One thousand roads to Mecca
Subtitle: ten centuries of travelers writing about the Muslim pilgrimage
By: edited and introduced by Michael Wolfe.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Grove Press; Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 620
Subjects: Muslim pilgrims and pilgrimages -- Saudi Arabia -- Mecca
Other titles: 1000 roads to Mecca
Description: The pilgrimage to Mecca, or the Hajj, is a journey all Muslims are enjoined to make once in their lifetimes. Its purpose is to detach human beings from their homes and, by bringing them to Islam's birthplace, to emphasize the equality of all people before God. Since its inception in the seventh century, the Hajj 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 Christian West who, through conversion or connivance, managed to slip inside the walls of a city forbidden to non-Muslims.

One Thousand Roads to Mecca collects significant works by observant writers from the East and West over the last ten centuries. These two very different literary traditions form distinct sides of a spirited conversation in which Mecca is the common destination and Islam the common subject of inquiry.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 581-587) and index.