"How do we know Islamic art? What tells us that images and artifacts are products of the Muslim world, a culture that has historically extended from Spain to Southeast Asia and spanned a period from A.D. 622 to our day? This extensively illustrated book allows readers to identify those elements and themes that define art forms as Islamic, and to examine them in works of painting and metalwork, in calligraphy and manuscripts, ceramics, glass, wood,...

The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam is the largest pilgrimage in the world today and a scared duty for all Muslims. Each year millions of the faithful from around the world make the pilgrimage to Mecca, the birthplace of Islam where the Prophet Muhammad received his revelation. This book pulls together many strands of Hajj, its rituals, history, and modern manifestations. Travel was once a hazardous gamble, yet devoted Muslims undertook the...