Premium
the hajj: sacred and secular
Author(s) -
DELANEY CAROL
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1990.17.3.02a00060
Subject(s) - pilgrimage , turkish , hajj , pilgrim , immigration , islam , emigration , character (mathematics) , history , ancient history , ethnology , religious studies , sociology , geography , archaeology , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , linguistics
A comparison of the pilgrimage to Mecca made by Turkish villagers with that made to their natal villages by Turkish immigrants in Europe argues for blurring the boundaries between the categories “sacred” and “secular” as well as those between pilgrim and migrant. It suggests that the hijra (emigration of Muhammed) and the hajj (his pilgrimage home) provide a symbolic model, unavailable for non‐Muslims, that implicitly structures and makes comprehensible the ritualistic and obligatory character of the immigrants' journey home. [ Islam, symbolism, pilgrimage, Turkish peasants and immigrants ]