Al Hijrah Walkway

This guide to the Al Hijrah Walkway in Medina starts from a mismatch: the true Hijrah, the Prophet Muhammad's flight from Mecca that gives the Islamic calendar its year one, covered several hundred kilometers of open desert and weeks of hiding from armed pursuers. This paved path near Quba Mosque borrows that name and its palm-lined atmosphere for something much smaller, a modern neighborhood walkway with exercise stations and shaded benches. It traces how Saudi Arabia has been rebuilding the real desert route elsewhere, and asks what is gained, or lost, when a pilgrimage becomes an evening stroll.