The Hajj

The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places

F. E. Peters

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9780691026190
  9780691021201
• eBook ISBN:
  9780691225142
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

Among the duties God imposes upon every Muslim capable of doing so is a pilgrimage to the holy places in and around Mecca in Arabia. Not only is it a religious ritual filled with blessings for the millions who make the journey annually, but it is also a social, political, and commercial experience that for centuries has set in motion a flood of travelers across the world's continents. Whatever its outcome--spiritual enrichment, cultural exchange, financial gain or ruin--the road to Mecca has long been an exhilarating human adventure. By collecting the firsthand accounts of these travelers and shaping their experiences into a richly detailed narrative, F. E. Peters here provides an unparalleled literary history of the central ritual of Islam from its remote pre-Islamic origins to the end of the Hashimite Kingdom of the Hijaz in 1926.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• The Hajj in Early Photo Documents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Maps
• Chapter I: Origins
• Chapter II: Mecca And The Ways Thither
• Chapter III: The Medieval Hajj (1100-1400 C.E.)
• Chapter IV: Under New Auspices
• Chapter V: Through European Eyes: Holy City And Hajj In The Nineteenth Century
• Chapter VI: Steamships And Cholera: The Hajj In Modern Times
• Chapter VII: The Great War And After
• Notes
• Works Cited
• Index