Guests of God : pilgrimage and politics in the Islamic world
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Bibliographic Information
Guests of God : pilgrimage and politics in the Islamic world
Oxford University Press, 2004
- : pbk
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Note
Bibliography: p. [339]-352
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
ISBN 9780195171075
Description
Each year, about two million pilgrims from over 100 countries converge on the Islamic holy city of Mecca for the hajj. While the hajj is first and foremost a religious festival, it is also very much a political event. No government can resist the temptation to manipulate the hajj for political and economic gain. Every large Muslim state has developed a comprehensive hajj policy and a powerful bureaucracy to enforce it. 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.
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780195342116
Description
Each year, about two million pilgrims from over 100 countries converge on the Islamic holy city of Mecca for the hajj. While the hajj is first and foremost a religious festival, it is also very much a political event. No government can resist the temptation to manipulate the hajj for political and economic gain. Every large Muslim state has developed a comprehensive hajj policy and a powerful bureaucracy to enforce it. 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.
Table of Contents
List of Tables
List of Figures
Introduction
1: What Is the Hajj and How Does Anyone Survive It?
2: What Does the Hajj Mean?
3: Pilgrimage and Power
4: The Growth of the Hajj: Global and Regional Trends
5: Pakistan: "Why Would Our Hajjis Vote Against Us?
6: Malaysia: The Broken Piggy Bank
7: Turkey: The Belated Quest for Religious Tolerance
8: Indonesia: Greening the Pancasila State
9: Nigeria: "One Nation, Under God"
10: The West Is Not Alone: The Hajj in World Politics and Law
by "Nielsen BookData"