The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, annually inspires millions of people to congregate at a single place in a manner that is unique among world religions. The British Museum’s 2012 exhibition on the subject was accompanied by two publications that bring together the religious, political, economic, and visual histories of the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, from the seventh century through present times. For the main catalogue, Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam, exhibition curator and editor Venetia Porter invited scholars of religious studies, comparative religion, history, cultural criticism, and art history—Karen Armstrong, M. A. S. Abdul Haleem, Hugh Kennedy, Robert Irwin, and Ziauddin Sardar—to explore the many dimensions of the Hajj in the six interdisciplinary essays. The discussions are contextualized through an effective use of maps and a wide array of artworks, including architecture, illustrated and unillustrated manuscripts, textiles, ceramics, metalwork, scientific instruments, popular prints, documentary photographs (both historical and contemporary archival materials), and examples of contemporary art. The content, anecdotal writing style of each author, and visuals in the Hajj catalogue combine to offer to both scholar and general reader a rich and nuanced view of the pilgrimage. A smaller companion book, The Art of Hajj, tells the story of the pilgrimage through material culture.

In the catalogue’s introductory essay, titled “Pilgrimage: Why Do They Do It?” Armstrong universalizes the Hajj by situating it within the broad framework of the pilgrimage in human history. Armstrong explores some of the psychological motivations that underlie pilgrimage, not only in Islam and the more organized religious systems like Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, but also other ancient and animistic belief systems. In doing so, she expands the contexts in which a modern reader can understand this highly visible Muslim practice.

The organization of the next four essays is broadly chronological, tracing the Hajj from its ancient origins in the time of the prophet Abraham to the present. Haleem explains from a Muslim perspective the importance of the spirit and rites of the Hajj, their origins, and performance. Drawing from the Qur’an and various traditional sources, Haleem describes key moments from the life of Abraham, his wife Hagar, and their son Ishmael that exemplify their submission to the will of God, and which are remembered and re-performed during the Hajj. The essay continues with a step-by-step account of a modern pilgrim’s journey, beginning with ritual consecration and donning of pilgrim’s clothing and ending with the Eid al-Adha celebration. The essay’s concluding section looks at the important social status that the Hajj bestows upon the pilgrims, focusing on contemporary rural Egypt.

Kennedy’s and Irwin’s essays are two parts of a long chronology titled “Journey to Mecca: A History.” Kennedy follows the Hajj from the seventh through the thirteenth centuries, while Irwin takes the story through to the 1930s. The focus here shifts away from the spiritual dimensions of the Hajj and moves toward its worldly implications. Together, the essays highlight the ways in which politics and economics have intersected with religion over time. Through a selection of relevant historical moments, Kennedy explores the political roles expressed through the Hajj during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, the formative years of Islam. From the seventh century onward, the Hajj became a platform through which leadership in the Muslim community was publicly expressed. Political and spiritual authority was reinforced through control over the cities of Mecca and Medina, as well as by a ruler’s ability to mobilize the resources necessary for organizing the Hajj every year and for beautifying the holy cities. Kennedy also draws attention to the royal women who journeyed to Mecca or sponsored projects for providing services to pilgrims en route to the holy cities. He describes, in particular, the impressive civil engineering project (Darb Zubayda along the Kufa–Mecca land route) commissioned by the wife of the Abbasid caliph, Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). In the last section of the essay, Kennedy draws on two medieval travel accounts to detail the Hajj experience for individual pilgrims. Nasir-i Khusraw travelled from Khurasan (Iran) in the mid-eleventh century and Ibn Jubayr from Granada (Spain) in the early twelfth century. Both men, coming from scholarly and well-off backgrounds, describe their long, difficult, and adventurous journeys in eloquent and vivacious travel accounts. These narratives serve as nice points of comparison with the experiences of modern pilgrims recounted in other essays.

Irwin situates the Hajj from the thirteenth century onward in a more broadly global arena and within a complex international political landscape. By the thirteenth century, the centralized authority of the Abbasid dynasty had started to fragment, and in 1258 Abbasid rule came to an end. Over the following centuries, powerful independent dynasties—such as the Mamluks in Egypt; Mongols, Timurids, and Safavids in Iran; Ottomans in Turkey; and later the Mughals in India—controlled different regions, and directly or indirectly asserted their presence at the Hajj. Besides the rulers within the Muslim world, new players—various European colonial powers (especially Portugal and England) who controlled many of the sea routes to Mecca starting in the sixteenth century—also became engaged in the Hajj enterprise. Irwin’s essay traces the Hajj against this context, and among the topics covered in his essay are descriptions of elaborate ceremonial caravans bearing textiles and gifts for the Ka‘ba sanctuary that became symbolic of Hajj leadership; the pilgrim-dependent economy of Mecca; the Hajj experience of pilgrims from West Africa, China, Turkey, India, and Southeast Asia; and pilgrimages undertaken by Europeans, either under disguise or after their conversion to Islam. Irwin also discusses the impact of nineteenth-century industrial technologies such as steamships and railways, which facilitated travel for greater numbers of pilgrims but brought along new practical challenges and new perils such as infectious diseases.

In the final essay on the history of the Hajj, Sardar looks at the logistics of the pilgrimage from the 1950s until the present. Air travel to the holy cities has made the journey cheaper, faster, and more comfortable, resulting in an exponential growth in the number of pilgrims, especially over the last few decades. Those numbers are expected to rise to twenty million by 2030. Sardar explores the issues such growth creates for the Saudi authorities: the need to maintain an efficient network of roads and transportation; the provision of accommodation, food, drink, medical stations, and sanitation facilities to pilgrims at various spots along the routes and at the ritual sites; and ongoing expansions of the main mosques at Mecca and Medina to safely accommodate the increasing numbers. He also documents the role of Hajj management authorities in Muslim countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Turkey that regulate the numbers of departing pilgrims and provide them with training and assistance to minimize problems during the Hajj. Sardar concludes his essay with staggering statistics that emphasize the complexity of the enterprise.

