Fashioning the materiality of the Pilgrimage: The ?ajj travelogue of muammad labīb al-batanūnī

Abstract

In 1911, the Egyptian travel writer Muammad Labīb al-Batanūnī published a highly informative account of his pilgrimage journey, al-Rila al-ijāziyya. This article is interested in al-Batanūnī's representation (or fashioning) of the ajj and its materiality, as it reflects the conventions of his time and with which the author simultaneously hopes to shape the interpretations and practices of his contemporaries. Specifically, the article focuses on the way al-Batanūnī represents the objects and matters of the ajj (for example, Zemzem water) in opposition to interpretations and practices of his contemporaries within, as well as beyond, Islam.