Queering pilgrimage in Germany: Spiritual mobility as alternative routes to Mecca
Thimm V (2025)
Publication Type: Authored book
Publication year: 2025
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
ISBN: 9781040411698
Abstract
Broadly understood as either impossible to be queer and Muslim, queer Muslim pilgrimage is an invisible phenomenon and therefore far removed from our consciousness. However, it truly exists. Taking Germany as an example for the broader Western context, this chapter argues that a certain mode of queer Muslim pilgrimage occurs: The spiritual journey to a place that is explicitly not the holy pilgrimage site of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. This is mainly undertaken by openly living, self-confident queers who fear for their safety in the repressive Saudi Arabian state due to their gender and sexual identity. They imagine or perform queer Muslim pilgrimage through spiritual journeys to alternative Muslim places and thereby intend to dive into the Islamic world of enchantment. In this case, queer Muslim pilgrimage is characterized precisely by “non-pilgrimage.” By drawing on theoretical frameworks of space and place and im/mobilities, this chapter theorizes what queer pilgrimage can mean for LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, inter, a-gender and beyond) people in Western contexts and thereby contributes to wider debates on power and non-normative identities in a globalized mobile world.
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Thimm, V. (2025). Queering pilgrimage in Germany: Spiritual mobility as alternative routes to Mecca. Taylor and Francis.
MLA:
Thimm, Viola. Queering pilgrimage in Germany: Spiritual mobility as alternative routes to Mecca. Taylor and Francis, 2025.
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