One Thousand Roads to Mecca: Ten Centuries of Travelers Writing about the Muslim Pilgrimage

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Michael Wolfe
Open Road + Grove/Atlantic, Sep 29, 2015 - Religion - 656 pages
“Wolfe does an exemplary job of detailing the ceremonies performed at Mecca and the reasons behind them . . . Highly recommended.” —Library Journal, starred review
 
This updated and expanded edition of One Thousand Roads to Mecca collects significant works by observant travel writers from the East and West over the last ten centuries—including two new contemporary narratives—creating a comprehensive, multifaceted literary portrait of the enduring tradition. Since its inception in the seventh century, the pilgrimage to Mecca has been the central theme in a large body of Islamic travel literature. Beginning with the European Renaissance, it has also been the subject for a handful of adventurous writers from the West who, through conversion or connivance, managed to slip inside the walls of a city forbidden to non-Muslims. These very different literary traditions form distinct impressions of a spirited conversation in which Mecca is the common destination and Islam the common subject of inquiry.
 
Along with an introduction by Reza Aslan, featured writers include Ibn Battuta, J. L. Burckhardt, Sir Richard Burton, the Begum of Bhopal, John F. Keane, Winifred Stegar, Muhammad Asad, Lady Evelyn Cobbald, Jalal Al-e Ahmad, and Malcolm X. One Thousand Roads to Mecca is a historically, geographically, and ethnically diverse collection of travel writing that adds substantially to the literature of Islam and the West.
 
“Serves as an excellent introduction to a religion, people, culture, and philosophy.” —Santa Cruz Sentinel
 

Contents

Preface
Introduction
The Medieval Period Three Classic Muslim Travelers 10501326
Nasere Khosraw Persia 1050
Ibn Jubayr Spain 118384
Ibn Battuta Morocco 1326
Enter the Europeans Renegades Impostors Slaves and Scholars 15031814
Ludovico di Varthema Bologna 1503
Arthur J B Wavell AngloAfrica 1908
The Early Twentieth Century 19251933
Eldon Rutter Great Britain 1925
Winifred Stegar Australia 1927
Muhammad Asad Galicia 1927
Harry St John Philby Great Britain 1931
Lady Evelyn Cobbold Great Britain 1933
The Jet Age Hajj 19472000

A Pilgrim with No Name Italy ca 1575
Joseph Pitts England ca 1685
Ali Bey alAbbasi Spain 1807
John Lewis Burckhardt Switzerland 1814
NineteenthCentury Changes 18531908
Sir Richard Burton Great Britain 1853
Her Highness Sikandar the Begum of Bhopal India 1864
John F Keane AngloIndia 187778
Mohammad Hosayn Farahani Persia 188586
Malcolm X United States 1964
Saida Miller Khalifa Great Britain 1970
Abdellah Hammoudi United StatesMorocco 1999
Qanta Ahmed United States 2001
Maps
Acknowledgments
Selected Bibliography
Copyright

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About the author (2015)

Michael Wolfe is the author of eleven books of poetry, fiction, and travel, including The Hadj: An American’s Pilgrimage to Mecca. For fifteen years he was the publisher of Tombouctou Books. He is currently Co-Executive Producer and President of Unity Productions Foundation, a nonprofit media company that produces documentary films for television.

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