UIN Sunan Ampel recently held an interesting book review event focusing on the latest work of UINSA Rector, who is also one of the lecturers of the English Language Education Department, Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training, UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Prof. Akh. Muzakki, entitled “Sociology of Hajj: Learning from Real Stories in Saudi Arabia”. The event, which was held at the KH Saifuddin Zuhri Sports Center and Multipurpose Building and broadcast live on Youtube, on Tuesday, December 10, also featured speakers and book reviewers, Prof. Dr. Moh. Ali Aziz, M.Ag., Chairman of the Academic Senate and Prof. Dr. H. Imam Ghazali Said, MA, Professor of UINSA Surabaya.
The book written by Prof. Muzakki is a book written when he was a Hajj Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. The book offers a new perspective in understanding Hajj. Through a sociological approach, Prof. Muzakki invites readers to see Hajj not only as a series of rituals, but also as a complex social phenomenon. He explores various aspects of Hajj through stories encountered in Saudi Arabia. Prof. Akh. Muzakki, M.Ag., Grad.Dip.SEA., M.Phil., Ph.D. emphasized that the book ‘Sociology of Hajj’ does not talk about the fiqh rules of Hajj but looks at the events that happened in Saudi Arabia written with a sociological perspective which is his science field.
As a speaker and book reviewer, there are several points that become the outline of the operation that Prof. Ali Aziz highlights including the contents of the book related to honesty, the key to safety and blessings, light, cheerful and ethical Hajj with magic words, non-religious problems in the series of Hajj and Rihlah. At the end of his presentation, Prof. Ali, at the end, recommended this book to various groups including academics, government, Hajj travel organizers, prospective pilgrims and even the general public because the book presents something actual.
The second speaker, Prof. Imam Ghazali, also expressed his appreciation for the presence of quality books by UINSA lecturers. In addition to his analysis, he also compared the book with books related to Hajj that were previously written by several other personalities. He explained a lot about Hajj procedures to mention the differences between the pillars and obligations of Hajj. The knowledge related to Hajj is interesting not only for those who have performed Hajj but also for those who have not performed Hajj and even for those who are going to register as Hajj officers.
This book was also appreciated by different groups until the end of the event. Prof. Muzakki once went for Hajj and his result was a book. This is an extraordinary thing that is owned and will benefit UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya as well as the society.
