Sadiq Khan MP on the British Museum's 'Hajj: a journey to the heart of Islam' exhibition

Thursday, 26 January 2012 17:11

MP for Tooting, Sadiq Khan, has a short comment piece in the Evening Standard today on the exhibition on the Hajj which opens today at the British Museum.

Khan writes:

“Muslims have been performing this pilgrimage for centuries; non-Muslims are not allowed to enter this holy city. An estimated three million people from all over the globe do so every year: Chinese, Namibian, Azerbaijani and every other kind of Muslim, as well as the 25,000 British Muslims who travel each year to form this kaleidoscope of our planet.

“We perform rituals that symbolise the lives of the Prophet Abraham and his wife Hagar. By completing these acts we develop a greater spiritual awareness, and share a sense of solidarity with other Muslims from across the world.

“I first performed Hajj in 2007: I was told I was the first Western minister ever to make the pilgrimage.

“I found the Hajj to be a great leveller of people: all male pilgrims wear the same two pieces of white cloth, share the same facilities, and live cheek by jowl for a number of days. You could be next to a pauper or a prince.”

Read more here.

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