PhD Kholoud Al-Ajarma: Mecca in Morocco

Kholoud Al-Ajarma (University of Groningen) did research on the ways in which the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj, is embedded in Moroccan society. In her dissertation, which she defended on September 10, she discusses how memories of the Hajj experience and the visits to Mecca and Medina permeate everyday life for returning pilgrims, influencing their actions, values and attitudes, as well as their sense of Moroccan identity, serving as a major reference point for their personal and social identifications.

NIMAR would like to congratulate Dr. Al-Ajarma and her promotor Dr. Marjo Buitelaar and hopes to invite them soon for a lecture.

You can read the complete thesis here.