Guests of God

Guests of God

Author: Robert Bianchi

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2008-03-25

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 0199711836

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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.


Book Synopsis Guests of God by : Robert Bianchi

Download or read book Guests of God written by Robert Bianchi and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.


Guests of God : Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World

Guests of God : Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World

Author: Robert R. Bianchi Formerly Associate Professor of Political Science University of Chicago

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2004-09-09

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 0198038194

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Each year, more than two million pilgrims from over 100 countries converge on the holy city of Mecca to reenact the ritual dramas that Muslims have been performing for centuries. Making the hajj is one of the most important duties in the life of a Muslim. The pilgrimage-and its impact on international politics-is enormous and growing every year, yet Westerners know virtually nothing about it. What is the hajj and what does it mean? Who are the hajjis? What do they do and say in Mecca and how do they interpret their experiences? Who runs the hajj and what are their political objectives? How does the hajj encourage international cooperation among Muslims and can it also promote harmony between Islam and the West? In Guests of God, Robert R. Bianchi seeks to answer these and many other questions. While it is first and foremost a religious festival, he shows, the hajj is also very much a political event. The Muslim world's leading multinational organization, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, has established the first international regime explicitly devoted to pilgrimage. Every large Muslim nation has developed a comprehensive hajj policy and a powerful bureaucracy to enforce it. Yet, Bianchi argues, no authority- secular or religious, national or international-can really control the hajj. Pilgrims believe that they are entitled to travel freely to Mecca as "Guests of God"-not as guests of any nation or organization that might wish to restrict or profit from their efforts to fulfill a fundamental religious obligation. Drawing on his personal experience as a pilgrim and a wealth of data gathered over the course of ten years of research, Bianchi has produced a fascinating look at the hajj filled with personal, candid stories from political and religious leaders and hajjis from all walks of life. A wide-ranging study of Islam, politics, and power, Guests of God is the most complete picture of the hajj available anywhere.


Book Synopsis Guests of God : Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World by : Robert R. Bianchi Formerly Associate Professor of Political Science University of Chicago

Download or read book Guests of God : Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World written by Robert R. Bianchi Formerly Associate Professor of Political Science University of Chicago and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2004-09-09 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each year, more than two million pilgrims from over 100 countries converge on the holy city of Mecca to reenact the ritual dramas that Muslims have been performing for centuries. Making the hajj is one of the most important duties in the life of a Muslim. The pilgrimage-and its impact on international politics-is enormous and growing every year, yet Westerners know virtually nothing about it. What is the hajj and what does it mean? Who are the hajjis? What do they do and say in Mecca and how do they interpret their experiences? Who runs the hajj and what are their political objectives? How does the hajj encourage international cooperation among Muslims and can it also promote harmony between Islam and the West? In Guests of God, Robert R. Bianchi seeks to answer these and many other questions. While it is first and foremost a religious festival, he shows, the hajj is also very much a political event. The Muslim world's leading multinational organization, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, has established the first international regime explicitly devoted to pilgrimage. Every large Muslim nation has developed a comprehensive hajj policy and a powerful bureaucracy to enforce it. Yet, Bianchi argues, no authority- secular or religious, national or international-can really control the hajj. Pilgrims believe that they are entitled to travel freely to Mecca as "Guests of God"-not as guests of any nation or organization that might wish to restrict or profit from their efforts to fulfill a fundamental religious obligation. Drawing on his personal experience as a pilgrim and a wealth of data gathered over the course of ten years of research, Bianchi has produced a fascinating look at the hajj filled with personal, candid stories from political and religious leaders and hajjis from all walks of life. A wide-ranging study of Islam, politics, and power, Guests of God is the most complete picture of the hajj available anywhere.


Guests of God

Guests of God

Author: Robert R. Bianchi

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 2004-09-09

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 0195171071

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While the hajj is first and foremost a religious festival, it is also very much a political event. Every large Muslim state has developed a comprehensive hajj policy and a powerful bureaucracy to enforce it. This work argues, no secular or religious authority - national or international - can really control the hajj.


Book Synopsis Guests of God by : Robert R. Bianchi

Download or read book Guests of God written by Robert R. Bianchi and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2004-09-09 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the hajj is first and foremost a religious festival, it is also very much a political event. Every large Muslim state has developed a comprehensive hajj policy and a powerful bureaucracy to enforce it. This work argues, no secular or religious authority - national or international - can really control the hajj.


