Spiritual Tourism to Hajj: an Australian and Pakistani

Spiritual Journey to Hajj: Australian and Pakistani Experience and Expectations Farooq Haq and John Jackson Central Queensland University - Australia

Abstract This Paper explores and examines the interesting and important phenomenon of Hajj from a marketing strategy and ethnographic perspective. There has been little academic qualitative research from a marketing strategy perspective on Hajj (once a year Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca), to examine the perceptions of Muslims going on this significant spiritual journey. This paper also attempts to contribute to the theory on spiritual tourism and journeys and the marketing of spiritual tourism, by focussing on Hajj as both an outstanding spiritual journey and a product/service.

This paper is part of a wider research project conducted to study marketing strategies in spiritual tourism, and focuses on the outbound markets of Australia and Pakistan. This paper involves a qualitative study of the perceptions and attitudes of Muslims towards their journey of Hajj; the investigation is carried out from the perspective of two different and parallel cultures, i.e. Muslim Australians and Muslim Pakistanis. In order to gain further focus in the study and for a more interesting and useful comparison, this study concentrates on the attitudes of Pakistani Muslims residing in Pakistan and in Australia. The social surround of the two populations are further described within the factors of East/West, individualism/collectivism, and free criticism/authority acceptance. The findings of the research were further dissected and analysed to segment the customers of Hajj and to propose more effective marketing strategies for Hajj in Australia and Pakistan. It was found that the use of modern marketing concepts and tools was very helpful in giving a better perspective of the enormous business aspects of Hajj.

Keywords: Spirituality, tourism, Hajj, marketing, Islam and Pakistani Muslim.

Introduction The Hajj is a very interesting and significant phenomenon for both Muslims and non-Muslims, both experientially for the former group but also academically for ethnography and marketing

strategy scholars. A brief overview of the literature on the concept of spiritual tourism and journeys leads this study to a useful operational definition of spiritual tourism. The religious practice of Hajj is discussed from the literature (where available), and then Hajj is analyzed with reference to this given definition of spiritual tourism. The theoretical focus of this paper lies in the discussion of the philosophy of Hajj as a spiritual journey and the expectations and experiences described by two groups notably similar as well as different.

Significant literature is available on the non-business details of Hajj, its religious importance and the process and rituals involved. Some researchers have worked over the years, based on their personal understanding and experiences, and from a more sociological perspective, on the difference between the processes and logistics of Hajj. It is noteworthy, as discussed in the literature review that little research has been conducted to study the perceptions of the Hajjis (Muslims who perform Hajj) and their experience as ‘consumers’ compared to what they expected and what they witnessed during Hajj. Being exploratory research, qualitative methodology was used; in-depth interviews with some semi-structured questions were conducted with purposefully selected samples in Australia and Pakistan. The paper highlights some remarkable differences observed regarding the experience and expectations of the Pakistani Muslims travelling for Hajj who are residing in Pakistan and Australia. In this study the Pakistani Muslims residing in both countries are considered to be regular streamline Muslims regardless of their sects and Islamic faith dimensions such as Sunnis/Shiahs/Sufis etc.

Literature Review Definitions and understanding of Pilgrimage The increasing interest in spirituality has affected a number of industries around the world, including the tourism industry (Timothy and Iverson, 2006; Gladstone, 2005; Mitroff & Denton, 1999; Cohen, 1996). Throughout recorded history, and even within ancient oral and archaeological records, people have been involved, not only in spiritual experiences, but also travelled to engage in such activities (Straitwell, 2006; Sharpley & Sundaram, 2005; Brown, 1998; Burton, 1855). While Pilgrimage and spiritual tourism are old phenomena, their academic study from a tourism and marketing perspective is relatively remarkably recent. There are probably few, if any, other major tourism sectors where the participants do not usually consider

themselves to be involved in ‘tourism’, and thus readily available statistics and other data are not available. Such participants rather see themselves as 'travellers', 'seekers', ‘Hajjis’, 'pilgrims', devotees', 'conference/festival attendants' and 'holiday makers'.

Interestingly, many spiritual tourists have been classified by academic researchers as pilgrimage, religious, special interest, cultural or experiential tourists. Cohen (1992) described two polar types of pilgrimage centres: the formal and the popular. He defines a formal centre as one in which “the serious and sublime religious activities are primarily emphasised” and “the pilgrim’s principle motive for the journey to such centres is to perform a fundamental religious obligation” (Cohen, 1992: 36). On the other hand, within a popular pilgrimage centre, “the ludic and folksy activities are of greater importance and may even take precedence over the more serious and sublime activities” Cohen (1992: 36). He also discusses and analyses the tourist as a modern pilgrim and concludes that “traditionally pilgrimage is essentially a movement from the profane periphery towards the sacred centre of the religious ‘cosmos’” (p.182). Hajj is clearly, according to Cohen, formal, sacred pilgrimage.

