Social media representations of the pilgrimage to Mecca

Kholoud Al-Ajarma, Marjo Buitelaar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In this article, we compare representations of the pilgrimage to Mecca posted on Facebook and Youtube by 'ordinary' pilgrims from Morocco and (semi)professional bloggers of Moroccan parentage in the Netherlands. We discuss how such posts challenge representations that circulate in the mainstream media in both countries about Islam in general and the hajj in particular. For Morocco we demonstrate that this kind of digital mediation of pilgrimage contests the ways in which the state-organized hajj is framed in Morocco's national media. For the Netherlands, we argue that bloggers deconstruct dominant images of the Muslim 'other' in their self-presentations as specifically Dutch Muslim pilgrims by connecting the meanings they attribute to the pilgrimage to Mecca to universal issues.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-22
Number of pages22
JournalJournal of Muslims in Europe
Volume10
Early online date29 Mar 2021
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 29 Mar 2021

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • belonging
  • citizenship
  • digitised self-presentations
  • pilgrimage to Mecca
  • storytelling

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