Fashioning the Materiality of the Pilgrimage: The ḥajj Travelogue of Muḥammad Labīb al-Batanūnī

In 1911, the Egyptian travel writer Muḥammad Labīb al-Batanūnī published a highly informative account of his pilgrimage journey, al-Riḥla al-Ḥijāziyya. This article is interested in al-Batanūnī’s representation (or fashioning) of the ḥajj 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 ḥajj (for example, Zemzem water) in opposition to interpretations and practices of his contemporaries within, as well as beyond, Islam.