Labayk! Mecca, Madina and the Hajj

Alchemiya presents a collection of films that explore Mecca, Madina and the Hajj. From the earliest film to recent personal journeys the content is a broad examination of the experience, culture, art and history of this most important Islamic ritual. Considered one of the key elements of the faith, every Muslim will endeavour to perform the Hajj at least once in their life. The rituals date back to the time of the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) and some aspects even further back to the time of the Prophet Abraham, who established the settlement of Mecca. These films cover the past century of motion picture technology and the attempt to capture this important spiritual experince, considered to be the largest annual migration on the planet.

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  • Het Groote Mekka-Feest, The Great Mecca Feast

    This silent film by Georg Eduard Albert Krugers is a rare personal documentary of his journey in 1928 from Indonesia (then the Dutch East Indies) to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, with a group of pilgrims performing the Hajj. Krugers' commentary in texts on screen provides a personal commentary on the ev...

  • Journey to Mecca: In the footsteps of Ibn Battuta

    Journey to Mecca is an IMAX® dramatic and documentary feature that tells the amazing story of Ibn Battuta, the greatest explorer of the Old World, following his first pilgrimage between 1325 and 1326 from Tangier to Mecca.

    His perilous journey resonates with adventure while presenting an unforge...

  • The Secrets of the Hajj | Travelling Light Lecture

    Hajj is very much the final frontier for the Muslim; the only pillar of Islam that requires a single execution. Yet the journey to the House of Allah symbolizes man’s true end: a return to the Divine Creator. Dr. Ramon Harvey explores Imam Ghazali’s “The Secrets of the Hajj” explaining the pilgri...

  • Circling the House of God

    Dr Martin Lings, a writer and scholar revered all over the world, performed the Hajj, or pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in 1948. Using unique archive material, he recollects his experiences along with his insight into its historical background. The original beauty and simplicity of the Hajj...

  • A Road to Mecca

    In the early 1920s Leopold Weiss, a Viennese Jew, alienated by the materialism and spiritual emptiness of the West, travelled to the Middle East, visiting Jerusalem, Egypt, the Transjordan and Saudi Arabia. After studying the Koran, he left his Jewish roots behind, converted to Islam and changed ...

  • Journey to the Heart of Islam

    The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded a research project at the British Museum that underpinned their 2012 international exhibition Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam. Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam was the first major exhibition dedicated to the Hajj; the pilgrimage to Mec...

  • Exit To Al-Haram

    Masjid al Haram, or the Great Mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, is the holiest site in the Muslim world. “In Arabic, Harām means sinful or forbidden, but with a slight inflection in pronunciation it also means sanctuary and sacred,” says filmmaker and creative director Kazim Rashid. “It is this c...

  • The Pilgrimage To Mecca, 1970

    Swiss broadcaster, RTS - Radio Télévision Suisse, present rare archive footage from the Haram al Sharif during the Hajji pilgrimage in 1970. A fascinating view of the sacred precinct in comparison with the modernisation, development and transformation that as taken place over the decades.

  • The Days of Hajj

    The Pilgrimage, the Hajj, to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once in one’s life if one is able. This documentary is a comprehensive descriptive visual journey to the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina.

  • The Journey of Hajj

    There are many scholars who went on the pilgrimage, what they found on those routes and described what they encountered difficulties and perils and told stories recounted events worthy of generations, know them and remember the grace of Almighty Allah blessed us by facilitating the rituals and ac...