Description
The *Meccan Journey* (*Al-Rihla al-Makkiyya*) by the eminent scholar and jurist Ahmed bin Al-Ayashi Skirej is distinguished by its literary richness and geographical diversity. In it, Ibn Al-Ayashi traversed the lands between the East and Europe—specifically France, the Hejaz, and Algeria—recording his observations and perspectives in a dignified style that blends spiritual sensibility with political awareness. This travelogue has undergone a distinguished scholarly editing process by Dr. Mohamed Al-Andalusi (Morocco) and was published by the Arab Institute for Research and Publishing (2025). The editor was awarded the Ibn Battuta Prize for Travel Literature (2024–2025), an annual honor presented by the Arab Centre for Geographical Literature—”Irtiyad al-Afaq”—based in Abu Dhabi and London.
The editor posits that travelogues—as records of journeys—fall into five primary categories: Hajj-related, touristic, exploratory, diplomatic (embassy-related), scholarly, and visitation-focused (pilgrimage to shrines). These objectives may overlap within a single journey, a type known as a “comprehensive journey” (*al-rihla al-amma*). The Hajj journey—or *al-hijjiya*—stands out as one of the most prominent of these types, as the performance of the Hajj pilgrimage and the visitation of the Prophet’s Mosque (peace be upon him) constitute its ultimate goal. However, this does not preclude the presence of other motives—whether political or diplomatic—as is the case with the *Meccan Journey*, which combined religious and political missions, some overt and others covert. In some instances, a traveler might be an envoy or a member of a political mission charged with an official task, using the Hajj as a cover to mask the mission’s true objectives. This was the case with the author of *Al-Rihla al-Makkiyya* (The Meccan Journey), Ahmed bin al-Hajj al-Ayyashi Skirej, who served on the official political-religious mission dispatched by France to the Hejaz during the Hajj season of 1334 AH (1916 CE) to congratulate the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, on his independence from the Ottoman Empire.
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