Lecture by Dr. Henri Chambert-Loir will be held on Saturday, January 11th, 2020.

2019.12.17

The first Malay account of the pilgrimage to Mecca as performed by a Malay Muslim is dated 886 AH, i.e. 1482 EC. It is found in the Malay epic Hikayat Hang Tuah (The Story of Hang Tuah). This text is the story, written at the end of the 17th century of a historical figure who lived in Malacca in the 15th century. It is made of facts and legends attributed to that hero, who has become a popular figure to this day in Malaysia. Hang Tuah was a high officer at the court of Malacca, a favourite of the Sultan, who sent him to various diplomatic missions in Asia and in Turkey.
When he was sent to Istanbul in order to buy cannons for the defense of Malacca against the Portuguese, he took the opportunity to perform the hajj. That experience is related in realistic terms. Hang Tuah meets with the Syarifs of Mecca and Madinah, he performs the rites one by one and then spends twelve days in Madinah in prayers before the tomb of the Prophet. There is little doubt that this is an authentic account of the hajj, even though the names of the local authorities quoted are difficult to identify.
However, various clues indicate that this episode is of foreign origin, most probably translated from an Arabic original, and has been grafted on the text of the hikayat in order to give it a Muslim tinge. This has implications on the character of the Hikayat Hang Tuah - a supposedly Muslim epic needing to be Islamised - and about the way the hikayat was built - in two steps and by addition from written sources.
Still, we do have an account of the hajj from the end of the 15th century, which might very well exist in Malay only.