Russian Hajj: Empire and the Pilgrimage to Mecca

Highly original and well researched

This is an engaging informative historical work that adds significant depth to our understanding of current aspects of the relationship between the West and the Muslim world.Based on original Russian, Tatar, Turkic sources and Western scholarship, the author takes the unique focus of the Muslim Hajj pilgrimage to research the relationship between Russia and the Muslim world starting in the mid 19th century -following the colonization by Tsarist Russia of large Muslim populations in the Caucasus- until today.Tsarist Russia undertook to organize the Hajj for its Muslim subjects not solely because of sanitary reasons (Cholera and plague epidemics frequently broke out in the Hajj and were the presumed sources of further epidemics in the countries where the pilgrims returned) or out of security concerns (the fear of exposure of the Muslim population to Pan-Islamic thoughts during the Hajj)- but, as argued persuasively by the author, because Russia was pursuing imperialist goals of expanding its relations with its neighbors and with the Arab Muslim countries especially Great Syria under the declining Ottoman rule. This had to be balanced with the predominant affiliation of the country with the Orthodox Christian Church.Following the revolution, the Soviet state continued to sponsor the Hajj pilgrimage for non-Russian Muslims while the Communist ideology itself forbade the practice of the faith to its own subjects. In so doing, it encroached on the British who were engaged in similar enterprises in India and in China. The Soviet enterprise was stopped in 1930 for multiple reasons.After the fall of the USSR, Russia remains the home of a large minority of Muslims for whom the government continues to organize annual Hajj pilgrimages-in spite of the bloody decades of war it has waged against some of its Islamic neighbors.The book consists of 5 chapters arranged historically and a Conclusive Chapter- Chapter One contains fascinating information about the Hajj situation in Great Syria as well as the Christian Pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the early 19th Century. The last chapter extends arguments that were introduced throughout the book and adds insight into the complexities of the current times where large numbers of Muslims live and expect to practice their faith as immigrants or refugees in Russia and in the West.The writing style is beautiful and the organization of the book with the inclusion of personal stories and key individuals makes for an enriching wonderful read.

If you're interested in Russia's connection and history to its own, large Muslim population -- this book is a must.