From the recipient of a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow
Based on the New York Times' Critic Pick documentary
 
"The first book about the Hajj from a gay perspective, written by a man with a deep knowledge of Islamic history. This pilgrimage is the centerpiece of his book, and he recounts it with courage and fierce emotion."
—The Guardian 
This is the Islam you've never been allowed to...

Michael Wolfe, an American Muslim, describes the experience of his hajj, or piligrimage to Mecca.

Posing as a wandering dervish, Burton gained admittance to the holy Kaabah and to the tomb of the prophet at Medina and participated in all the rituals of the Hadj (pilgrimage). A treasury of material on Arab life, beliefs, manners and morals, and much more. Volume One starts with the Preface to the Memorial Edition by his wife, Isabel Burton.

"The pilgrimage to Mecca, or the Hajj, is a journey all Muslims are enjoined to make once in their lifetimes. Its purpose is to detach human beings from their homes and, by bringing them to Islam's birthplace, to emphasize the equality of all people before God. Since its inception in the seventh century, the Hajj has been the central theme in a large body of Islamic travel literature. Beginning with the European Renaissance, it has also been the subject...