Collins-Kreiner et al (2006: 2) claim that “pilgrimage is an interdisciplinary field, studies in recent years by diverse researchers”. So pilgrimage has also been analyzed from a different perspective by famous anthropologists such as Simon Coleman and Tanya Luhrmann. Coleman (2002) argues about the authenticity of physical pilgrimage and discusses the critical issues of the contrast between the theory of communitas (Turner 1973) and contestation paradigms. Coleman and Eade (2004) further argued that sacred travel was just one of the new century's many forms of cultural mobility. Similarly, Luhrmann (2004) explains the methods used for language and bodily experiences in particular ways called as “metakinesis”. Her methods are generally used by evangelists to build remarkable relationships with God. These discussions of modern anthropologists resonate with the work of the eleventh century Sufi Al-Hujveri, discussed later by Nicholson (1996). In this research the responses observed from the two groups of Hajjis are quite contrary to the suggestions discussed above since most respondents have expressed their Hajj as a physical trip that had remarkable spiritual impact.

A more pragmatic approach to study pilgrimage was adopted by Robert Wuthnow. In his qualitative research, Wuthnow (1998) had in-depth interviews regarding the spiritual journeys of people belonging to ten religious groups in America. His study highlighted the American religious diversity and he explained the changes in personal spirituality that has come to shape religious life in America. Wuthnow (1998) explained the changes that were experienced after the pilgrimage of various Americans, while this study is focused at the experiences of two types of Hajjis during their spiritual journeys. This research is supported by the findings that modern research stresses upon what pilgrims say about their own pilgrimage since they are the main elements in the pilgrimage (Collins-Krenier et al. 2006). The research of Markowitz and Stefansson (2004) indicates some spiritual journeys relating the homecomings of people belonging to various cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Based on the larger PhD research on marketing strategies of spiritual tourism, this study defines a spiritual tourist as “someone who visits a specific place out of his/her usual environment, with the intention of spiritual meaning and/or growth, without overt religious compulsion, which could be religious, non-religious, sacred or experiential in nature, but within the Divine context, regardless of the main reason for travelling” (Haq and Bretherton 2005; Haq and Jackson 2006 a, b & c, 2007, 2008). Hajj as a spiritual tourism product/service or a spiritual journey seems to be parallel to this definition due to its religious compulsion. However, based on the interviews with the stakeholders in both countries, this study suggests that if Hajj is performed more than once as required, and moreover if the Hajji travels to Medina and other areas not necessarily required, then Hajj could be described as a spiritual journey rather than a religious pilgrimage.

Definitions and understanding of Hajj Hajj has been defined by various sources that are quite similar. This study presents a standard definition from Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia: “In Islam, the pilgrimage to Mecca required of all Muslims at least once in their lifetime, provided they are physically and financially able. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. By tradition the pilgrimage is undertaken between the 7th and 12th days of the last month of the Islamic year. At Mecca, the pilgrims are obliged to perform several rituals, including walking seven times around the Ka'bah shrine (the big black cube). They must also visit holy places outside Mecca and sacrifice an animal in honour of Abraham's

near-sacrifice of his own son [Isaac]. In conclusion, they return to Mecca and perform a farewell circling of the shrine” (http://www.britannica.com). In the Holy Quran, there is a chapter named Hajj (chapter 22) and at various other places the importance and the responsibilities related to hajj are described. The Quran best describes Hajj in chapter 2, verse 197, “For Hajj are the months well known. If any one undertakes that duty therein, let there be no obscenity, nor wickedness, nor wrangling in the Hajj. And whatever good you do, (be sure) Allah knows it. And take a provision (with you) for the journey, but the best of provisions is right conduct. So fear Me, O you that are wise” (Ali 2005).

Wolfe (1998: 10) explained Hajj as: “The Arabic term for this fifth rite is Hadj (sic). Scholars relate the word to the concept of kasd, ‘aspiration’, and to the notion of men and women as travellers on earth”. Timothy and Iverson (2006: 188) suggested that “The Hajj is a major effort that requires preparation, study and devotion”. In Western religions pilgrimage is a vestigial tradition, a quaint, folkloric concept commonly reduced to metaphor. Among Muslims, on the other hand, the Hajj embodies a vital experience for millions of new pilgrims every year. In spite of the modern content of their lives, it remains an act of obedience, a profession of belief, and the visible expression of a spiritual community. For a majority of Muslims the Hajj is an ultimate goal, the journey of a lifetime.

The visit to the Holy city of Medina, 210 Km North of Mecca, is not required before or after the completion of the Hajj rites. However, if a Hajji has the resources and time, visiting Medina is highly recommended and most Hajj travel packages include a visit to Medina. Medina is the second Holiest city of Islam and like Mecca it is also located in the region of ‘Hejaz’ in Western Saudi Arabia. Muslims visit Medina to see the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad and his tomb enclosed by the mosque. It occupies an important place in Islamic history since it was the first capital of the Islamic empire that was established by the Prophet himself. Many respondents in this study stated that their visit to Medina was the purely spiritual aspect of their journey where no religious or social obligation was involved.

