In the Best of Company: Postcards from the Hajj

Mike Gibby
Design and layout by Adrian Cheah, ACEK Creative Solutions

In the Best of Company: Postcards from the Hajj

Muslim pilgrims have been travelling for Hajj for more than fourteen centuries. How similar, how different have their experiences been? In our changing world, how has the safety and convenience of air travel changed the experience of Hajj?

Gathered here are the thoughts and concerns of Hajjis travelling over the last thousand years by trains, boats and planes, by camel, car or on foot – compared with the experiences of a recent pilgrim to Makkah.

This small book is an attempt to have a conversation with earlier generations of Hajjis, and attempts to answer questions about the changing nature of Hajj.

In the Best of Company: Postcards from the Hajj

Contents

List of illustrations - iv
Glossary - vii

Introduction - 1

1. Decisions - 13
2. Dhu al-Hijjah - 17
3. Dhu al-Hijjah - 29
4. Dhu al-Hijjah - 39
5. Dhu al-Hijjah - 51
6. Dhu al-Hijjah - 57
7. Dhu al-Hijjah - 61
8. Dhu al-Hijjah - 69
9. Dhu al-Hijjah - 73
10. Dhu al-Hijjah - 81
11. Dhu al-Hijjah - 89
12. Dhu al-Hijjah - 97
13–14. Dhu al-Hijjah - 103
15–18. Dhu al-Hijjah - 117
19. Dhu al-Hijjah - 123

Last days - 129
A postscript - 139
Image acknowledgements - 141

In the Best of Company: Postcards from the Hajj

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Mike Gibby
2019, Entrepot Publishing
Softcover. 22.8cm x 15.2cm, 152 pages
Language: English
Illustrated throughout
ISBN 978-967-17008-2-2

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Available at https://entrepotpublishing.com/

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About the Author

Mike Gibby is a retired teacher, a husband and a father who converted to Islam in 1982. While completing his own Hajj, he became fascinated by the personal journeys of earlier pilgrims, who – inspired by their faith – overcame hardships and dangers on their journeys to Makkah.