The Hajj : Pilgrimage in Islam

Scholars from a range of fields tell the story of the Hajj and explain its significance as one of the key events in the Muslim religious calendar. This volume pays attention to the diverse aspects of the Hajj, as lived every year by hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide.

"The hajj (Ar. ajj) is one of the largest gatherings of human beings on the planet; it is also one of the oldest. Every year millions of Muslims from around the world head to the city of Mecca and its environs to perform the hajj during the month allocated for this ritual, or the °Umra, the so-called "minor pilgrimage", which can be done at any time of year. They come from all over the Middle East, but from much further afield as well - Africa, Asia, and increasingly from Europe, the Americas, and Australia. It is no exaggeration to say that the hajj is the most important annual event in the world involving the trans-national movement of human beings. The present book attempts to describe the various aspects and facets of the Muslim pilgrimage, with contributions ranging from discussions of the localized rituals of the Hajj itself to the building of a modern global infrastructure. Politics, economics, religion, global health, and transport are all part of the fabric of this volume, as is the lived experience of the pilgrimage as expressed in the literature and art of its practitioners"--