Bosnian Hajj LiteratureMultiple Paths to the Holy

Theoretically astute, written with analytical dexterity, and dazzling in its use of a wide range of archival materials, Karić gives us extraordinary insights into the world of hajj as practiced, experienced, and shared by generations of Bosnian Muslims. This is a truly original book that will become a classic for the years to come.

This is a brilliant and deeply erudite book about the enduring meanings of pilgrimage, ritual, and popular piety in Islam. Here Karić guides the reader through the stories told by Bosnian hajjis over five centuries, following their writings from the Ottoman era through the tumultuous upheavals and wars of the twentieth century. Historians will be particularly grateful for the book’s analysis of the geographical, textual, cultural, and even sensorial connections that made up the experiences of hajjis traveling from the edge of Europe toward Mecca and Medina. But more broadly, scholars of religion will encounter a thought-provoking argument that also challenges us not to reduce religious experiences to a set of historically changing material and political circumstances. Instead, it invites us to take the hajjis’ stories seriously as a part of enduring religious journeys striving for a transcendent experience that recasts the categories of the past, present, and future.

Bosnian Hajj Literature constitutes a major addition to the fields of Islamic Studies, scholarship on the Balkans and academic studies of pilgrimage. It is a thoughtful, expert, well-written volume and should be read widely across these fields.

Bosnian Hajj Literature offers a rich and layered account of an important aspect of Bosnian Islam. Beyond Bosnia, the book provides an excellent example of the study of the deep history of contemporary Islamic religiosity and devotional sensibilities. The conceptual richness of Karić’s monograph and the author’s mastery of the historical sources and the disciplines that are consulted makes the reading of the book an inspiring and rewarding experience.