Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam

Photo: Shadia Alem
British Museum 2010
299,000 people were at the Hajj in 2011

The British Museum has a special exhibit on Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam until April 15th.

I was so excited to get into the exhibition room that I  lost my sense of what to do in special exhibits.

For example, I checked my purse at the cloakroom, and then walked to the exhibit and had no money to pay for the audio tapes ... unless I went back to the cloakroom.

I had already been back to the cloakroom once, getting a sweater, since I had discovered I was too cold, and a second walk back there just seemed like too much time walking to and from the exhibit and not enough time there.

Mahmal, a ceremonial palanquin
... usually carried on the back of a camel ...

I know the concept of museum fatigue, of working so hard that I need a chair to rest on and a chance to close my eyes before going on.

I was three hours in the exhibit, probably most interested in the classes of Muslim children who were going through the exhibit, a list of questions on paper and pencils in their hands, than in anything else I saw.

Their hard work was softened by an instructor who said, you don’t have to answer the questions. They are just for you to think about.

...a textile: a head scarf to be traded or sold at Hajj...

My hard work was going on in my mind, trying first to see the way the curator had organized information around the Hajj.

A continuous movie told about the five tasks to do during the Hajj: change from street clothes to white garments, drink Holy Water, throw 7 stones to ward off the devil, and circling the Abrahmic church seven times.

The film made all of that clear.

the components that build up the Arabic word for God

On the walls were large maps, showing how the journey to the Hajj has been occurring for centuries and at what cost to the people who make this once-in-a-lifetime trip.

I lingered at the textiles that decorate the temple, often black silk, embroidered with silver and gold metallic thread, the textiles often fashioned in Egypt’s best textile factories.

...details of a silver and guilded silver threaded rondel...
and the bottom part of the word for God

I loved the cases of tourist memorabilia that people buy at the Hajj: embroidered or ornate textiled hats, expenseive shrouds, vaccum packed figs, holy water, prayer beads, containers for holy water, etc.

One of the texts on the wall said that half the time is spent in religious practise, and half the time is spent in the markets, exchanging goods.

I stopped at the roundel that showed how to write the name of God in Arabic, and tried to write the letters in the air, once I could see what they were.

I hope I find my way back to this exhibit -- the next time with an audio tape (keep some money tucked into a secret pocket, Arta) and with more energy to take my own virtual visit to the Hajj.

Arta