Kitab al-Mawlid al-Nabawi (a book of prayers recited on the occasion of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday), copied by Ibrahim al-Khulusi Ibn Wud al-Jawi al-Sambawi, Mecca, Ottoman, dated 1043 AH/1633 AD

Arabic manuscript on paper, 36 leaves plus 5 flyleaves, 11 lines to the page, written in naskh and thuluth scripts in black ink, opening double page with 2 illuminated headpieces in colours and gold, further double page with panels of rococo floral decoration, later composite leather binding

In good overall condition, rebound with pages slightly cropped, later binding composed of two separate bindings, pages clean and calligraphy strong, some wormholes with associated repair, as viewed.
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An important aspect of this manuscript is that it was written in Mecca, by a member of the al-Jawi family, whose name refers to one who travelled to Mecca on the Hajj from south east Asia, including countries from Thailand to New Guinea. Many such pilgrims, including presumably the scribe of the present manuscript, stayed in Mecca for months or years, some even settling to become integrated into the Meccan population.

It is thought that the first Hajj pilgrims from south east Asia arrived as early as the seventh century, after Muslim merchants came to maritime south east Asia and the subsequent spread of Islam to the region. Dutch records show that the first recorded instance of a Jawi living in the Hijaz was in the 1600s (see E. Tagliacozzo, The Longest Journey, Southeast Asians and the Pilgrimage to Mecca, Oxford University Press, 2013, p.21), although Yemeni records note Jawi inhabitation there as early as the thirteenth century.

For another manuscript on the same subject see Kitab Mawlid, by the religious scholar and poet of Madina Ja’far Ibn al-Hasan al-Barzanji (d.1766), East Coast of the Peninsula, Malaysia, 19^th century, National Library of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (see V. Porter (Ed.), Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam, London, 2012, pp.56-57).