A comprehensive overview of Hajj, one of the central pillars of Islam. Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage consists of twenty-seven essays addressing objects in the remarkable collection of Nasser David Khalili. The collection features more than five thousand objects relating to the arts of pilgrimage, from the eighth century to today, and includes Qur'ans, illustrated manuscripts, rare books, scientific instruments, textiles, coins, paintings, prints, and photo-postcards, as well as archival material, unique historical documents, and examples of the work of some of the earliest Muslim photographers of Hajj. Together the essays collected in Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage provide a comprehensive overview of Hajj, illustrating the religious, spiritual, cultural, and artistic aspects of pilgrimage to the Holy Sanctuaries of Islam and the cosmopolitan nature of Hajj itself. Each essay is written by a prominent specialist in the field and beautifully illustrated with full-color images of objects from the collection, some of which have never been seen in print before. Taking readers from the early history of Islam to the fascinating story of the Western view of Muslim pilgrimage, these essays will transform our perception of Hajj.

In 874 CE, the eleventh Imam died, and the Imami community splintered. The institutions of the Imamate were maintained by the dead Imam's agents, who asserted they were in contact with a hidden twelfth Imam. This was the beginning of 'Twelver' Shi'ism. Edmund Hayes provides an innovative approach to exploring early Shi'ism, moving beyond doctrinal history to provide an analysis of the socio-political processes leading to the canonisation of the Occultation of the twelfth Imam. Hayes shows how these agents cemented their authority by reproducing the physical signs of the Imamate, including protocols of succession, letters and the alm taxes. Four of these agents were ultimately canonised as "envoys" but traces of earlier conceptions of authority remain embedded in the earliest reports. Hayes dissects the complex and contradictory Occultation narratives to show how, amidst the claims of numerous actors, the institutional positioning of the envoys allowed them to assert a quasi-Imamic authority in the absence of an Imam.

This volume advances the critical study of exegetical, doctrinal, and political authority in Shi'i Islam. Naive dichotomies of "reason" and "esotericism" in Islamic Studies have often marginalized Shi'i thought or impeded its understanding. The studies presented here aim to foster more exacting frameworks for interpreting the diverse modes of rationality and esotericism in Twelver and Ismaili Shi'ism and the socio-epistemic values they represent within Muslim discourse. The volume's contributions highlight the cross-sectarian genealogy of early Shi'i esotericism; the rationale behind Fatimid Ismaili Quranic ta'wil hermeneutics; the socio-political context of religious authority in nascent Twelver Shi'ism; authorial agency wielded by Imami hadith compilers; the position of esoteric Shi'i traditions in Timurid-era Hilla; and Shi'i-Sufi relations with Usuli jurists in modern Iran. Contributors: Rodrigo Adem, Alessandro Cancian, Edmund Hayes, Sajjad Rizvi, Tahera Qutbuddin, Paul Walker, George Warner