Religion has a spiritual message embedded, as its purpose is to establish a relationship between the seen and the unseen worlds. However, to allow people to understand its spiritual message, it uses symbolism in such a way that the physical person would try to comprehend the inner meanings of the spiritual message that lies therein. This study is not about ‘how' the Hajj rituals are to be performed, because the answer to that question is trivial and have been thoroughly studied throughout centuries. This study is an attempt to answer the question ‘why.' Why is the Hajj to be performed in a certain way? This study delves into what must be a deeper meaning. Its methodology is through the etymological usage of the terminologies textually and intertextually between Scriptures, including the Qur'an and the Bible. It attempts to explore the polysemous nature of the root words and to resurrect the inner meanings that can be ascertained from the root. This study introduces a new methodology for Scriptural hermeneutics, while comparing the methods used by Biblical and Qur'anic scholars. Once the methodology is established, it is applied to increase understanding of the inner meanings of the Hajj rituals portraying the journey of a dead soul from death, sacrifice of the ego, resurrection into life, and spreading the seeds and Water of Life to other dead souls trying to fight their egos and, likewise, resurrect them into life.

Thesis (doctoral of philosophy)--University of Leeds, 1977. / Twenty-five plans on folded leaves in pocket. Bibliography: p. 333-350.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Stephen H. Rapp, committee chair; Donald M. Reid, committee member. Electronic text (210 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, facsim.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Dec. 20, 2007; title from file title page. Includes bibliographical references (p. 192-210).

The author's Magisterarbeit--Universität Freiburg i. Br., 1984. / Includes selections of Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Sarrāj's Uns al-sārī wa-al-sārib min aqṭār al-Maghārib ilá muntahá al-āmāl wa-al-maʼārib wa-sayyid al-aʻājim wa-al-Aʻārib in German translation. Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-133).

No description available.

This study examines the unique pre-and post hajj traditions of the Cape Muslims in the 19th and 20th centuries. It explores the origin and historical development of these traditions and describes the changes in the mode of transport used to travel to Arabia for the performance of hajj and in the financial aspect of hajj since the 19th century. The study identifies the difficulties that hajjis experienced in the 19th and 20th centuries and explains the special status accorded to hajjis at the Cape, including its use as a status symbol. Much attention is given to the management of the hajj enterprise, including the role of hajj agents and operators. The study analyses the difference between the earlier and current system of managing the hajj, and provides an overview of the regulating body appointed by the South African government to oversee the hajj industry. Finally, it investigates the problems that the pilgrims have been experiencing over the many years. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

The thesis "Tuba: an African eschatology in Islam" adopts afrocentric hypotheses for the study of Islam. First, the thesis demonstrates how certain phenomena specific to Islam in Africa, those usually qualified as products of religious syncretism, are on the contrary indicative of the ongoing process of synthesis and enrichment within Islam, and, secondly, that African spiritual tradition continues today as in the past to participate along with others in this constructive process. In order to demonstrate this hypothesis the spiritual significance of the modern Islamic holy city of Touba in Senegal will be analyzed. / Touba is named for the Tree of Paradise (Tuba) of Islamic tradition and the holy city has been constructed around the singular arboreal image. The spiritual meaning imparted by Touba, a deliberate creation, is expressed in the topography of the holy city, in its geographic configuration. The thesis adapts the methodologies of spatial analysis, and specifically the semiotic reading of landscape, to the study of a religious phenomenon, i.e., the creation of a holy city. / in order to explain the significance of this holy city for Islamic eschatology, the meanings which three distinct religious traditions (Islam, West Africa, Ancient Egypt) have attached to the image of the cosmic tree are inventoried. The tree as archetype here serves to establish the continuity of African religious thought from pharaonic Egypt to modern Muslim Senegal.

No description available.

The author's Magisterarbeit--Universität Freiburg i. Br., 1984. / Includes selections of Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Sarrāj's Uns al-sārī wa-al-sārib min aqṭār al-Maghārib ilá muntahá al-āmāl wa-al-maʼārib wa-sayyid al-aʻājim wa-al-Aʻārib in German translation. Includes indexes. Bibliography: p. 127-133.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1972. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.