In order to gain an insight into the raison d’ tre of
Muslims from all over the
world undertaking the Hajj as an essential
pilgrimage for religious and personal reasons, Abdellah Hammoudi, a Professor of
Anthropology in Princeton University went on a Hajj himself in 1999. The book
‘A Season in Mecca –
Narrative of a Pilgrimage’ is a faithful recording of his
experiences right from starting the process of enrolling himself as an ordinary
citizen of his country Morocco to becoming a part of a huge crowd of Muslims
who rally together from every corner of the world.
He starts with making countless trips to and fro, going
through an endless wait, spending money and finally joining the mass of humanity
that converges on the Holy shrines of Medina and
Mecca.
There is a constant dichotomy in the entire narrative of
that of a participant and a detached observer, lending a rare complexity as the
author recreates the
journey for Western
readers. He unravels the Saudi
bureaucratic machinery behind the whole pilgrimage, the frantic commerce that
is generated making it a lucrative business proposition for the organizers and
the merchants and the Wahhabi interpretation of the basic Muslim tenets.
The pilgrimage also becomes an inner journey for the author
as he gets in touch with his essential identity as a Muslim, becoming a part of
the whole experience and yet unable to muster up the same faith and passion as
his fellow pilgrims.
The book becomes an amazing rendering of the experience of
the Hajj for both the Muslim and non-Muslim readers and is written with a poignant and rare wit and charm that grips
the reader right till the end. It is a must tread for those who want to
understand the complexities of the faith of the practicing Muslims in the
contemporary world.
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