Non-Muslim Man Who Sneaked into Mecca Returns as a Convert
Visiting the holy land of Makkah is a dream for all Muslims. Every Hajj season, Makkah is visited by people of various ethnicities, races, and religions. However, a unique story was experienced by a non-Muslim man named Snouck Hurgronje, who became a convert after daringly entering Makkah.
The story began with the Saudi Arabian government implementing strict rules for everyone entering the city. These regulations stipulated that non-Muslims were prohibited from entering Makkah; anyone who persisted would be arrested.
Despite this, some non-Muslims still attempted to breach Makkah, as was the case with Snouck Hurgronje.
Snouck Hurgronje was born into a devout Christian family; his father was a minister in the Netherlands. However, from his teenage years, Snouck adopted a different outlook. He chose to become an atheist (or agnostic, according to other sources) and preferred studying Islam.
Almost every day, he spent time in libraries reading extensive literature regarding the Islamic world. He also studied Islamic languages and culture. Unsurprisingly, he became quite fluent and possessed a deeper understanding of Islam than other European youths of his time.
His interest in the Islamic world led him to write a research paper in 1880 at Leiden University, titled Het Mekkaansche Feest (The Meccan Festival). According to Hamid Algadri in Dutch Politics towards Islam and the Arab Descendants in Indonesia (1988), the research was conducted without him ever visiting Makkah, based solely on various readings.
The desire of this man, born on 2 February 1857, to visit Makkah was finally realised in December 1884. Armed with funds from the Dutch government, he eventually arrived in Saudi Arabia, where he stayed in Jeddah at a friend’s residence.
In his memoirs, Snouck realised it would be difficult to enter Makkah given his status as a non-Muslim, especially if he wished to conduct research on Islam. Consequently, he changed his identity, adopting the new name Abdul Ghaver from Snouck Hurgronje.
He also decided to convert to Islam. Around 1885, he recited the Shahada. However, the decision to convert sparked debate. Wim Van Den Doel in Snouck: Biography of Scientist Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (2023) notes that many did not believe Snouck’s conversion was sincere.
Some believed he only used Islam as an identity to facilitate his entry into Makkah. Furthermore, others suspected the conversion was a tactic to identify the weaknesses of Islam.
Regardless of the controversy, Snouck was eventually recorded administratively as a Muslim and performed the obligation of an adult Muslim male, which is circumcision. On 21 February 1885, Snouck underwent the procedure. This later facilitated his passage into Makkah.
Upon arriving in the Holy Land, Snouck was initially barred from entry by Arab police. The officers suspected he was non-Muslim due to his European physical appearance. It was difficult to prove his religious identity through documentation alone; the only way was to demonstrate that he had been circumcised.
As a result, Snouck lowered his trousers to show the officers the evidence of his circumcision. From this point, they believed Snouck was Muslim. Thus, he entered Makkah, becoming the first European scientist to arrive in the Holy City.
While in Makkah, Snouck successfully disguised himself as a Muslim scholar. He gathered significant research material regarding Islam, including performing Umrah. However, his presence in Makkah lasted only six months. He was expelled by the authorities after reports surfaced that he was operating under a disguise—essentially falsifying his Islamic status, despite showing evidence of circumcision.
Nevertheless, Snouck completed his research. He later became a special advisor to the Dutch government to study the lives of Muslims in Indonesia. In the 1890s, he lived in various Indonesian cities, from Aceh to Jakarta, to provide advice on how to ‘handle’ the Indonesian Muslim population.