al hajj - a means to an end?

[Wakas]

peace all,

I read The religious dialectics of the Hadjdj, by Hava Lazarus-Yafeh

In this book
http//www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&isbn=9780860787129&lang=en

Basically, he points out that Traditions seem to imply al hajj was a means to an end, i.e. not something holy/special or obligatory or a critical component of Islam, just an event that helped actualise the goals of unification, brotherhood, spread of the message, ascension to power/influence/authority in the region etc and afterwards there was very little insistence put on performing it.

This is interesting because it has been discussed on this forum whether Quran also implies this.

Just a thought.