the Hajj made it incompatible with maritime trade based on a solar calendar and subject to monsoon winds.13
6. Ashin Das Gupta, Indian Merchants and the Decline of Surat, c.1700–1750 (1979; New Delhi, 1994), 69;
7. Pearson, Pious Passengers, 130–84.

Indonesian pilgrims

1. Suraiya Faroqhi, Herrscher über Mekka: die Geschichte der Pilgerfahrt (Munich, 1990), 237–9; J. Vredenbregt, ‘The Haddj: Some of its Features and Functions in Indonesia’, Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde, cxviii (1962), 105, 127, 134, 137;

Singapore pilgrims

1. W. G. Huff, The Economic Growth of Singapore: Trade and Development in the Twentieth Century (Cambridge, 1994), 194–5;
2. K. G. Tregonning, Home Port Singapore: A History of Straits Steamship Company Limited, 1890–1965 (Singapore, 1967), 117.

Malaysian pilgrims

1. Mary Byrne McDonnell, ‘Patterns of Muslim Pilgrimage from Malaysia, 1885–1985’, in Dale F. Eickelman and James Piscatori (eds.), Muslim Travellers: Pilgrimage, Migration, and the Religious Imagination (Berkeley, 1990), 116, 123.
2. Bayly, Birth of the Modern World, 354–6; Vredenbregt, ‘Haddj’, 100–3, 113–22;
3. Mary Byrne McDonnell, ‘The Conduct of Hajj from Malaysia and its Socio-
   Economic Impact on Malay Society: A Descriptive and Analytical Study, 1860–
   1981’ (Columbia Univ. Ph.D. thesis, 1986), 75–7.
4. McDonnell, ‘Conduct of Hajj from Malaysia’; 1-2.

Commerce in earlier centuries (steamship business) and Hajj (from company histories)

1. M. N. Pearson, Pious Passengers: The Hajj in Earlier Times (New Delhi, 1994);
2. Peters, Hajj. On the modern period,
3. David Edwin Long, The Hajj Today: A Survey of the Contemporary Makkah Pilgrimage(Albany, 1979);
4. Vredenbregt, ‘Haddj’, 125–33. McDonnell and Vredenbregt provide some details on recruitment and transport.
5. Malcolm Falkus, The Blue Funnel Legend: A History of the Ocean Steam Ship Company, 1865–1973 (Basingstoke, 1990);
6. I. J. Brugmans, Tachtig jaren varen met de Nederland, 1870–1950 (Amsterdam, 1950);
7. F. W. G. Leeman, Van barkschip tot ‘Willem Ruys’: 120 jaar zeevaart (Rotterdam,
   1961).

British Foreign Office records of the Asian Hajj

1. Records of the Hajj: A Documentary History of the Pilgrimage to Mecca, 10 vols. (Slough, 1993), iv, 343–53 (14 Sept. 1900). These volumes are largely a compilation of annual pilgrimage reports by British Foreign Office officials.
2. C. A. Bayly, The Birth of the Modern World, 1780–1914: Global Connections and Comparisons (Oxford, 2004), 351–4;
3. F. E. Peters, The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places (Princeton, 1994), 282;
4. Richard Barber, Pilgrimages (Woodbridge, 1991), 137;
5. Vredenbregt, ‘Haddj’, 93, 121;

33. Dr Latifah Bee Ghows (1911-2005)

Dr Latifah Bee Ghows (1911-2005)
MBBS 1942 UHK

Date of birth: 1911
Place of birth: Taiping, Perak
Date of death: 11 October 2005
Place of death: Taiping Hospital, Taiping, Perak
Place of burial: Muslim Cemetery, Old Taiping Mosque

Introduction
Latifah Bee was born in Taiping in 1911. She studied at Treacher Methodist Girls School in Taiping until she completed her senior Cambridge Exams. She then proceeded to Singapore. She studied at a college before studying medicine.

Undergraduate Medical Education
Latifah Bee then pursued medical studies at the King Edward VII Medical College in Singapore. However, her father decided to send her overseas. She left Singapore in 1937. Dr Latifah related her story to Professor Dato’ Dr Wazir Jahan Karim that she was on her way to study medicine at the University of Dublin but the Second World War broke out and she was stranded in Hong Kong. In May 1939, The Straits Times reported names of passengers who arrived in the P&O liner Carthage from Yokohama, Shanghai and Hong Kong.1 Among the passengers due for Penang was ‘Miss L. Ghows’.2

Japanese Occupation
During World War II, the Japanese army entered Hong Kong in 1941. At Hong Kong, Dr Latifah worked in the hospital until the war was over. She recollected bitter memories while at Hong Kong Hospital. The condition in Hong Kong became worse and in 1943, the British Government transferred foreign students from the University of Hong Kong to India. She stayed in India for a few months before she returned to Tanah Melayu. She returned to the University of Hong Kong after it was safe. Dr Latifah pursued her studies in medicine at the University of Hong Kong until she finally obtained her medical degree. Dr Latifah’s work at Hong Kong Hospital entitled her for the conferment of a medical degree. The British Colonial Government granted her a degree in medicine from the University of Hong Kong. Dr Latifah Bee Ghows graduated from the University of Hong Kong on 23 January 1942 with the MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) degree during World War II. 

