The Hajj:
The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places
F. E. Peters

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Books of 1994

Paper | 1995 | $45.00 / £30.95
430 pp. | 6 x 9 | 3 maps, 26 halftones

Shopping Cart | Reviews | Table of Contents

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.

Reviews:

"Peters's The Hajj provides a clear and accurate picture of the organization of [Muslim] rituals. His book is ... sufficiently comprehensive to replace older accounts of the Hajj. By reading the sources it cites, one can follow the key rituals in some detail."--Robert Irwin, The London Review of Books

"A strong impression of the powerful impact of the pilgrimage on all who witnessed it."--Francis Robinson, The Times Literary Supplement

Table of Contents

Other Princeton books by F. E. Peters:

• The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: A New Edition.
• Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians.
• Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The Classical Texts and Their Interpretation, Volume I: From Convenant to Community.
• Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The Classical Texts and Their Interpretation, Volume II: The Word and the Law and the People of God.
• Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The Classical Texts and Their Interpretation, Volume III: The Works of the Spirit.
• The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition, Volume I: The Peoples of God.
• The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition, Volume II: The Words and Will of God.
• A Reader on Classical Islam.
• The Voice, the Word, the Books: The Sacred Scripture of the Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Link:

• F. E. Peters' Home Page

Subject Areas:

• Mind, Body, Spirit
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Religion
• Anthropology

Hardcover published in 1994

A selection of the History Book Club

Cloth: Not for sale in South Asia

Shopping Cart:

For customers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia, and Australia
Paper: $45.00 ISBN13: 978-0-691-02619-0

For customers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India
Paper: £30.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-02619-0

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File created: 11/4/2009

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