August 4, 2014
Mecca’s magnetism is unrivalled in the Muslim world, but it is known more as a symbol than a living city, the forgotten social and political realities of which Pakistani-British public intellectual Sardar uncovers in this captivating history. Despite its theological centrality, Mecca has often been on the margins of the Muslim polity—buffeted by the “irrational logic that haunts the exercise of empire”—and many of its rulers have “unashamedly offered... allegiance to the highest bidder.” Sardar focuses on human stories rather than dry minutiae, as in the tale of a Dutch scholar/spy who converted to Islam and married a local woman before his conversion was revealed to be a ruse. That Dutchman’s “unceremonious expulsion” receives more attention than a succession of emirs, of whom Sardar says “most of them were called Qasim or Hashim, it is not easy to distinguish between them.” Mecca today is a “grotesque metropolis,” he notes, “built on the graves of houses and cultural sites of immense beauty and long history.” The house of the prophet Muhammad is slated to become a parking lot and his first wife’s is now a public toilet. The erasure of the city is not confined to its past: “In a city that owes its existence and survival to two women,” Sardar laments, “women are treated as chattels.”
August 1, 2014
Sardar (law, Middlessex Univ., London) sets out to discover the historical and religious significance Mecca holds for Muslims. Since the advent of Islam, Mecca has not been a political capital. While Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, was born in the city, he used Medina as his social and political capital. However, Muslims still consider Mecca the holiest city, with millions making a hajj (pilgrimage) to the sacred site each year. In a book that is part memoir, part history, and part folklore, Sardar weaves a chronological account of Mecca from biblical times to the present with an emphasis on the latter. In a conversational tone, the author highlights how Mecca was influenced by and even shaped events throughout the Middle East. Most works on Mecca focus on the spiritual aspects of the hajj and its meaning to those who perform it. Sardar, on the other hand, while acknowledging the religious roots of the city, stresses the cultural and political aspects of Mecca and its longtime residents. VERDICT This title is suitable for those interested in a blend of folklore and a historical account of Mecca. It feeds the imagination and provokes readers to ask more questions about those who call Mecca home.--Muhammed Hassanali, Shaker Heights, OH
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 1, 2014
For 15 centuries, the city of Mecca has lain at the heart of Islamic devotion. Adherents to the Islamic faith are the most scattered of any of the three Abrahamic faiths, with hundreds of millions residing thousands of miles away from the sacred city. Yet Muslims are compelled by the Koran to conduct daily prayers facing the city and to make, if practical, a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. Sandar is a Pakistani-born Muslim, British citizen, and author of more than 45 books on a broad variety of topics. He has written a superb tribute to the city that combines elements of history, personal memoir, and even urban analysis. Sardar uses striking imagery to convey the intensity of religious feeling Mecca can evoke, as when thousands of chanting pilgrims from all over the world circle the Kaaba in a state of ecstasy. But as Sardar shows, Mecca is a city as well as a sacred site, and like other growing cities, it struggles with a variety of urban problems associated with a rush to modernity. A beautifully written and revealing book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)