Another interesting issue related to Hajj is the restriction on non-Muslims to not enter Mecca and Medina. It seems to be a controversial aspect of Hajj which could disqualify it as a spiritual

destination. The various sources have indicated different reasons over the last fourteen hundred years. The sacredness and sanctity of the cities generally makes both the cities as exclusive for the Muslims, though there is no evidence in the Holy Quran and no examples have been found during the life of the Prophet Muhammad that forbids the entry of non-Muslims into the Holy cities. Most Muslim historians believe that non-Muslims were restricted access to Hejaz during the second Crusades when in 1177 Sultan Nooruddin Zangi of Mosul (in today’s Iraq) foiled a plot of the Crusaders to dig out the body of the Prophet Muhammad from his tomb in Medina (Asif 2005).

It is not the purpose of this paper to study the reasons for restricting non-Muslims from Hejaz. Yet, to understand the exclusivity and spirituality of Hajj, it is interesting to note the two major standpoints on this issue. The moderate Muslims today suggest that the mere population control, crowd management and public risk issues force the authorities to restrict not only non-Muslims but in fact many Muslims (by introducing harsh visa quota requirements) into the Holy cities. Importantly for the present study, Muslims living in Pakistan are subject to a quota system, with many left on a waiting list, whereas Muslims living in Australia not only do not find themselves on any waiting list, but are in fact encouraged with subsidies. On the other hand, hardline Muslim clerics argue that the non-Muslims are not allowed to enter Hejaz, since they could not perceive the Holiness and inviolability of both cities.

Many researchers have extensively worked on studying Hajj and have presented papers on the significance of Hajj, the rituals and processes involved (Long, 1979; Neil, 1999; Noakes, 1996; Peters, 1994; Wolfe, 1997). Young (1993) studied the behaviour of genders during Hajj and discussed the different treatment of Muslim women at Hajj based on their cultural back grounds. Raj and Morpeth (2007) studied the management of Hajj and checked the behaviour of Hajjis in a generalised manner. Another interesting dimension of the literature on Hajj is the details of the personal journeys of individuals who went for Hajj and then wrote about their trips. Scholars from Pakistan, such as Ashfaq Ahmed, Mumtaz Mufti, and Q. Shahab, are among the most notable ones. In their writings they have described their journeys with the excitements and the disappointments on the rough behaviour of the Hajjis which they found contrary to Islamic brotherhood and the original spirit of Hajj. These writers have appreciated the hospitality of the

6 local Saudis and the marvellous infrastructure development to facilitate the Hajj. But they also observed some unfriendly behaviour of local authorities and serious language problems not rightly considered by Hajj administrators (Ahmed, 2004; Mufti, 2002; Shahab, 1999). Interestingly and importantly, similar disappointments are expressed by Christian and other spiritual tourists (Collins-Kreiner & Kliot, 2000), as well as the Hajjis from Australia interviewed here, in their experiences to other destinations.

Hajj has also been described as a global trade practice and explained by Noakes (1996: 58) as: “The Hajj is also a conduit for exchange, whether of goods or of ideas. Many Hajjis bring material goods from their home countries to sell during the pilgrimage. In the past this often was done to secure the funds needed to return home. As a result, handicraft techniques and aesthetic designs were interchanged. A Tajik from Central Asia, for instance, might bring a rug to sell in Mecca. The rug could be bought by a North African hajji and transported back to Morocco. There, weavers could inspect--and at times copy--the workmanship and design of fellow craftspeople thousands of miles away. Styles and techniques in art forms as diverse as leatherworking, calligraphy and ceramics were similarly disseminated”.

Then there are accounts of American Muslim converts such as Michael Wolfe and Jane Straitwell who explained their experiences with Hajj and the Islamic faith. Writers in this category write in a sense of exploring Islam and they look at Hajj as a door to getting in touch with the real message of Islam and the true practice of the Muslim community. Wolfe (1997) in his introduction wrote, “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”. Straitwell (2006) also discussed with some humour the unity of Muslims expressed in Hajj and she calls it ‘a contact sport’. Another popular, sometimes controversial, American convert to Islam, Malcolm X also expressed his change of heart and personal transformation during his Hajj (X and Haley, 1989). Malcolm X explains how during his Hajj in 1964 he renounced his black supremacy belief and realised that all people, regardless of their race and colour, were the creation of one God and should be treated as one.

The literature review on Hajj could not be completed without studying the views of certain Muslim Sufis and mystics. Most of them strongly expressed Hajj as a spiritual journey rather than a physical adventure. The most commonly quoted among them is Ali Bin-Usman al- Hujveri, a renowned Sufi scholar and teacher of many Sufis of the eleventh century. Nicholson (1996: 326) translated his explanation of the Hajj as containing two stations. “The first station is that of the body, namely Mecca, and the second is the station of the soul, namely, friendship (with God)… Whoever seeks his bodily station must renounce lusts and pleasures and put on the pilgrim’s garb, and follow all the rituals. But whoever seeks his spiritual station must renounce familiar associations and bid farewell to pleasures and take no thought of other than God. Accordingly, what is truly valuable is not the Ka’ba, but contemplation and annihilation in the abode of friendship, of which many things the sight of Ka’ba is indirectly a cause” (Nicholson 1996: 326-327).