Islam, Politics and Pluralism

Islam, Politics and Pluralism

Author: Jennifer Noyon

Publisher: Royal Institute of International Affairs

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13:

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Advance praise for Islam, Politics, and Pluralism:"A valuable, accessible, and timely introduction to events and movements that lie behind the headlines of atrocity and terror, and which will enhance understanding of our dangerously polarized world." —Karen Armstrong, author of Islam: A Short History"Well-conceived, convincingly argued, and lucidly written. She provides a sorely needed dose of objectivity and balance precisely when those virtues are becoming essential for our government, our media, and our citizenry" —Robert Bianchi, author of Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World"This is an important contribution to the debate about Islam and should be read by scholars, policy planners, and the informed public." —Akbar S. Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University "A fine book... clear, crisp, well-written. It makes an important case for the political possibilities of the Islamic movements." —Ira M Lapidus, professor emeritus of history, University of California, Berkeley


Book Synopsis Islam, Politics and Pluralism by : Jennifer Noyon

Download or read book Islam, Politics and Pluralism written by Jennifer Noyon and published by Royal Institute of International Affairs. This book was released on 2003 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advance praise for Islam, Politics, and Pluralism:"A valuable, accessible, and timely introduction to events and movements that lie behind the headlines of atrocity and terror, and which will enhance understanding of our dangerously polarized world." —Karen Armstrong, author of Islam: A Short History"Well-conceived, convincingly argued, and lucidly written. She provides a sorely needed dose of objectivity and balance precisely when those virtues are becoming essential for our government, our media, and our citizenry" —Robert Bianchi, author of Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World"This is an important contribution to the debate about Islam and should be read by scholars, policy planners, and the informed public." —Akbar S. Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University "A fine book... clear, crisp, well-written. It makes an important case for the political possibilities of the Islamic movements." —Ira M Lapidus, professor emeritus of history, University of California, Berkeley


Muslim Pilgrimage in the Modern World

Muslim Pilgrimage in the Modern World

Author: Babak Rahimi

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2019-04-23

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 1469651475

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Pilgrimage is one of the most significant ritual duties for Muslims, entailing the visitation and veneration of sites associated with the Prophet Muhammad or saintly figures. As demonstrated in this multidisciplinary volume, the lived religion of pilgrimage, defined by embodied devotional practices, is changing in an age characterized by commerce, technology, and new sociocultural and political frameworks. Traveling to and far beyond the Hajj, the most well-known Muslim pilgrimage, the volume's contributors reveal and analyze emerging contemporary Islamic pilgrimage practices around the world, in minority- and majority-Muslim countries as well as in urban and rural settings. What was once a tiny religious attraction in a remote village, for example, may begin to draw increasing numbers of pilgrims to shrines and tombs as the result of new means of travel, thus triggering significant changes in the traditional rituals, and livelihoods, of the local people. Organized around three key themes—history and politics; embodiment, memory, and material religion; and communications—the book reveals how rituals, practices, and institutions are experienced in the context of an inexorable global capitalism. The volume contributors are Sophia Rose Arjana, Rose Aslan, Robert R. Bianchi, Omar Kasmani, Azim Malikov, Lewis Mayo, Julian Millie, Reza Masoudi Nejad, Paulo G. Pinto, Babak Rahimi, Emilio Spadola, Edith Szanto, and Brannon Wheeler.


Book Synopsis Muslim Pilgrimage in the Modern World by : Babak Rahimi

Download or read book Muslim Pilgrimage in the Modern World written by Babak Rahimi and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2019-04-23 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pilgrimage is one of the most significant ritual duties for Muslims, entailing the visitation and veneration of sites associated with the Prophet Muhammad or saintly figures. As demonstrated in this multidisciplinary volume, the lived religion of pilgrimage, defined by embodied devotional practices, is changing in an age characterized by commerce, technology, and new sociocultural and political frameworks. Traveling to and far beyond the Hajj, the most well-known Muslim pilgrimage, the volume's contributors reveal and analyze emerging contemporary Islamic pilgrimage practices around the world, in minority- and majority-Muslim countries as well as in urban and rural settings. What was once a tiny religious attraction in a remote village, for example, may begin to draw increasing numbers of pilgrims to shrines and tombs as the result of new means of travel, thus triggering significant changes in the traditional rituals, and livelihoods, of the local people. Organized around three key themes—history and politics; embodiment, memory, and material religion; and communications—the book reveals how rituals, practices, and institutions are experienced in the context of an inexorable global capitalism. The volume contributors are Sophia Rose Arjana, Rose Aslan, Robert R. Bianchi, Omar Kasmani, Azim Malikov, Lewis Mayo, Julian Millie, Reza Masoudi Nejad, Paulo G. Pinto, Babak Rahimi, Emilio Spadola, Edith Szanto, and Brannon Wheeler.


Pilgrimage and Religious Travel: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide

Pilgrimage and Religious Travel: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide

Author: Oxford University Press

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2010-05-01

Total Pages: 29

ISBN-13: 0199804133

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This ebook is a selective guide designed to help scholars and students of Islamic studies find reliable sources of information by directing them to the best available scholarly materials in whatever form or format they appear from books, chapters, and journal articles to online archives, electronic data sets, and blogs. Written by a leading international authority on the subject, the ebook provides bibliographic information supported by direct recommendations about which sources to consult and editorial commentary to make it clear how the cited sources are interrelated related. A reader will discover, for instance, the most reliable introductions and overviews to the topic, and the most important publications on various areas of scholarly interest within this topic. In Islamic studies, as in other disciplines, researchers at all levels are drowning in potentially useful scholarly information, and this guide has been created as a tool for cutting through that material to find the exact source you need. This ebook is a static version of an article from Oxford Bibliographies Online: Islamic Studies, a dynamic, continuously updated, online resource designed to provide authoritative guidance through scholarship and other materials relevant to the study of the Islamic religion and Muslim cultures. Oxford Bibliographies Online covers most subject disciplines within the social science and humanities, for more information visit www.aboutobo.com.


Book Synopsis Pilgrimage and Religious Travel: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by : Oxford University Press

Download or read book Pilgrimage and Religious Travel: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide written by Oxford University Press and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2010-05-01 with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This ebook is a selective guide designed to help scholars and students of Islamic studies find reliable sources of information by directing them to the best available scholarly materials in whatever form or format they appear from books, chapters, and journal articles to online archives, electronic data sets, and blogs. Written by a leading international authority on the subject, the ebook provides bibliographic information supported by direct recommendations about which sources to consult and editorial commentary to make it clear how the cited sources are interrelated related. A reader will discover, for instance, the most reliable introductions and overviews to the topic, and the most important publications on various areas of scholarly interest within this topic. In Islamic studies, as in other disciplines, researchers at all levels are drowning in potentially useful scholarly information, and this guide has been created as a tool for cutting through that material to find the exact source you need. This ebook is a static version of an article from Oxford Bibliographies Online: Islamic Studies, a dynamic, continuously updated, online resource designed to provide authoritative guidance through scholarship and other materials relevant to the study of the Islamic religion and Muslim cultures. Oxford Bibliographies Online covers most subject disciplines within the social science and humanities, for more information visit www.aboutobo.com.


Pilgrimage, Politics, and Pestilence

Pilgrimage, Politics, and Pestilence

Author: Saurabh Mishra

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2010-12-06

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 0199088373

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The epicentre of the Muslim universe, Mecca attracts hundreds of thousands of believers every year. Pilgrimage, Politics, and Pestilence studies the organization and meanings of the Haj from India during colonial times and analyses it from political, commercial, and medical perspectives between 1860, the year of the first outbreak of cholera epidemic in Mecca, and 1920, when the subject of holy places of Islam became a very powerful political symbol in the Indian subcontinent. Contrary to the general belief about colonial policy of non-intervention into religious subjects, the book argues that the state, in fact, kept a close watch on the pilgrimage. Saurabh Mishra examines the 'medicalization' of Mecca through cholera outbreaks and the intrusion of European medical regulations. He underscores how the Haj played an important role in shaping medical policies and practices, debates and disease definitions. The book explores how the Indian Hajis perceived, negotiated, and resisted colonial pilgrimage and medical policies in their quest of an intense spiritual experience. The author recovers the hitherto unexplored perspective of pilgrims' voices—in travelogues, memoirs, newspaper reports, and journals—to present a nuanced analysis of the interaction between religious faith and colonial public health policies during the age of steamships and empire.


