The Meaning of Mecca: The Politics of Pilgrimage in Early Islam

The ḥajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, is a religious duty to be performed once in a lifetime by all able Muslims. The Prophet Muḥammad set out the rituals of ḥajj when he led what became known as the Farewell Ḥajj in 10 AH / 632AD. This set the seal on Muḥammad’s career as the founder of a religion and the leader of a political entity based on that religion.The convergence of the Prophet with the politician infuses the ḥajj with political, as well as religious, significance. For the caliphs who led the Islamic community after Muḥammad’s death, leadership of the ḥajj became a position of enormous political relevance as it presented them with an unrivalled opportunity to proclaim their pious credentials and reinforce their political legitimacy.Exhaustively researched, The Meaning of Mecca is the first study to analyse the leadership of the ḥajj in the formative and medieval periods and to assess the pilgrimage from a political perspective.