The literature also indicates some very interesting travel accounts of Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) who disguised himself as a Muslim ‘pathan’ (Afghani origin) and pretended to be a Muslim and went for Hajj in 1851. Historically Ludovico di Varthema (1470–1517), an Italian, was the first European to disguise himself as a Muslim named Yunas (Christian name Jonah) in the Mamluk Garrison, and he entered the Holy cities in 1503. His written details about the Holy cities and the major Hajj sites and ceremonies present remarkable accuracy (Itinerario de Ludovico de Varthema Bolognese, first published in Italian at Rome in 1510). Wolfe (1997) discussed their adventures in his introduction as “Beginning with the European Renaissance, it has also been the subject for a handful of adventurous writers from the Christian West who, through conversion or connivance, managed to slip inside the walls of a city forbidden to non- Muslims”. As mentioned earlier, most of the travel accounts have been presented from a single person’s experience, and express their perceptions of the concepts and practices of Hajj. It is also interesting to note that over the years, most of the writers on Hajj have expressed their experience and knowledge on the philosophy of Hajj, its connection to the original message of the Islamic faith, the political and social dimensions of Hajj and their personal expectations and outcomes from Hajj.

Methodology

As has been mentioned, while spiritual tourism and journeys have taken place since antiquity, it has not been to any great extent examined, dissected, explored and discussed. From the literature review on Hajj, it can be seen that the approach that is required is thus exploratory and explanatory rather than confirmatory, and thus a qualitative methodology was required.

All the stakeholders were selected by drawing a purposive sample, building in variety and acknowledging opportunities for intensive study as described by Stake (2005). The purposive sampling helped this study to conduct in-depth interviews with the people who were well informed and had direct experience with spiritual journeys to Hajj. The methodology adopted by Delaney (1990), in which she studied the comparison between pilgrimage of two Turkish groups was helpful to refine the methodology of this research. In her study she observed the behaviour of Turkish immigrants in Europe who annually visited their homes in Turkey and the Turkish villagers who travelled to Mecca for Hajj. The qualitative interviews conducted by Wuthnow (1998) were closely studied to design the semi-structured questions for the in-depth interviews in this study.

The specific findings of this paper are based on a study conducted by face-to-face interviews with Muslim respondents in Australia and Pakistan who at least once had been to Hajj. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and attitudes of Pakistani Muslims living in Pakistan and Australia towards the concept and practice of Hajj, further illustrated by their experience and expectations. These two countries were selected due to the unique nature of the study and facilitated access available to the first author and in order to present a more culturally diversified and a practically comprehensive account of this study. Werbner (2002) had well explained the nature and behaviour of the British Pakistanis, but no such research has been conducted on Australian Pakistanis. This study showed interesting results as the impact of the culture and the national life-style on the perceptions of Pakistani Muslims about Hajj was found to be profound.

The respondents included Pakistani self-described Muslim spiritual tourists who had been to Hajj from Pakistan or Australia. Some travel agents offering Hajj packages in both countries; and some Pakistani Government Officials working for the Ministries of Tourism and Religious Affairs and had been to Hajj, were also interviewed. The sample size for this study is 45. As stated earlier, the respondents were considered to be regular Muslims and all respondents proudly called themselves as Muslims only and no difference between sects and faith dimensions was specified for this study.

The semi-structured interview questions were based on the literature review discussed earlier. The Pakistani Hajjis residing in both countries were asked about their understanding of the philosophy of Hajj, did they think that going for Hajj was similar to revisiting Islam’s original message of faith and peace, and what were their ‘consumer expectations’ before and after the trip (the disappointments and the pleasant surprises).

The respondents in Pakistan were interviewed in November-December 2006. Since the respondents in earlier interviews were hesitant to allow a tape-recorder, hence all interviews were conducted by writing the detailed notes. Soon after the interview the notes were finalised into transcripts and double checked with the respondents. In certain cases, the respondents were later contacted by e-mail or telephone to check or confirm certain details of their interviews. Some snowballing was used to contact some respondents while some of the Hajjis, aware of the research, directly contacted the researcher and expressed their interest in participation. Early appointments were organised with the Government Officials and the Hajj operators. Each of the interviews with the Hajjis lasted about 50-70 minutes, while the interviews with Government Officials and the Hajj operators lasted about 20-35 minutes. The preferred language was English but the respondents were allowed to speak in Urdu. The specific quotes were double checked in English to be sure what the respondent exactly meant.

Since the first author of this paper resides in Australia, the Pakistani Muslims residing in Australia were interviewed during a longer span of time ranging from September 2006 to April 2007. Snowballing was again used to identify the Hajjis and the Hajj operators, while some operators were identified from a Google search. The findings of these interviews were analysed

in this paper and further dissected to segment the Hajjis in order to suggest more effective marketing strategies for the Hajj operators. English was the basic language used; some Urdu was also spoken especially when the respondents had an emotional response, though all the quotes were double checked in English.