Book Synopsis Pilgrimage, Politics, and Pestilence by : Saurabh Mishra

Download or read book Pilgrimage, Politics, and Pestilence written by Saurabh Mishra and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-12-06 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The epicentre of the Muslim universe, Mecca attracts hundreds of thousands of believers every year. Pilgrimage, Politics, and Pestilence studies the organization and meanings of the Haj from India during colonial times and analyses it from political, commercial, and medical perspectives between 1860, the year of the first outbreak of cholera epidemic in Mecca, and 1920, when the subject of holy places of Islam became a very powerful political symbol in the Indian subcontinent. Contrary to the general belief about colonial policy of non-intervention into religious subjects, the book argues that the state, in fact, kept a close watch on the pilgrimage. Saurabh Mishra examines the 'medicalization' of Mecca through cholera outbreaks and the intrusion of European medical regulations. He underscores how the Haj played an important role in shaping medical policies and practices, debates and disease definitions. The book explores how the Indian Hajis perceived, negotiated, and resisted colonial pilgrimage and medical policies in their quest of an intense spiritual experience. The author recovers the hitherto unexplored perspective of pilgrims' voices—in travelogues, memoirs, newspaper reports, and journals—to present a nuanced analysis of the interaction between religious faith and colonial public health policies during the age of steamships and empire.


The Practice of Islam in America

The Practice of Islam in America

Author: Edward E. Curtis IV

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2017-12-05

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 1479882674

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"Muslims have always been part of the United States, but very little is known about how Muslim Americans practice their religion. How do they pray? What's it like to go on pilgrimage to Mecca? What rituals accompany the birth of a child, a wedding, or the death of a loved one? What holidays do Muslims celebrate and what charities do they support? How do they learn about the Qur'an? [This book] introduces readers to the way Islam is lived in the United States, offering ... portraits of Muslim American life passages, ethical actions, religious holidays, prayer, pilgrimage, and other religious activities"--Back cover.


Book Synopsis The Practice of Islam in America by : Edward E. Curtis IV

Download or read book The Practice of Islam in America written by Edward E. Curtis IV and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2017-12-05 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Muslims have always been part of the United States, but very little is known about how Muslim Americans practice their religion. How do they pray? What's it like to go on pilgrimage to Mecca? What rituals accompany the birth of a child, a wedding, or the death of a loved one? What holidays do Muslims celebrate and what charities do they support? How do they learn about the Qur'an? [This book] introduces readers to the way Islam is lived in the United States, offering ... portraits of Muslim American life passages, ethical actions, religious holidays, prayer, pilgrimage, and other religious activities"--Back cover.


Global Political Islam

Global Political Islam

Author: Peter Mandaville

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-07-02

Total Pages: 563

ISBN-13: 1134341350

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An accessible and comprehensive account of the global dimensions of political Islam in the twenty-first century, explaining political Islam, nationalism and globalization and providing a detailed account of Al Qaeda.


Book Synopsis Global Political Islam by : Peter Mandaville

Download or read book Global Political Islam written by Peter Mandaville and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-07-02 with total page 563 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An accessible and comprehensive account of the global dimensions of political Islam in the twenty-first century, explaining political Islam, nationalism and globalization and providing a detailed account of Al Qaeda.


Pilgrimage, Politics and Place-Making in Eastern Europe

Pilgrimage, Politics and Place-Making in Eastern Europe

Author: John Eade

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-22

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 1317080831

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Since the beginning of the anthropology of pilgrimage, scant attention has been paid to pilgrimage and pilgrim places in central, eastern and south-eastern Europe. Seeking to address such a deficit, this book brings together scholars from central, eastern and south-eastern Europe to explore the crossing of borders in terms of the relationship between pilgrimage and politics, and the role which this plays in the process of both sacred and secular place-making. With contributions from a range of established and new academics, including anthropologists, historians and ethnologists, Pilgrimage, Politics and Place-Making in Eastern Europe presents a fascinating collection of case studies and discussions of religious, political and secular pilgrimage across the region.


Book Synopsis Pilgrimage, Politics and Place-Making in Eastern Europe by : John Eade

Download or read book Pilgrimage, Politics and Place-Making in Eastern Europe written by John Eade and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-22 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the beginning of the anthropology of pilgrimage, scant attention has been paid to pilgrimage and pilgrim places in central, eastern and south-eastern Europe. Seeking to address such a deficit, this book brings together scholars from central, eastern and south-eastern Europe to explore the crossing of borders in terms of the relationship between pilgrimage and politics, and the role which this plays in the process of both sacred and secular place-making. With contributions from a range of established and new academics, including anthropologists, historians and ethnologists, Pilgrimage, Politics and Place-Making in Eastern Europe presents a fascinating collection of case studies and discussions of religious, political and secular pilgrimage across the region.