Postgraduate Overseas Service and Studies
After she graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Hong Kong, Dr Latifah joined the Hong Kong Civil Hospital where she worked alongside British doctors from 1942 to 1945 (end of World War II). After the war, Dr Latifah returned to India for a few years to gain additional experience. Also after the war, Dr Latifah Bee Ghows left for England to further her studies. She went to Dublin for extra courses in public health. As she was a keen traveller, Dr Latifah Bee Ghows had gone to Australia and served for a few years. She was an alumnus of the University of Hong Kong in 1950.3

Government Service
Dr Latifah Bee Ghows returned to Malaya and joined the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital as a Medical Officer in March 1949. She worked for three years. She then shifted to the Malacca General Hospital. Dr Latifah went to England again shortly after to pursue postgraduate studies in Child Health (1954-55). After her postgraduate studies, Dr Latifah returned to Malaya in 1956 and served as a Senior Medical Officer at the Penang Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang, MPPP) for a few years until she retired in 1966. While in Penang, Dr Latifah lived at No. 2, Ariff Crescent in Green Lane.

Retirement
Dr Latifah Bee Ghows retired from government service in 1966 as Senior Medical Officer in Penang. She had contemplated on quitting earlier on 17 April 1952, due to health reasons.4

First Muslim Woman Doctor in Malaya
Dr Latifah Bee bt Ismail Mohamad Ghows of Taiping became the first Muslim female doctor in Malaya when she graduated in January 1942 from the University of Hong Kong during World War II. She was the first Malayan Muslim female doctor to undertake undergraduate medical training at an overseas institution and the first to graduate during World War II. During her time, it was rare that females went overseas; they only studied locally. She was the first Malayan Muslim female doctor to undertake postgraduate training in England. 

Female Doctors at the Time of Merdeka
Among the Muslim female doctors at the time of Independence on 31 August 1957 were Dr Latifah Bee Ghows (UHK Class of January 1942), Tan Sri Datuk Paduka Dr Salma Ismail (KE VII Class of 1947), and Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali (UM Class of 1955).

Family

Dr Latifah's parents were Dr Ismail Mohamad Ghows and Zohara Bee bt Shaik Nannameah Sahib, from Ipoh. Latifah Bee was born before her father went to Singapore to study medicine.  Latifah was the elder of two girls and the eldest of seven siblings. The sisters were Dr Latifah Bee and Datin Sharifah Bee. Her brothers were Hanif Ghows, Hashim Ghows, Rashid Ghows, Osman Ghows and Ismail Ghows. All her brothers were active and good sportsmen.

Demise
In her late seventies5 and eighties, Dr Latifah Bee Ghows had stayed at her sister’s house in Taiping. She was still alert and healthy as reported by a local historian, Mr DM Ponnusamy of Taiping.6  Dr Latifah Bee Ghows remained at Taiping Hospital in Perak since 5 October 2005. She had passed away at 2 am on Tuesday, 11 October 2005 at age 94 years. Dr Latifah Bee Ghows was laid to rest at the old Taiping Mosque (Masjid Lama Bandar Taiping) Muslim cemetery after zohor prayer. Her nephew, YBhg Dato’ Abdul Mutalib bin Razak, was among those who paid their last respects

Headstone of Dr Latifah Bee bt Ismail Ghows. She graduated with MBBS from the University of Hong Kong on 23 January 1942. She was Taiping's first female doctor. She was the first Indian Muslim and Malay female doctor in British Malaya and the Federation of Malaya. The headstone reads: Al-Fatihah. (In Jawi script) Doktor Latifah binti Ghows. Dr. Latifah bt. Ghows kembali ke Rahmatullah pada 8 Ramadhan 1426 (Hijrah) bersamaan 11.10.2005, umur 92 tahun. Amin. Note: Her age should be 94 on the headstone. She is written as Dr Latifah Bee Ghows (1911-2005) on page 516 in Biography of the Early Malay Doctors. She was hospitalised at Hospital Taiping since 5 October 2005 and passed away of old age at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, 11 October 2005, aged 94. She was interred here after Zohor prayer (refer page 520 in Biography of the Early Malay Doctors).

Pusara Dr Latifah Bee bt Ismail Ghows, Masjid Lama Bandar Taiping. Her nephew is Dato' Abdul Mutalib bin Razak. Dr Latifah's demise was published in the local newspaper - New Straits Times, Wednesday, 12 October 2005. The obituary was written by Mr D. M. Ponnusamy. During my visit to First Galleria, I was informed by the Senior Curator, Anuar Isa, that Mr D. M. Ponnusamy had also passed away, aged early 70s; his wife is still around. I have never met Mr D. M. Ponnusamy who contributed many photos and articles for Dr Latifah's biography in Biography of the Early Malay Doctors.


References and Notes

1. Boyd Cable, A Hundred Year History of the P&O: Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, 1837–1937 (London, 1937), 218, 228
2. The Straits Times, 19 May 1939, Page 4. Page 4. Miscellaneous Column 1.
3. The Singapore Free Press, 13 February 1950, page 5. “H.K. University Alumni.”
4. The Straits Times, 25 July 1952, page 7. “Why the doctor quit -Govt.”
5. Utusan Malaysia
6. Mr DM Ponnusamy had passed away by 2013.

Author's files for Dr Latifah's biography in
Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore.