The Continuity of Madurese Hajj Experience: Extending William R. Roff’s Pilgrimage Framework from Walimatus Safar to Post Pilgrimage Transformation

Studies of the Hajj have predominantly examined pilgrims’ experiences in the Holy Land, overlooking the continuity of religious life before departure and after return. This study explores Madurese Hajj experiences from walimatus safar to post-pilgrimage transformation through William R. Roff’s pilgrimage framework. Adopting a qualitative case study design, data were gathered through in-depth interviews with pilgrims, kyai, family members, and Hajj guidance officers (KBIHU), supplemented by follow-up interviews. Thematic analysis identified three interconnected phases. First, walimatus safar serves as a leavetaking ritual that prepares pilgrims spiritually, psychologically, and socially. Second, encounters with the global Muslim community during pilgrimage prompt negotiation between Madurese devotional traditions and universal Islamic practices, fostering tasamuh (religious tolerance). Third, returning pilgrims undergo moral and spiritual transformation, gain social recognition, and reinforce local religious traditions. The study argues that the Hajj constitutes a cyclical socio-religious process rather than an isolated ritual in the Holy Land. Its principal novelty lies in examining the post-pilgrimage phase as the generative center of this cycle. Returning pilgrims reconstruct religious identities, acquire socio-religious authority, and institutionalize practices such as walimatus syukri, tahlilan haji, and ziarah. These activities sustain collective memories of pilgrimage and inspire subsequent generations to undertake the Hajj, initiating new walimatus safar rituals. This perspective highlights how individual spiritual change becomes embedded in communal expectations, ritual transmission, and enduring forms of religious leadership. By demonstrating how post-pilgrimage transformations regenerate pre-departure practices, this study extends Roff’s framework and contributes an integrated, cyclical perspective to scholarship on Hajj and Southeast Asian Islam.