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Ilija Trojanow
Zu den heiligen Quellen des Islam
MALIK, September 2004. 172 pp. The Hadj – the fifth pillar of Islam – is the pilgrimage to Mecca which Muslims are expected to make at least once in their lifetime. Ilija Trojanow, a Bulgarian by birth, made it in 2003. On a January morning in Bombay he donned the ihram, the traditional garb of the pilgrim, and within a few days was mingling with the hundreds of thousands of other pilgrims at their religion’s holiest shrine. The tradition itself is more than a thousand years old. This book also belongs to another ancient tradition, that of travel writing. Trojanow’s concise text is rich in information about geography, history, architecture and the diversity of outlook of those who practise the Islamic faith. The sections on Islamic traditions are lively and entertaining (Trojanow is especially good on dress, gender rituals, and the strange contrasts between ancient mosques and modern technology). He also devotes some pertinent space to reflections on the influence on Islam of the West and its commercial culture, Islam as a form of social order, Ramadan, and the misuse and abuse of religion. These insights into Islamic culture are informative and interesting, but Trojanow’s special strength lies perhaps in his descriptions of individual pilgrims. He has a real talent for sketching larger-than-life characters with a few deft strokes of the pen, and is particularly amusing when describing the pilgrims who vanish in search of a massage as a way of counteracting the physical exertions of prayer. At the other extreme his account of the stoning ritual is suitably dramatic. And his description of the pilgrims praying one by one on the way home in the plane is worthy of inclusion in a film.
For Trojanow this three-week break from the routines
of daily life was an unforgettable mixture of
tribulations and joys, wearying and inspiring in equal
measure. His account of the Hadj is an unusual and
engaging combination of facts and personal reflection.
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