Conclusion: Russian Hajj in the Twenty-First Century

In the twenty-first century, the hajj has once again become a European and a Russian phenomenon, as a result of global events and processes. Since the 1980s, large-scale Muslim immigration to western Europe and the collapse of communism in eastern Europe have made Islam the fastest-growing religion on the Continent, and brought a revival of the old colonial powers’ involvement in the Muslim pilgrimage. Nearly 100,000 European and Russian citizens make the pilgrimage to Mecca annually, and their numbers rise every year, apace with the steady growth of Muslim communities in Europe, most recently fueled by refugees fleeing war in