Analysis and Discussion The most significant finding of this study was that their particular religio-national culture and their local life-style had a profound influence on the responses from Pakistani Hajjis residing in Pakistan and Australia. It was observed that the respondents in Pakistan had a much more formal and conspicuously ‘devoted’ and uncritical view of Hajj and almost all of them said they were very happy indeed with their Hajj experiences. They seldom tried to criticise the Hajj administration in Saudi Arabia, nor the role of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Pakistan. On the other hand, the responses of the Pakistani Hajjis residing in Australia presented an interesting contrast to their Hajji ‘brothers and sisters’ living in Pakistan. Probably the more free culture of Australia, ‘a fair go for all’ system, the more independent and individualistic life-style and the greater multi-cultural social equality encouraged them to criticise the Hajj administration and management of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj. They acknowledged the recent development in infrastructure and the support of the local Saudis but as 'customers' they expressed more expectations than the experience. They were also very clear to point out the differences between the original spirit of Hajj and what they saw as today’s practice of Hajj being a more money- making exercise for the Saudi Government and various international business operators involved, such as the Airlines, Hotels and Fast food chains. This resulted in the Australian-based Pakistani Hajjis being much more cynical, sceptical and cautious about their ‘purchases’ as spiritual tourists as well as much more readily aware of the range of marketing strategies and tactics being used. Selected findings collected from some of the most interesting of the respondents for this research paper are stated and discussed below:

Philosophy of Hajj Pakistan-based Pakistani Hajjis

It has been generally observed that the philosophy of Hajj among the Pakistani Hajjis residing in Pakistan is understood in a more formal and dogma-oriented religious manner. A senior official of the Ministry of Religious Affairs was a primary respondent and an expert interviewee for this research, when requested that he discuss his understanding of the philosophy of Hajj, he started in a very autocratic manner, “why are you asking me, are you not a Muslim (the first author), are you not aware that Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam; and Islam is a religion of practice not of philosophy”. Then he was asked from a different angle what did he understand about Hajj and how would he describe his perception of Hajj as an administrator and repeat Hajj traveller. This time he seemed more relaxed, “Hajj is an ultimate sacrifice a Muslim gives for Allah and it integrates all other forms of worship, such as submission to one God, Salat (five time prayers), some abstinence and charity”. Many other respondents who were of the upper age bracket (50 years and older) also had similar feelings about Hajj as being the final sacrifice for one’s love of God. Some of the retired Government officers said that they had to fill in their attendance at Mecca as their last spiritual obligation.

Then the official reiterated and emphasised on the generalised concept of Hajj as “a promise of the soul to visit the house of Allah at least once in the life-time”. He suggested that it was a common observation that most Pakistanis go for Hajj in their fifties or sixties (after retirement) when they realised that all their worldly commitments had been fulfilled. He also informed the first author that recently the Saudi Government was not issuing Hajj visas to Pakistanis under forty who planned to go alone. He further added that there would be no Muslim Pakistani who would not plan or dream about going to Hajj; that is why “Pakistanis are one of the highest ratio of Hajjis every year”. He then gave some statistical evidence from his memory, “this year (2006) 150,000 to 160,000 Pakistanis applied for Hajj and after detailed assessment, we (Ministry of Religious Affairs), had to reject about 85,000 of them. Even though it costs about US$2,000 per person, still this year we had to request the Saudi Government to increase our quota for Hajjis”. Then he elaborated on the Hajj process and his official responsibility, “this year we had 2,600 applications for the Hajj license from various private travel agencies and we granted the licenses to only 89 of them”. It is worth noting that this information indicates that the demand for Hajj is higher than the supply, but it does not imply that marketing of Hajj is superfluous. In fact

marketing in this case is more about demand management and about ongoing customer relationships.

A young and married ‘Open Source Specialist’ responded to the philosophy of Hajj, “Hajj is like an annual gathering of the largest family on earth”. He claimed that during his Hajj in 2005, among the three million people he felt that he knew every one there, “each person in Mecca, coming from different background; seemed like my own brother or sister”. It is interesting to note that where most elder Pakistanis expressed Hajj as a ‘final sacrifice’ and last religious duty, most of the younger Pakistanis expressed Hajj as a ‘global Muslim unity experience’. It has also been discussed in early literature that this type of bonding experience gives both a social element to a spiritual experience and a spiritual element to a social experience and thus creates ‘the communitas’ (Turner, 1973). Another young and married finance manager said: “I used to get frustrated to see Muslims having so many conflicts among themselves, but at Hajj I realised how wrong I was when I saw so many Muslims praying and living together like a ‘giant human family’.” Similarly, another young Hajji, an Associate Professor who had completed his PhD from Japan, said: “I felt that I saw a giant Army of peace, the military like discipline presented some strong spiritual relationship among the three million Muslims”. Interestingly, despite this intense social-spiritual group experience, Turner and Turner (1978) comment that such a Hajj group may not be referred as a ‘communitas’ of kindred spirituals once they were back in ‘normal society’. It was expressed by some Australian respondents that the spirit of brotherhood was gone once the Hajjis were back home.

