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Making use of a combination of travel accounts, personal spiritual experiences, descriptions of the mechanics and meaning of the Hajj, statistical analysis of global and regional trends in Hajj participation, and analysis of the domestic and international politics surrounding the Hajj today, the author of this study provides the most multifaceted and comprehensive coverage of the contemporary Hajj from a global perspective that is currently available.

The pilgrimage to Mecca required once in a lifetime of every Muslim physically and financially capable--the Hajj is the central ritual of Islam. Theoretically egalitarian with emphasis on the unity of the global Muslim community, the Hajj in practice--as portrayed by Robert R. Bianchi--reflects both unity and divisions between ethnicities, nationalities, classes, ages, and gender as pilgrims negotiate physically demanding rituals that necessitate cooperation across boundaries that …