Global pilgrimage rituals expose colonial-era power imbalances in Hajj media narratives amid spiritual unity
Original framing: “At the Kaaba during Hajj, a photographer captures sese of unity and devotion - AP News” — AP News (via Google News)
Colonial powers like Britain and France imposed Hajj restrictions to control Muslim mobility, including the 1858 Ottoman-British quarantine system that killed thousands. The 1924 Saudi conquest of Mecca erased the Hashemite custodianship, replacing it with a state-controlled narrative of 'pure' Islam. Post-colonial Hajj has been weaponized by Saudi Arabia to counter Nasserist pan-Arabism and Iranian revolutionary influence.
The AP’s headline exemplifies how Western media and Saudi state narratives collude to frame Hajj as a timeless spectacle of unity, erasing centuries of colonial violence, labor exploitation, and cultural diversity.
Colonial powers like Britain and France once controlled Muslim mobility through Hajj restrictions, while today’s Saudi regime repurposes the ritual to legitimize its petro-Islam and suppress dissent. Marginalized voices—from Black African pilgrims to South Asian migrant workers—are systematically excluded, despite their central role in the pilgrimage economy. A systemic solution requires decolonizing media representation, reforming infrastructure to prioritize equity over spectacle, and centering indigenous and feminist perspectives in future pilgrimage models. The trickster’s insight reveals that the 'unity' of Hajj is a carefully constructed illusion, masking the power struggles that define its modern form.