It was also observed that the financial status or level of wealth did not show much influence on the responses given, as suggested by Legoherel (1998). Moreover, all income-level respondent groups agreed on the high spiritual respect they had for both the Hajj cities. One retired technician who had worked much of his life in Dubai gave a unique insight into his experience of spiritual devotion and respect at Hajj: “whenever I went to Medina, like many others, I would walk bare foot on the warm streets of the city, with respect to the Prophet Muhammad since once he would have walked likewise on the same streets.”

Another common experience among the group of young to middle-aged Pakistani-based Hajjis was the learning and education involved in Hajj. It seems to be fairly common goal for younger pilgrims and spiritual tourists, “the desire to travel in order to satisfy the need to know both mundane reality and celestial mystery is an impulse that has constantly driven humankind” (Tomasi, 2002: 1). In fact, travel, religion and education were closely connected in the early days of Islam (Ali, 2005: 96) and the Prophet Muhammad also instructed “seek knowledge even unto China”. Hence, accordingly, their education level and interest did directly influence the perceptions and objectives of most Pakistan-based Muslims. Therefore this study suggests that the more highly educated Pakistanis perceive Mecca as, in the words of two respondents, “the university of spirituality” and Hajj as “the highest degree in spiritual and Islamic education”. A middle-aged Eye Specialist said: “I learnt so much about Islam and its true spirituality during Hajj that was many times more than what I had learnt over my forty three years of life”. One middle-aged lady Doctor said: “I learnt the scientific dimension of Islam at Hajj by seeing the profound spirituality of so many Hajjis still very enlightened even after more than fourteen hundred years of standard practice”.

The female Pakistan-based Hajjis were found to be quite similar to their male counterparts and similarly their responses varied more with their ages. This observation seems contrary to the findings of Young (1993) that women at Hajj were marginalised and were treated differently. An outstanding difference was observed that many ladies expressed their philosophy of Hajj as the best opportunity for them to pray to Almighty God for the good health and well being of their families. One young computer professional and mother said: “I went for Hajj after my marriage when I was still five months pregnant; I just wanted to thank God for giving me a good husband and to pray for our family’s health and prosperity”. Another lady, a gynaecologist, said along similar lines: “during my Hajj I kept thinking about my family and kept praying for their happiness and success”.

Australia-based Pakistani Hajjis The primary understanding of Hajj was quite similar among the Pakistani Hajjis residing in Australia, though many more expressed Hajj as a spiritual adventure and achievement rather than a religious duty per se. One Pakistani Engineer working in Perth expressed a view that has been

highly supported by most respondents in Australia: “The philosophy of Hajj is the oneness, equality and brotherhood of Muslim Ummah (community). Oneness in a sense that all Hajjis wear two unstitched white pieces of cloth, equality in a sense that no body is superior to any body, and brotherhood in a way that all are bonded in a sense of respect for each other”. A young father who works as a security officer explained the baseline of Hajj in a well integrated insight that has also been cherished by many other respondents, irrespective of their domecility and is worth quoting verbatim, “Hajj is a ritual on the outward and mimicking of some acts, which are labelled as ‘holy’ from the pages of a family’s struggle in a new land. This is the most simplistic version of this compendium of actions. Now pour into this, reverence, holiness, mystic jargon, and finally ‘man pleasing God’ and you get a complete set of acts unifying a great degree of dynamic and different psychological, anthropological, socio-political human beings. Now the reason why it is important is solely connected in the thinking of the person who trusts these stories of a family from Babel-on and also ‘believes’ in the layers upon layers of ‘spiritual’ values attached to these acts. Its importance is sometimes subjective; the believer places a certain amount of importance to this because he sees this as an accomplishment and something to be proud of once taken into account. Keep in mind that these definitions are secular in origin and not painted with a ‘holy’ brush yet, because I want to build on a secular skeleton and keep things in a sequence so I can express what ‘I’ felt. So, Hajj is an amalgam of rituals based on a Babylonian family’s life in a desert society which later on was kept intact by Islamic faith and has great spiritual value associated to it and ordained in the Final Testament of the Holy Quran”.

There is no specific office in Australia that deals with the Hajj issues. All the Hajjis have to get in touch with private travel agents or enquire from the Saudi Embassy. According to the Saudi Press Agency release, the Saudi Ambassador to Australia, Mr. Talaat Nadher said that about 3,000 Australians performed Hajj in 2006. The average costs in Australia for Hajj are about US$6,000 and anyone who has the financial resources and good health can easily get the official approval for Hajj (Saudi Press Agency, 2006).

As mentioned earlier, many Australian respondents expressed their disappointment with certain aspects of the management of their Hajj travels including their treatment by the local Saudi Arabian authorities. It is very apparent that most of these Hajjis compared the Hajj services with

the higher daily customer services available in Australia, and importantly were readily willing to point out their dissatisfaction. One middle aged Hajji even said: “I would never go to Saudi Arabia if the house of Allah and shrine of the Prophet were not there”. Likewise a General medical practitioner said: “the real challenge of Hajj is how we can tolerate the rude behaviour of the local Saudis”. The same doctor said that Hajj is a spiritual obligation for Muslims irrespective of the fact that it is held in Saudi Arabia, “my philosophy is analysed for actions related to choice and for me Hajj is like confirming my ‘attendance’ at the house of my Lord”.

