Voyage to heart of Islam opens at British Museum

AFP Relax News – Fri, Jan 27, 2012

It is a rite that all followers of Islam are supposed to perform at least once in a lifetime, yet for the rest of the globe the hajj is veiled in mystery.

Now the British Museum in London has opened the first ever major exhibition on the pilgrimage, to give non-Muslims a glimpse of the heart of this world religion.

"This exhibition is for everybody, Muslims and non-Muslims, everyone who wants to know more about this extraordinary phenomenon, which is one of the great religious manifestation of the world," said Neil MacGregor, the director of the museum.

"Hajj is the only part of the practice of islam that non-Muslims can't see. It seems very important to try to explore that experience and to understand what it means to Muslims now, what it has meant through the centuries and to understand how that habit of pilgrimage has changed the world."

http://news.yahoo.com/voyage-heart-islam-opens-british-museum-154540862.html