Zainab Cobbold
Zainab Cobbold | |
---|---|
Born | Lady Evelyn Murray 1867 Edinburgh, Scotland |
Died | 1963 (aged 95–96) |
Known for | First Muslim woman born in Britain to perform the Hajj pilgrimage |
Spouse |
John Dupuis Cobbold
(m. 1891–1922) |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) | Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore Lady Gertrude Coke |
Zainab Cobbold (born Lady Evelyn Murray; 17 July 1867[1][2] – January 1963) was a Scottish diarist, traveller and noblewoman who was known for her conversion to Islam in 1915.[3]
Biography
Born in Edinburgh in 1867,
Childhood
Cobbold spent much of her childhood in
Conversion to Islam
She embarked on a journey through the Libyan Desert in 1911 with her American friend, Frances Gordon Alexander, in 1911. They published a joint account of the journey Wayfarers in the Libyan Desert in 1912. This led her to develop a greater interest in Islam.[14] She confirmed her conversion to Islam by 1915, taking the Arabic name Zainab. She remarked that she considered Islam the religion "most calculated to solve the world's many perplexing problems, and to bring to humanity peace and happiness".[15]
Pilgrimage to Mecca
Following the death of her former husband in 1929, she started to plan her pilgrimage, or Hajj to Mecca. She contacted Hafiz Wahba, ambassador for the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd to the United Kingdom, who in turn sent a letter to King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz.
Evelyn achieved celebrity status in 1933 at the age of 65, when she became the first Muslim woman born in the United Kingdom to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca.[7][16][5] In 1934, a personal account of her trip was published with the title Pilgrimage to Mecca.[5][17] There is an excerpt from her work in Michael Wolfe's book One Thousand Roads to Mecca.
She visited
In 1933, she travelled to perform the Hajj for the first time, and because there were Europeans who visited Saudi Arabia before her and who were not Muslim penetrated into Mecca and when returning to Europe, they wrote about their daring adventure of performing the Hajj as a non-Muslim. Because of this there were restrictions in place for Europeans, but Lady Evelyn, who adopted the name Zainab, was granted permission to perform the Hajj.
Diary
This is her description in her diary of the first time she saw the
"We walk on the smooth marble towards the Holy of Holies, the House of Allah, the great black cube rising in simple majesty, the goal for which millions have forfeited their lives and yet more millions have found heaven in beholding it … the 'Tawaf' is a symbol, to use the words of the poet, of a lover making a circuit round the house of his beloved, completely surrendering himself and sacrificing all his interests for the sake of the Beloved. It is in that spirit of self-surrender that the pilgrim makes the 'Tawaf'".
Her book Pilgrimage to Mecca in 1934 is the first Hajj account by a Scottish Woman and her diary also is the oldest record of a trip during the Hajj, when she went by car from
She spoke and wrote Arabic fluently.[18]
Writing
"Islam," Evelyn later wrote, "is the religion of common sense." Lady Evelyn's story about her life, her conversion and her pilgrimage to Mecca are all recorded in her diaries which have recently been republished.[when?]
"She was a very lively, eccentric Anglo-Scot Moslem, who loved doing things and loved people as well," Major Philip Hope-Cobbold, her great grandson said about her.
Death
Lady Evelyn died in 1963 and was buried, as she stipulated, on a remote hillside on her Glencarron estate in
In 2022 her grave was visited by a party of pilgrims from the Convert Islam Foundation, a British organisation for converts to Islam,
References
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/95642. Retrieved 14 December 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Sébastien SANCHEZ's family tree - Maud Evelyn Murray". Geneanet. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
- ^ "The British Victorians who became Muslims". BBC News. 18 May 2019.
- ISBN 9780955889431
- ^ a b c d e f g O'Shea, Josef (15 June 2016). "The Victorian Muslims of Britain". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ISBN 9780955889431
- ^ Saudi Aramco World, Vol. 59, No. 5, pages 18–23.
- ^ "Cobbold, John Dupuis". suffolkartists.co.uk. Suffolk Artists. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
- ^ "#450, Winifred Evelyn COBBOLD". Family Tree. The Cobbold Family History Trust. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ Cobbold, Anthony (2020). "#448, John Murray (Ivan) COBBOLD". Family Tree. The Cobbold Family History Trust.
- ^ Dismore, Jane (December 2009). "#452, Pamela COBBOLD". Family Tree. The Cobbold Family History Trust – via The Dorset Magazine.
- ^ Russell, Steven (8 May 2009). "Mayfair to Mecca: plucky Lady Evelyn". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 14 September 2019.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Cobbold, Anthony (2006). "#308, Evelyn MURRAY". Family Tree. The Cobbold Family History Trust.
- ^ MacKenzie, Julian (22 February 2023). "Western Women in the Islamic World | Shapero Rare Books Blog". shapero.com. Shapero Rare Books. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
- ^ Cobbold, Lady Evelyn Murray; Alexander, Frances Gordon (1 January 1912). Wayfarers in the Libyan Desert. London: Arthur L Humphreys.
Book prepared jointly by Lady Evelyn Cobbold and Frances Gordon Alexander. The American edition is issued under Mrs. Alexander's name, the English under Lady Evely Cobbold's, the text differing slightly
Link is to full text of US version. - ISBN 9780955889431
- ^ ISBN 978-0955889431. Republished 2009
- ^ "ENGLISH WOMAN MAKES HISTORY". Western Gazette. 14 April 1933. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
She knows by heart many passages of the Koran and speaks fluent Arabic, which she can both read and write
- ^ "Home page". Convert Muslim Foundation. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ Cox, Auryn (15 June 2022). "Lady Evelyn Cobbold - why are Muslim pilgrims visiting her Scottish grave?". BBC News. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ Cosslett, Rhiannon Lucy (12 April 2019). "Bird Summons by Leila Aboulela review – lyrical examination of identity". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
Further reading
Clive Hodges: Cobbold & Kin: Life Stories from an East Anglian Family (Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2014)