Portrait of Ali Bey on a vintage engraving • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS In the month of dhou al-qi’da, in the year 1221 of the Hegira (January 1807), a pilgrim enters the city of Mecca, a place forbidden to all infidels on pain of death. This is Ali Bey, a descendant of the ancient Abbasid caliphs. Suffering, he is allowed to enter on a litter. In reality, this traveler is not called Ali Bey, he is not Abbasid, or even Muslim. This infidel who wanders through the holiest places in Islam is a Spaniard named Domingo Badia. A double agent in Morocco Domingo Francisco Jorge Badia y Leblich was born in Barcelona in 1767. His father, a civil servant, was a war accountant in Málaga. There, Domingo participates in the meetings of the Economic Society of Friends of the Country. In 1786, he succeeded his father in his functions, then was sent in 1794 to Cordoba, where he was appointed administrator of the Royal Tobacco Rent. Fascinated by the great Andalusian monuments, he began to study Arabic. After ruining himself by conducting experiments on aerostatic balloons, he left for Madrid in 1799, where he worked as librarian to the Prince of Castel-Franco. The salary is meager, but he can read many scientific works, including the Journey in the Interior of Africa of the Scottish Mungo Park, which mark him strongly. This fascination for the exploration of distant lands led him to request funding from the Spanish government for a scientific expedition to North Africa. The Prime Minister, Manuel Godoy, decides to use the project to get closer to the sultan of Morocco, Moulay Slimane, and convince him to accept that Spain protects him from his many enemies. If this fails, Badia is ordered to encourage revolts in Morocco in order to justify a Spanish invasion. In 1803, Badia began his journey and passed himself off as a Syrian prince called "Ali Bey", a descendant of the Abbasids and educated in Europe, back to his native land. He quickly manages to befriend the Moroccan sultan thanks to his erudition and his generous gifts. However, Moulay Slimane refuses any agreement and even dreams of attacking Spain if he manages to consolidate his authority in this rebellious country. In remarks collected with a certain skepticism, Badia will later boast of having organized a great conspiracy against the sovereign, which failed at the last moment due to the outbreak of a border war. On the road to Mecca Badia left Morocco in October 1805. After visiting Tripoli, Cyprus and Egypt, he decided to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, which was then under the authority of the Ottoman caliphs. On January 13, 1807, he left for the Holy City, where he arrived two days later. Once there, Badia behaves like a true Muslim believer. In the middle of the night and despite his precarious health, he insisted on immediately practicing the rites of pilgrimage consisting in going around the sanctuary of the Kaba seven times. The next day, the holiest place in Islam opens its doors to him and the infiltrator can explore it from within. The same afternoon, he meets the Sharif of Mecca, Ghalib Effendi, who questions him about his origins and his wanderings in the West. As his mastery of Arabic is perfect, Badia is doing without problem. On January 24, the sanctuary opens again, but only to women. Five days later, for the last time this year, the doors open for the ritual wash. This task is carried out by the Sharif himself, in the company of the chiefs of the tribes and a few black slaves. Badia receives the honor of being invited to join the group. The Wahhabis take power On February 3, the Wahhabi armies, followers of a new Puritan movement, arrived in Mecca, 6,000 men dressed as pilgrims, following their own rites, but armed with guns and daggers. Badia's account of this moment is somewhat confused. He claims that these soldiers are coming to seize the city, which is false:the Wahhabis had already occupied Mecca in 1803 and had dethroned Ghalib. But in the face of stubborn resistance from the latter, they had authorized him to recover his post in 1805. When Badia arrived two years later, Ghalib managed the city and had 3,000 armed men. He smokes in secret in defiance of the Wahhabi decrees condemning this practice like so many others. However, Ghalib is a simple vassal of Emir Saud, the Wahhabi leader who, on February 26, will claim power directly, dissolve the Sharif's army and expel the officials of the Ottoman sultan whose name he will forbid to mention during prayers. of Friday. Also read:Agent Sorge, a communist German in Japan Amidst this confusion, on February 16, Badia traveled to Mount Arafat, where Muhammad delivered his last sermon. It passes near Jebel el-Nour, the Mount of Light where, according to tradition, the Archangel Gabriel first appeared to the Prophet. Normally, pilgrims pray at a small shrine at the top, which Wahhabis consider a superstition. So they destroyed the building and placed guards at the foot of the mountain. Badia tries to conclude his pilgrimage by visiting the tomb of the Prophet in Medina, but the Wahhabis, who blame this idolatrous practice, prevent him by force. For this same reason, they force the caravan from Damascus, which brings a carpet to the tomb of Muhammad as every year, to turn around. Despite everything, Badia affirms:"I must confess that I found the Wahhabis with whom I spoke very rational and moderate", which does not prevent him from adding:"neither the natives of the country nor the pilgrims can hear their name without shuddering, and even among themselves they pronounce it only in low voices. They run away from them and avoid talking to them as much as possible”. Exile to France After having visited the Holy Land, Syria, Turkey and crossed all of Europe, Badia arrived in Bayonne on May 9, 1808. Charles IV and his son Ferdinand VII had just renounced the throne of Spain in favor of Napoleon, who, in turn, yields it to his brother Joseph Bonaparte. Charles IV receives Badia in audience and recommends him to serve the new regime. The former spy listens to the fallen monarch. But when the Spaniards expelled Joseph Bonaparte in 1813, Badia, who had held the post of prefect of Cordoba, went into exile in France. It was in this country that he published the first edition of his travels in 1814. It was quickly translated into English, Italian and German, but it was not until 1836 that the Spanish translation appeared. In France, where Louis XVIII ascended the throne, life smiled on the Spanish traveler who was granted French nationality and appointed marshal. Badia is making a name for itself in the cultural life of Paris. In 1815, in a context of colonial competition with Great Britain, he proposed to the French government to go again to Mecca, then to cross Africa. The project was accepted and Badia left in January 1818 under the name of Ali Abou Othman. In July, he is in Damascus where he catches dysentery (it has long been speculated, without proof, about poisoning) and dies in August. Badia was not the first European to visit Mecca. The Italian Ludovico Di Varthema in 1503, the Austrian Johann Wild in 1607 and the Englishman Joseph Pitts in 1680 preceded it, but he was the first to give a detailed description of it, to calculate its latitude and longitude, and to describe inside the Kaba. The many travelers who went there thereafter only followed in its wake. Find out more Ali Bey, a Spanish traveler in the land of Islam, C. Feucher, L’Harmattan, 2012. Timeline 1767 Domingo Badia was born in Barcelona. The son of a civil servant, he was quickly drawn to Arab culture and exploration trips.1803 Badia usurps the identity of Ali Bey and travels to Morocco, in the service of the Spanish government. From there he left for Mecca in 1805.1807 Badia enters Mecca. Returning in 1808, he served Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain, and followed him when he returned to France in 1813.1814 Exiled in France, Badia publishes the account of his travels and receives French support for a voyage of exploration in Africa. 1818 Badia dies near Damascus before he can reach the goal of his trip:Africa. The Wahhabi Rigorists In 1774, the preacher Mohammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab decided to reform Islam by returning to a literal reading of the Koran and thus gave birth to Wahhabism. He obtains the support of a powerful tribal chief, Mohammed ibn Saud, with whom he undertakes a campaign of conquests. The third king of the dynasty, Saud the Great, seizes Mecca. His descendants would found modern Saudi Arabia.
