The Mecca Diaries

by Rayda Jacobs

'Writing this now, on a borrowed laptop, in my hotel room four minutes from the haram, my eyes are filled with tears. How have I been so fortunate as to come here?' What is it really like to go on hajj? What is the truth about this high point in a Muslim's religious experience - in a far-away Middle-Eastern country, at the holiest sites of the Islamic religion - and in the presence of nearly three million other pilgrims? Part diary, part guidebook, part spiritual memoir, this absorbing book records Rayda Jacobs's preparation and departure for hajj; her stay in Medina and journey to the city of Mecca; her experience of the five days of hajj; and, finally, her return to South Africa. Illustrated throughout with her own photographs, Jacobs's candid diary lifts the veil from the life-changing experience of hajj - for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Readers of her "Confessions of a Gambler" and "Postcards from South Africa" will not be disappointed by Jacobs's fascinating personal account of her 2004/5 pilgrimage.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Rayda Jacobs was a South African writer and filmmaker.

Reviews

[thelastword · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book before I read any of Rayda Jacob's other books. At the time I was more amused at the way Cape Townian Muslims went about making Hajj. I think I even laughed incredulously at the ridiculous 'ruling' Rayda got from a local 'Moulana' so that she could travel without a Mahram.

(I kind of see these un-Islamic aspects of her journey more grimly after having read her other works - but that's another story for another review.)

Anyway - It was quite an interesting, light read. Probably Rayda's most honest, unpretentious work that delivers what it promises: a spiritual diary that should give non-Muslims a general idea of how things go down during Hajj and Muslims a general idea of how Western Capers perform Hajj.

I hope this inspires more people to write about their Hajj experiences - there are so many amazing stories that you hear of and then later personally experience that I do not know why there are so few publications in this category!