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Title: The Hadj: An American's Pilgrimage to Mecca
ISBN: 0802135862
Author:
Michael Wolfe
Publicate Date: 1998-09-02
Publish: 1998-09-02
List Price: $16.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $6.85
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $6.75
Amazon Merchant Price: $10.88
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Approaching the Hadj as a traveler
On the strength of a travelogue alone, I would give Wolfe's book a 4 star. It has all the ingredients of a piece written by a well-read traveler: historical contexts, quotations from predecessors who have traveled the same path, descriptive passages concerning both landscape and human figures, and most importantly, a show of restraint by withholding ethnocentric judgments that fly all too easily when cultures collide.
The Hadj is a good primer for stateside readers whose only education about Islam consists of shouting pundits on fair and balanced news stations. It shows that there is a majority of Muslims who are not concerned with violence and are not preoccupied throughout the day with terrorist thoughts.
The problem begins when readers approach the book expecting either a political angle or a spiritual angle. We don't expect a travel journal about London to delve into a detailed commentary about imperialistic regimes achieved through naval superiority, so why should the author of the Hadj need to impose Western concepts of egalitarian societies onto his observations? I found that as long as I read the Hadj as nothing but a travelogue, it was quite satisfying.
Every person has their reasons for embarking on a spiritual journey, so I won't question Wolfe's true reasons. I will confess that at the opening of the book, when I read these lines "I was looking for a framework I could live with, a vocabulary of spiritual concepts applicable to the life I was living now. I did not want to 'trade in' my culture. I wanted access to new meanings," and later on, "The more I learned about Islam, the more it appeared to conform to what I was looking for"; I almost put down the book and stopped right there.
An Assyrian friend of mine once said: "Many Americans have an odd way of treating religion: They pick and choose as if they were at a spiritual buffet. They pluck what they need from each culture to meet their conveniences." It's true. We drop Zen when we're too lazy to provide an explanation; we pull out the Kaballah when we have lost our mystery; we get a bit of relaxation from the Hindu yogis after a hard week at work, and confess to being a Christian when there's a sale on red wine.
Islam is not on the menu. Islam means "obedience, submission to god, surrender of the self."
So when Wolfe prefaces his book about a spiritual journey by announcing that Islam appeals to his personal needs, it pretty much sets the stage for one's expectations from the book in terms of spirituality. I felt that there were moments when the author was more intent on observing his surroundings, seeking comfort and relief from the heat and exhaustion, and completing a business deal involving the sale of used cars, then embarking on a spiritual journey. At the height of the Hadj for example (at Mount Mercy) when colleagues of the author busied themselves with reading the Qu'ran, he goes off to look for drinks, friends, shelter, and a better view. I was continually befuddled at why a novice wouldn't try his hardest to seek enlightenment when standing on the spiritual center of his new religion. It's these moments I felt the book should really be read as a travelogue about the Hadj, and not as one man's personal spiritual journey. I won't rule out the fact that as a novice convert at that time, Wolfe may still have some time before coming into his own. So there's no judgment made here. Just sharing an observation for those who expect to gain insight on the spiritual angle.
A bibliography of further reading and a helpful glossary completes this book. A breezy read for us Kafirs who need a bit of education about our Muslim brothers and sisters.
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2: excellent as intended
i don't know why reviewers are parsing and saying, well, this is actually a travelogue or it isn't really about religious concerns...
come one, it is simply a travelogue about a spiritual journey that more than transcends "religiosity".....
thus, it succeeds by its OWN standards.
anyways, i am reading this again. it deepened my respect for Islam.
i admit that i am a pagan and liable to slip into sufi-modes....but then, i see Islam as grounded in a paganism it should embrace. if only it would, it would be THE premier "religion"....
this book rocks...Islam needs to recognize its roots in AL-LAT....and the femininie...and the djinn.....
it already circumnabulates a pagan/celestial rock in the KA'ABA once a year. there is hidden beauty everywhere in the unknown folds of this tradition.
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3: More travelogue than spiritual journey . . .
Readers expecting insights into Islamic spirituality will find this a different kind of book. Its first half describes a long visit to Marrakesh during which the author is the house guest of an old friend who is a shop owner in the Old City's bazaar. A recent convert to Islam in California, Wolfe discovers how the teachings of Muhammad infuse the daily life and culture of this Moroccan city.
The second half of the book describes his own hadj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, where millions of the faithful gather once each year from around the world for a week and more of religious ritual and visits to sacred sites as guests of the Saudi government. Rather than the recounting of a spiritual experience, however, Wolfe's narrative is a detailed report of things seen, heard, and felt, much like a travelogue. The decision may have been to reserve comment on the impact of hadj on his own faith, but it's an unexpected choice.
More curious is Wolfe's uncritical acceptance of the male-dominated culture he describes. Men and men only go together to mosque for prayers, and the pilgrims he travels with are all male. Except for his friend Mostopha's wife, who seems always to be cooking and keeping house, women hardly figure in his book, even his own wife back home, who gets scarcely a mention. Meanwhile, he praises the classless and color-blind egalitarianism of hadj as it's observed, while failing to make note of his privilege as an American, able to afford rooms in the comfort of air-conditioned hotels while the poor sleep rough at night, sometimes in tunnels only inches from passing traffic. The shortcomings of other religions notwithstanding, these are odd oversights, even for the 1990s, when it was first published.
Still, for non-Muslims, this is as close as one can get to an experience of pilgrimage to Mecca. And Wolfe does readers a service by observing so closely and sharing so much. For an account of hadj from a woman's point of view, read Asra Nomani's "Standing Alone in Mecca."
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4: Kirkus Review Above Is Bigoted
Oh dear, for just one instant a Muslim writer forgot to key his writing to allaying Western concerns about Islam and addressing Western stereotypes, for their noble concerns must frame our every endeavor, so he rightly gets rapped on the hand by the Kirkus Review included above by Amazon:
"Notable, in these muted polemical digressions, is Wolfe's decision to ignore the most common criticisms of Islam, for its views on violence and on women."
'Noted?' Can you imagine a Catholic writer's account of a journey to Rome or a Jewish writer's journey to Jerusalem or a Protestant Christian writer's journey to Bethlehem being taken to task for not addressing their religion's 'views on violence and on women?' Yet each of these religions has problems with violence and women's rights as least as pressing as Islam's.
Wolfe does what he set out to do. Ably.
Up yours, Kirkus Reviews.
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5: A MUST READ for all!!!
Michael Wolfe has outdone himself in the writing of "The Hadj".
He takes you to the streets of Marrakech, Mecca and Medina. The writing style is exquisite. He really gives you insight on what to expect while on the Hadj.
I actually felt like I was there, on his journey; so descriptive and such a detailed accounting of his surroundings.
I finsihed the book in less than a week and each time I put it down, I could not wait to pick it up and start reading again.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to everyone!! A real treat!
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