A young computer professional said: “for me Hajj was like exploring myself. I had a strange aspiration to set my foot on those lands from where a message was originated which eventually became a code of life for me and many others. I always wanted to see the place with my own eyes towards which I bow five times daily. I had the thirst to smell the air in which the beloved Prophet walked and feel the heat that he felt”. This concept of having a deeper insight of Islam by Hajj has been generally observed among the young and middle aged Hajjis from Australia. This might partly be because these people live in a predominantly developed Western society, and with a physical environment very unlike the Middle East, and thus, the wish to experience an environment more like that experienced by the Prophet Mohammad himself was particularly strong.

Since most Pakistanis in Australia are educated and professional, most of the Hajjis seek mainly Islamic spiritual and historical knowledge at Hajj. That also seems to be a reason for the fact that most respondents had similar experiences and expressions about Hajj. A major difference observed between the two groups analysed in this study was that for most of the Australian- Pakistani respondents, the ‘financial factor’ was comparatively very relevant. It was interesting to observe that the Australian respondents were far more affluent and economically successful, yet they were much more worried about their financial budgeting for Hajj. One reason could be the difference of about US$3,000 per head for the Hajj cost. In addition, most respondents indicated that living costs were much higher in Australia since they had to pay incomes taxes, house mortgages, car loans and regular homeland trips etc. Another explanation extracted from the interviews is that the Australia-based Pakistani Hajjis were more ‘consumer-savvy’ and had much higher expectations as spiritual tourists, and thus were just as concerned about ‘value for

16 money’ as the total dollar cost. The emphasis on 'experience, achievement and critique' of the Australian respondents could well be a result of adaptation of various Australian/Western norms and influences, perhaps as a result of educational and mixed social group conformity in their new country.

The other critical difference was that most respondents in Australia expressed a deep sense of belonging to the Holy cities and connected it to an identity crisis in Australia. This aspect of pilgrimage and spiritual tourism had been identified by Cohen in his research: “in general, however, travellers, spiritual seekers and students all hope to gain deeper and new understandings of the world and oneself” (Cohen, 2006: 80). Probably, since the Pakistanis living in Australia feel like neither ‘real Pakistanis’ nor ‘pure Australians’, therefore during Hajj they realise that they belong more to Mecca and Medina rather than to Pakistan and Australia. Another respondent, a young MBA student at the University of Queensland said “being an Australian, it was more important for my identity to go and get tuned with my origins, because the biggest crisis I faced was identity. Many Muslims living outside their societies feel left alone or in isolation and I am sure this spiritual tour of Hajj can give them a lot of comfort in their identity crises”. Likewise a medical specialist, an anaesthetic, claimed to find his identity during Hajj: “I belong to the Muslim nation; physically I live in Australia but spiritually I live in Mecca”. The former executive member of the Islamic Council of Queensland said: “I was born in Peshawar and spent most of my life in Australia. I used to call Brisbane my second home, but as soon as I entered the Holy Ka’ba, I realised that I was in my real home”. One lady Doctor said: “I used to feel homeless after residing in so many countries; only after Hajj did I realise that Hejaz was my spiritual home and that was enough shelter for me”.

Clearly, this profound, intensely-held ‘identity’ need, along with their ‘Western ways’ of being astute critical consumers, should have a significant impact on the marketing mix strategies used by spiritual tourism providers.

Hajj links to the original message of Islam Pakistan-based Pakistani Hajjis

The general response in the fieldwork in Pakistan was again a very formal and tactful one, with a lot of respect and religious devotion expressed. Not even a single respondent expressed any disappointment and seemed to be ‘overwhelmed’ by the tranquillity of their Hajj experience. Even the sometimes rude behaviour of the local Saudis was mostly ignored and forgiven while appreciating their painstaking responsibilities of putting on such an enormous effort. Moreover, all the physical and mental hardships that they faced during Hajj were perceived as part of the Hajj sacrifice. Even the young lady who went on Hajj during her pregnancy said: “when we heard that many people had died in a stampede on the other side, I saw and heard many expressions of ‘why was not I among the martyrs of Hajj?’” Only the young Associate Professor and the Eye Specialist mentioned that if the Hajjis practiced the original process adopted by the Prophet, then the accidents and mishaps during Hajj would be minimal. One wonders whether these two respondents had learnt this consumer criticality whilst studying abroad.

Australia-based Pakistani Hajjis The response of Pakistan-Australians gives a very different picture. Probably this group being more educated and used to the well organised social and public systems in Australia were more critical of the management of the Hajj by the Saudi authorities. A Doctor mentioned earlier said: “the behaviour of the local authorities is un-Islamic (impolite) and the local treat the Hajjis as money bags”. This expression is very similar to how Topik (1999: 2) described the Hajjis by locals: “pilgrims are described by locals as ‘their crops’.” The Australian Doctor also said that the climax was when he lost his wallet during his Tawa’f of the Ka’ba. When he found a policeman to complain, “I was shocked that he could not understand English or Urdu (Pakistani language), how on earth could I explain to him that I had lost my wallet with tickets and passport in the biggest human crowd on earth”.

