Triumphant Pilgrimage (1937)

The book describes a British official’s conversion to Islam after living in Sarawak, and his subsequent voyage to Mecca for the Haj, with his Malay wife, Munirah. Tracing his decision to convert, his troubles getting a Visa during a time when Europeans intending to go on the Haj were viewed with suspicion, and his experiences in Saudi Arabia, the account is an interesting portrayal of Sarawak, England, and the Middle East in the 1920s.

Known by the pseudonym David Chale in the book, the protagonist’s real name was, according to researchers, Gerard MacBryan, a man who later attempted to set up an Islamic Caliphate in Southeast Asia.