Each year, approximately two million pilgrims from over 100 countries converge on the Islamic city of Maccah for the Hajj Pilgrimage.
While the hajj is first and foremost a religious event (and fardh on Muslims who can afford it), it is has a lot of political involvement.
The Muslim world's leading multinational organization, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, has established the first international regime explicitly devoted to pilgrimage. Yet, Robert Bianchi argues, no secular or religious authority - national or international - can really control the hajj. State-sponsored pilgrimage management consistently backfires, giving government opponents valuable ammunition and allowing them to manipulate the symbols and controversies of the hajj to their own ends.
Bianchi has been researching the hajj for over ten years and draws on interviews with and data from hajj directors in five Muslim countries (Pakistan, Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia, and Nigeria), statistics from Saudi Arabian hajj authorities, as well as his personal experience as a pilgrim. The result is the most complete picture of the hajj available anywhere, and a wide-ranging work on Islam, politics, and power.
Author: Robert Bianchi
Format(s): Paperback
Pages: 384
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2008
Dimensions: 23 x 150 x 224 mm
ISBN10/ISBN13: 9780195342116
