Hajj: Journey to The Heart of Islam
243 viewsBy jazbablog - Wed Jan 25, 6:17 pm
JEDDAH: In collaboration and partnership with King Abdulaziz Public Library, the British Museum London has meticulously finished all preparations for the opening ceremony of the major hajj exhibition entitled ‘Hajj: Journey to The Heart of Islam’ to be held today on January 26, 2012. Activities of Hajj’s Journey exhibition at the British Museum will be concluded on April 15, 2012.
A big exhibition dedicated to the Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage, will commence at The British Museum following two years of sensitive discussions with countries including Saudi Arabia, and which will see artefacts from Islam’s holiest sites brought to the west.
It will be the first major exhibition committed to the Hajj, exploring the importance and history of this religious journey to be hosted ever by the British capital.
Hajj: Journey to Islam, will explore the meaning and experience of the pilgrimage through 200 objects from 13 different countries including Malaysia and Egypt. It will include archaeological pieces, manuscripts, textiles, miniatures and photography.
“This exhibition is about a journey that has one purpose which is to reach the heart of Islam,” said Venetia Porter, exhibition curator.
The organization of the exhibition has involved months of discussions between Neil MacGregor, the director of the museum, and officials from Saudi Arabia and other countries.
As part of the process the British Museum set up an advisory board including religious advisers from London’s Regent’s Park Mosque to ensure its staging is carried out with due sensitivity.
The exhibition will be split into three sections; the pilgrim’s journey with an emphasis on the main routes used across time, the Hajj today and its rituals, and finally the origins and importance of Mecca.
Highlights of the exhibition will include a ninth century Koran and a 19th century mahmal, or silk tent, which was carried on the back of a camel from Cairo to Mecca and Pakistani “pilgrim notes” from the 1950s, which were used as travellers cheques in Saudi Arabia.
Also on display will be the travel diaries of Scottish aristocrat Lady Evelyn Cobbold, a convert to Islam and the first British woman to go on the Hajj, and the diaries of Sir Richard Francis Burton who travelled to Mecca in disguise.
The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and a pilgrimage that every Muslim is supposed to perform once in their lifetime if physically and financially able. That edict translates into millions of Muslims every year descending upon Mecca, tripling its normal population of about 1.5m.
This year’s Hajj saw up to 3m devout Muslims, about 2m of whom come from abroad, worshipping in Saudi Arabia. The Arab world’s largest economy faced a huge logistical task to cater and care for this mass of humanity.
Mr MacGregor has called the organisation of the Hajj “one of the great administrative achievements in the world”.
The growing pilgrim population is expected to double over the next 30 years and the Saudi government plans to spend billions on infrastructure projects in and around Mecca.
The exhibition, which opens on January 26 and runs until April, will also feature the work of contemporary Saudi artists including Ahmed Mater. His installation of magnets and iron filings represents the mass of pilgrims circumambulating the Kaaba.
The exhibition will highlight in details how more than three million Muslims perform annually the fifth pillar of Islam pillars.
It will also highlight the efforts being exerted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in serving pilgrims and the development and expansion of Makkah and its holy Mosque as well as other holy sites to accommodate the annual increasing numbers of the pilgrims and visitors and to facilitate their performance of Hajj.
