JEDDAH, 6 February 2003 — Haj & Umrah magazine, published by the Ministry of Haj and distributed in over 90 countries in English and Arabic, has been appearing for over 70 years.
Its goal is to bring together the Islamic communities spread out across the world.
“It works especially well as a forum for people to exchange Haj experiences,” managing editor Abdullah Ali Attayari said yesterday.
Recent articles include an exclusive interview with the first Muslim member of the House of Lords, Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham; the 1941 floods in Makkah; and Malcolm X’s first Haj experience.
In the early years, some of the Middle East’s best-known writers contributed to the magazine, providing a window on the Islamic world for readers elsewhere. That tradition continued until the mid-seventies, when an Islamic solidarity program was launched and the magazine began to address wider Islamic issues. It maintained that style for another 20 years.
“After that, the magazine returned to its roots by focusing on the Haj and the intellectual culture it represents,” said Attayari.
The magazine, which was essentially the product of a government department, was a compilation of individual efforts and had no cohesive journalistic structure.
However, after Haj Minister Iyad Madani brought his considerable media experience to the magazine, the decision was made to find a new approach and restructure it in a modern journalistic format.
This took a year to plan, and the end result is an international magazine which, although still specialist in content, competes in the general magazine market.
“We don’t give the reader only a traditional angle, but also an intellectual and — more importantly — a human side to everything to do with the Haj and Umrah,” said Attayari.
“The pilgrims from all over the world, from different cultures and backgrounds, who meet and connect have one of the most profound experiences of their lives, and we document that.”
Haj & Umrah magazine now showcases the work of international writers from as far as Japan, Africa and Russia. It has also carried features from Patrick Seale, a leading British writer on the Middle East.
“What these writers have in common is their interest and enthusiasm for the Haj. This is a progressive magazine and we feature progressive writers,” Attayari says. “We hope to start a French and Urdu section, and soon we’ll be on the web.”