Many respondents also expressed their disappointment that Hajj is supposed to be a gathering of peace but many people loose their temper and behave irrationally and are impatient to wait in the queues. One University Lecturer said: “some teams make their own human-trains as if they are in a Brazilian type carnival or an open disco, then they keep holding hands and pushing and do not care about the safety of many others around them”. The anaesthetist mentioned earlier complained about the Hajj packaging, and segmenting of Hajjis, as a primary contradiction with

Islam: “Islamic equality is ignored when people can buy various packages that entitle them to stay in either five star Hotels or to sleeping on the ground. I could not believe that the Hilton Hotel had its accommodation included in the vicinity of the Ka’ba, and people could join the prayers from the luxury of their five star rooms”. Another lady who is a house manager said that she was upset with the unhygienic situation of the place, because hygiene is declared by the Prophet Muhammad to be half of the Islamic faith. Yet she was devastated to see how equality and brotherhood were being compromised, “we were staying in a Hotel in Mecca that was owned by the Sultan Hassan Bolkhiya of Brunei and his daughter was also staying there. Whenever she had to go out; all the lifts of the hotel were emptied and many guests were left stranded in the lobbies”.

The young IT professional expressed his idea about linking Hajj to the original message of Islam in a distinct way, “I wish to see Hajj as an annual summit of nations where you solve your contentions and reveal harmony and peace. It can be an annual conference of scholars from all disciplines, a trade show, a common market where many entrepreneurs may get the break they have been praying for”. This idea resonates with the original concept of Hajj where International trade was given priority, as described by Noakes in the literature review earlier.

Conclusion It is apparent from this study that Hajj, despite its purely spiritual aspects, can be studied and researched like any other tourism phenomenon or destination. Moreover, the Hajj packages can be described as a set of products and services, and the Hajjis or spiritual tourists could be seen as customers and consumers. This paper suggests that though Hajj is considered as a compulsion and its global demand exceeds the supply, yet conventional concepts and theories of marketing management, consumer behaviour and tourism can be applicable to the phenomena of Hajj. The application of modern consumer behaviour theory would further help analyse the needs, wants and demands of prospective Muslim Hajjis from various cultures and countries, and hence increase the frequency of travels and encourage early age spiritual urge for Hajj. The social surround of the two populations studied in this paper were described within the factors of East/West, individualism/collectivism, and free criticism/authority acceptance. The study of the philosophy of Hajj and the actual experience of spiritual tourists whilst there, has classified

further the needs, wants and demands of Pakistani Muslims in Pakistan and Australia. Moreover, product and service designing and packaging could be modified and fine-tuned with the philosophy and experiences of Hajj as understood by the respondents of this study.

Regarding tourism marketing theory, the literature on tourism and consumer behaviour of travellers naturally links to Hajj as a tourism destination. The behaviour of the Pakistani Hajjis indicates Hajj as an uncritical, accepting high-involvement product/service or tourism destination and undifferentiated marketing strategies seem to be naturally applicable. That is why most large accredited/licensed travel agents offering hajj packages seem to be competing for cost leadership to attract maximum customers.

On the contrary, the customers in Australia seem to be equally high-involvement consumers but selective, cautious and critical with regards to their purchasing decisions for Hajj. Again cost leadership strategy is important because of the higher dollar costs involved, but it needs to be combined with the differentiation strategies because of their higher and more critical demands. The differentiation could be achieved by offering more value-added services that could include translation services, food services, user-friendly guide books and electronic communication support. More comprehensive packages could be offered to include tours of other spiritual tourism destinations within Saudi Arabia, with some stopovers in other spiritual places in the Middle East such as Israel, Turkey and Syria. Or, some stopovers such as Dubai, Singapore and Kuwait for shopping or relaxation for the Hajjis to alleviate ‘Hajj fatigue’.

The Saudi authorities seem to have recognised the modern tourism marketing concepts and have tried to apply them for Hajj management. This paper suggests that probably more effective segmentation based on age, education and financial status of the Hajjis from different countries or regions is required to apply the differentiated or undifferentiated marketing strategies more effectively.

Suggestions for Future Research This paper indicates some opportunities available for future research on Hajj as a destination for spiritual tourism and journeys. The methodology and research questions of this study could be

modified and used to investigate the perception of Hajjis from various countries. Further more, quantitative studies could be conducted to analyse the perceptions and attitudes of Hajjis towards various critical issues discussed in this paper. Survey questionnaires could be distributed to the Hajjis prior to departure and after arrival home from Hajj, to observe their changing responses to the experience and expectations related to Hajj.

Another interesting study might involve in-depth interviewing of the family members of the Pakistan-based to establish whether the ‘true’ feelings of the Hajjis about Hajj experiences were similar to or significantly different from their stated polite and uncritical feedback. Yet another worthwhile study would be to compare the ‘un-Islamic’ (contrary to message of patience, peace and equality) behaviour of certain Hajjis with the ‘un-Christian’ or ‘un-Jewish’ behaviour of members of other faiths when they are spiritual tourists and visit their respective spiritual destinations.

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