The Hajj Today

A Survey of the Contemporary Pilgrimage to Makkah

David Long (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

180 Seiten

1979
State University of New York Press (Verlag)
978-1-4384-5142-8 (ISBN)

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The Qu'ran admonishes Muslims that "the pilgrimage to the temple is an obligation due to God from those who are able to journey there." Today over one and a half million pilgrims annually fulfill this Fifth Pillar of Islam, the Hajj. Saudi Arabia conquered the Hijaz in part to protect Hajjis from abuses in the management of the Hajj. How does that country now administer the religious event that brings so many people, often poor and illiterate, into one small area to perform a variety of complex rituals? How does the government protect its visitors' health and safety, and ensure their proper guidance through the necessary rites? How does it move so many pilgrims in and out of what is essentially an out-of-the-way desert?

David Long has set this thoughtful examination of the twentieth-century Hajj within its historical framework. He first provides a clear, concise description of the rituals either necessary or traditional to the proper performance of the Hajj; he then relates how the inhabitants of Mecca used to manage the pilgrimage and finally, relates how the new Saudi rulers gradually brought the Hajj service industry under government regulation. Today there is probably no agency of the Saudi government which is not at least tangentially concerned with the Hajj. Only in the area of health did there exist a history of public management. By the early nineteenth century it had become all too clear that the Hajj served to carry diseases endemic to the Orient to Europe, and by the end of that century health and quarantine procedures were under international control. Today the Saudi government has sole control of these matters. Oil revenue vastly exceeds Hajj revenues—once a major source of Saudi income—but the Hajj continues to play an enormous role in the religious, social, and political life of the country. And even in economics it structures the Saudi businessman's year and provides part- or full-time employment to more Saudi citizens than does the oil industry.

This volume contains an extensive bibliography, appendixes containing statistical material on recent Hajjs, maps, and a glossary.

A specialist on the Middle East, David Long spent three years in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, with the U. S. Foreign Service.

Tables
Preface

Part One: The Religious Aspects of the Hajj
1. The Origins of the Hajj
The Pre-Islamic Origins of the Hajj
The Islamization of the Hajj
The Farewell Hajj
2. The Rites of the Hajj
Eligibility for the Hajj
The Departure
Ihram : The Rite of Consecration
The Arrival Tawaf
The Sa'y
The Hajj Rites
The Closing Ceremonies
The Visit to al-Madinah

Part Two: The Administrative Aspects of the Hajj
3. The Hajj Service Industry: From Laissez Faire to Government Regulation
The Hajj Service Industry Before 1924
From Laissez Faire to Government Regulation
Contemporary Regulatory Procedures
The Internal Hajj Transportation Industry
Complaints Procedures
4. The Public Administration of the Hajj
The Development of Governmental Institutions
The Overall Supervision of the Hajj
Saudi Administrative Services for the Hajj
5. The Health Aspects of the Hajj
The Period of International Control
The Development of Saudi Health Institutions for the Hajj
The Health Administration of the Hajj

Part Three: The Impact of the Hajj on Saudi Arabia
6. The Social, Economic, and Political Significance of the Hajj
The Sociological Impact of the Hajj
The Economic Impact of the Hajj
The Political Impact of the Hajj
7. The Hajj Today
A Period of Change
Hajj Administration: A Balance Sheet
Looking to the Future
Appendixes
A. Hajj Statistics
B. Glossary

C. Maps

Bibliography

Notes

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	25.11.2020
Zusatzinfo	Total Illustrations: 0
Verlagsort	Albany, NY
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	227 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie
ISBN-10	1-4384-5142-3 / 1438451423
ISBN-13	978-1-4384-5142-8 / 9781438451428
Zustand	Neuware