In the catalogue’s closing essay, Porter focuses on the textiles offered to the Ka‘ba in Mecca and to the Prophet’s tomb and mosque in Medina. Of all the objects associated with the Hajj, textiles are the most iconic. Made from the finest materials and in special workshops, the various coverings for the Ka‘ba’s exterior and interior are replaced every year. Providing these textiles has, for the most part, been the prerogative of the ruler considered to have authority over the holy cities. Porter describes the functions and forms of the different textile types and presents a brief history of their significance, patronage, production, and afterlife.

Hajj: A Journey to the Heart of Islam does a fine job handling a big subject, one that has, as the bibliography indicates, been extensively studied. The catalogue’s main contribution lies in its cross-disciplinary approach. By bringing together discussions of religion, history, archaeology, anthropology, travel, and art history, it presents an important religious ritual in very human terms. In its title, the introductory essay asks a simple question: “Why do they do it?” The exploration of the Hajj is initiated from the perspective of an onlooker who, it is assumed, does not personally relate to the motivations that impel millions of Muslims from around the world—educated and illiterate, wealthy and poor, urbanites and villagers—to engage in an undertaking that entails extreme overcrowding, discomfort, and considerable expense. The essay seems to initially suggest an “othering” perspective, but by trying to deconstruct the psychological and spiritual motives underlying pilgrimage in many religions and cultures, a practice that perhaps appears at first glance to be unique becomes by the end of the essay more easily relatable for a modern reader. The general tone of informality and the contextualizing approach continues in the volume’s other essays.

The catalogue, as one would expect for a publication related to an art exhibition, is richly illustrated with high-quality images. The wide array of visual material maintains the reader’s interest and brings religious ritual to life. Of particular note are the numerous maps, especially appropriate and useful in a book that is centered on a specific geographic location and the journey leading there. The maps are of many kinds: historical and modern, topographically accurate and stylized. They show pilgrim routes over land and sea, pilgrimage stations in Mecca and Medina, important buildings and landmarks at the various sites. The geographies of the holy cities, conveyed also through paintings, prints, and photographs, are effective in enabling the reader to visualize place. The artworks are also reminders of the human agents whose creativity was directed toward the pilgrimage—countless writers, craftspersons, artists, photographers, printmakers, architects, engineers, scientists, and mapmakers have been inspired by the Hajj over the centuries. The works by contemporary visual artists show the ongoing creative stimulus offered by the Hajj.

Yet while the book includes an extensive and rich range of artworks in a variety of mediums, there is little focus on the objects. Only one short essay at the end deals with textiles, and it follows somewhat abruptly in the wake of five long essays that make little direct reference to artistic production for or about the Hajj. Short, two-page insets (thirteen in all) punctuate the essays with a focus on a given type of art production such as pilgrim guide books, vessels for Zamzam water, tiles, photography, modern art inspired by the Hajj, etc. But these vignettes are too brief, the reader comes upon them unexpectedly, and their placement within the essays interrupts the reading momentum. Instead, a detailed essay that specifically addresses the art of the Hajj and ties together the objects with their symbolic importance and functional uses would have made a greater impact.

A few other omissions should also be mentioned. The gap in the history of Mecca during the pre-Islamic Arab period—from the time of Prophet Abraham to the Islamic period in the seventh century—is not adequately addressed in any of the essays. Haleem bypasses the subject altogether, and while Kennedy briefly touches on the pre-Islamic role of the Ka‘ba as the central repository for local deities, he leaves the reader wanting to know more. A discussion is also absent on the elements from pre-Islamic pilgrimage practices that were incorporated into the Muslim ritual. Furthermore, although the essays detail the Hajj experience from across the Muslim world—West Africa, Spain, Turkey, India, China, and Southeast Asia—there is hardly any description of the Iranian world, during the Timurid and Safavid periods for example, or any reference to current tensions between the Iranian and Saudi governments over the Hajj. There is also no mention of the ways in which the sectarian differences between Shi’ite and Sunni theologies may have impacted the Hajj, While the writers were likely considering the many sensitivities that a topic such as the Hajj may provoke in the current political climate, the topics that are not included here reinforce the misperception that there is and has been a single view of Islam and its rituals.

The related publication, The Art of Hajj, directs its attention to the material culture of the Hajj, and in this succinct book, the artworks take the reader on a visual journey. Brief entries with historical and art-historical information accompany each object, and short introductions begin each of its seven chapters: Mecca as the center of the world, the journey to the holy cities, Mecca, ritual and prayer, textiles, Medina, and the homecoming. Using a selection of works from the exhibition, the first chapter focuses on maps, scientific texts, and instruments; the second chapter highlights paintings and prints depicting pilgrim caravans by land and sea; the third and sixth chapters show the topography of Mecca and Medina, respectively, with their principal monuments as represented on tiles and in pilgrim guide books. Chapter 4 takes the reader through the sequence of Hajj rituals by using paintings from guide books and translates the relevant textual passages that provide instructions to the pilgrims. The next chapter richly illustrates the various ornate textiles made for the sanctuaries at Mecca and Medina; and the last chapter illustrates folk paintings on architecture from present-day Egypt and also contemporary artworks inspired by the Hajj.

Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam and The Art of Hajj are interesting and informative publications that effectively explore the many facets of the pilgrimage with its recurring intersections of private faith, organized religion, and worldly affairs, and they handle the subject in a thoughtful and engaging manner. Their appeal lies in the combination of rich interdisciplinary content with accessibility for a broad readership—scholar, student, and general reader; Muslim and non-Muslim.