Pilgrimage to Hajj: An Information Journey

Completing a pilgrimage has often been touted as a transformational experience. Yet, pilgrimage as an information context is sorely lacking in our field, despite the valuable insights it could provide into the complex information environments and evolving states of those who undertake pilgrimage. In this article, I examine a specific pilgrimage: the Hajj in Mecca (Saudi Arabia). Preparing for Hajj involves a series of stages encompassing material, spiritual, and informational dimensions. Using a qualitative and exploratory approach, this study applies the lens ofpilgrimage as ‘lived religion’ and makes explicit the detailed activities and outcomes of pilgriminformation practices, and the ways in which information in its multiple forms (textual, spiritual,corporeal, etc.) has mediated and shaped the pilgrims’ journey. I build on established theoriesin information behavior and meaning-making in the context of everyday life, as well as theliterature on pilgrimage and pilgrimage as ‘lived religion’ to relate the participants’ encounterwith Hajj and their experiences toward becoming a Hajji/-a (someone who has completed theHajj). Findings based on interviews with twelve (12) global Hajj goers suggest that pilgrims’information practices are varied, and transcend both individual (cognitive, affective) as well as social processes (through shared imaginaries and a translocal network of people and resources). The study illustrates the importance of examining diverse transformational experiences in LIS, and the rich contributions that our field can make to these research contexts.