When Lebuh Acheh was the ‘Second Jeddah’

 

Pilgrims boarding a ship bound for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, before completing their pilgrimage in Makkah. (Penang Hajj Gallery pic)

GEORGE TOWN: Lebuh Acheh is a popular spot among tourists today for its food and the iconic mosque built by the Acehnese community in the 19th century, but not too long ago, the street drew people for a very different reason.

The street, in the inner city of George Town, was once known as the “Second Jeddah”, serving as a gathering point for haj pilgrims from the 1870s to the early 1970s.

“Pilgrims from the Dutch Indies (Sumatra), Pattani, and from all over Malaya would come to Penang and Singapore (to board the ships),” says author and cultural anthropologist Abdur-Razzaq Lubis.

In the age of sailing ships, a voyage from Malaya to Jeddah took up to three months, and in some cases up to a year as pilgrims had to wait for the changing monsoon, or if they ran out of funds.

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When steamships came into the fray, the journey was shortened to a month, and later to two weeks.

“The ships from Singapore would also come to Penang to pick up the pilgrims to Jeddah,” he told FMT. The ships were initially cargo vessels chartered to carry passengers. Notable shipping companies like the Liverpool-based Blue Funnel line would ferry these pilgrims to Jeddah.

The ships would stop at Colombo, Sri Lanka, and then make a quarantine stop at the Kamaran Islands in Yemen, before heading to Jeddah, the port of embarkation for haj pilgrims

Thousands of pilgrims would board a ship at one time, said Abdur-Razzaq. Most of the pilgrims would spend at least four months for the haj trips.

“My late grand-uncle and grand-aunt, Raja Shahabuddin and Rahmah went to haj in December 1939 and returned in March 1940,” added Abdur-Razzaq. “He was one of the few pilgrims who wrote the accounts of the haj trips.”

Lebuh Acheh Mosque. During the “Second Jeddah” era, the mosque used to host haj courses for pilgrims.

Glory days of ‘Second Jeddah’

Abdur-Razzaq said the pilgrims who gathered in Lebuh Acheh would stay for at least a week or two at the lodges along the street to await the arrival of the ships.

He also said that during their stay at Lebuh Acheh, pilgrims would undergo haj courses from the imam at Lebuh Acheh Mosque. The mosque also used to be a temporary shelter for pilgrims who were unable to secure lodges throughout their temporary stay in Penang.

Representatives from the local haj companies, who are known as “Sheikh Haji” would be in charge of the pilgrim’s necessities at the Penang port, and they would act as their mutawif (guides) in the Holy Land at that time.

Abdur-Razzaq Lubis.

They would shop for various garments, buy religious tracts and Islamic literature from local publishers, and dine on hearty meals of nasi padang, or Malay and mamak (Indian Muslims) cuisine from local restaurants.

Businesses were booming not only for Muslims but also for non-Muslims who owned a lot of lodges along the street during its heyday.

The glory days ended in the early 1970s following the establishment of Tabung Haji in 1969, which took over the haj pilgrimage businesses and became the sole party to handle the haj pilgrimage trips.

In addition, the advancement of air travel also led to fewer pilgrims opting to travel by sea.

Although Lebuh Acheh is no longer the “Second Jeddah”, its vibrant history remains memorialised in the Penang Haj Gallery located there. - FMT