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Mumbai to Mecca: A Pilgrimage to the Holy Sites of Islam (Armchair Traveller) Paperback – 31 Aug. 2017

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 4 ratings

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Ilija Trojanow's journey from Mumbai to Mecca is told in the tradition of the rihla, one of the oldest genres of classical Arabic literature and describes the Hajj, the pilgrimage to the holy sites of Islam. 'From the very first moment they realise that the Hajj - the pilgrimage to Mecca - is among the duties of each and every Muslim, the faithful long to go.' Trojanov, with the help of his friends, donned the ihram, the traditional garb of the pilgrim. He joined hundreds of thousands of Muslims who each year go on the Hajj, the greatest demonstration of the Muslim faith. In three short weeks he experienced a tradition dating back over one thousand years This is his account, personal yet enlightening, for the interested non-Muslims who remain barred from the holy sites of Islam.
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Review

Trojanow portrays a magnificent journey defined by contrasts... Non-believers are still banned from Islam s Holiest city: this short book may be the best substitute for going there. ( --FINANCIAL TIMES Magazine)

About the Author

Ilija Trojanow was born in Bulgaria in 1965. After fleeing his homeland via Yugoslavia and Italy, he was granted political asylum in Germany. He spent ten years in Kenya and five years in Mumbai, before moving to Capetown in 2003.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Armchair Traveller at the Bookhaus (31 Aug. 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 200 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1909961515
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1909961517
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.7 x 1.52 x 20.32 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 4 ratings

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  • JPM
    3.0 out of 5 stars Average
    Reviewed in India on 31 May 2016
    No great shakes. Mildly interesting
  • R. M. Peterson
    4.0 out of 5 stars A revealing contemporary account of the Hajj
    Reviewed in the United States on 13 June 2014
    In early 2003, Ilija Trojanow -- originally from Bulgaria, but then living in Mumbai -- undertook the Hajj. MUMBAI TO MECCA is his account of the pilgrimage. As the fifth pillar of Islam, the Hajj is a lifetime objective for over 1.5 billion of this planet's people. For someone like me (a non-Moslem), the Hajj is an impossibility. Reading the book, therefore, gave me a glimpse and rudimentary understanding, otherwise unavailable to me, of an event central to the lives of so many of my fellow world-citizens.

    At one level, the contemporary Hajj is the world's largest, most raucous, and most crass "tour group package". It might also be the most dangerous. (In the nineteenth century, tens of thousands of pilgrims died of cholera. Between 1990 and 2006, five different stampedes resulted in between 100 and 1400 deaths apiece. In 2003, while Trojanow was there, twenty-two pilgrims were trampled to death on one of the bridges leading to the pillar of the devil, site of the Stoning of the Devil ritual.) Trojanow shared his small hotel room in Mecca with seven others, four in beds jammed against the walls and four on mattresses on the floor. In the valley of Mina (where pilgrims go for the Stoning of the Devil ritual) he, like two million fellow pilgrims, slept in a tent. At the shopping center across from the Abdul-Aziz Gate to the Grand Mosque, "the wealthier pilgrims retire to [eat at] Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts and Pizza Hut" and "fully automated massage chairs offer five-minute respites from the rigours of prayer". Mammoth traffic jams and four-hour delays are matters of course. Saudi bureaucracy is pervasive; whether it eases problems of crowding or exacerbates them is hard to tell.

    On another level, the Hajj for Trojanow was indeed an ineffable, unforgettable spiritual experience. "The pilgrim lives in an uncompromising manner -- impossible in everyday life. He samples a taste of the perfect religious life, a simple, ordered, motivated, pure life. He should, of course, apply this new perspective to his every day life upon return -- there are some who change their lives after the Hajj. Most, however, return to their normal life and the Hajj becomes a magical memory, like a wonderful spiritual holiday infused with happiness."

    On any number of occasions Trojanow is critical of the host Saudis and their Wahhabi brand of Islam. "Pilgrims from Istanbul, Damascus and Cairo regard the Saudis as parvenus, nouveau-riche, and lacking in civilisation. And the Saudis do their utmost to live up to their assessment through their rude and coarse behaviour. Since time immemorial the inhabitants of Mecca have been called the neighbours of God, while simultaneously displaying, in this centre of faith, a measure of human weakness, greed and arrogance that provokes all idealistic pilgrims." But Trojanow is also critical of the materiality and superficiality of many of his non-Saudi fellow Muslims.

    I suspect that Ilija Trojanow is not your typical Muslim (Is there, for that matter, a "typical" Christian or Jew?), and therefore his account of the Hajj may be somewhat idiosyncratic. Still, it is the only contemporary one I have read and it is likely to remain so. As such, reading MUMBAI TO MECCA represents four hours well spent.
  • Jocelyn Shannon
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Path
    Reviewed in the United States on 21 February 2016
    I had hoped for a better understanding of Islam and I found it within these pages. I had not realized how many requirements must be met for a true Haj experience. Take time to read this and widen your world.