Beginning the surat al-Hajj (Chapter of Pilgrimage)

Only after these images of Hajj does the Qur’anic chapter detailing hajj and its rites begin. Imagery is central to this scroll and tells us the importance of visualising the subject in storytelling, allowing the imagination of the viewer to participate in hajj at home. The imaginative act of traveling across Asia through this scroll projects the experience of Qing Muslims across Asia without actually leaving China. Images are central to the power of this scroll, this text would have likely been read aloud in conjunction with the illustration.

Lifted directly from the Qur’an, this chapter itemises the journey, how grueling the experience is, and emphasises the importance of pilgrimage as a pillar of devotion. Colour is important in this with the borders and text using strong black inks and finer golds as well as scale of text to distinguish between titles and body.

Reading this section of the scroll would have been as much an audible experience as a visual and written one. The rhythm of the text and the importance of the act it describes works together to transport you through a hajj of the mind’s eye. It is this use of imagination that becomes most important in exploring this scroll’s illustrations of the journey itself…