( Makkah Al-Mukarramah )

The city is revered as the holiest site of Islam, and a pilgrimage to it is required of all able-bodied Muslims who can afford to go, at least once in their lifetime. Muslims regard the al-Masjid al-Haram (The Sacred Mosque) as the holiest place on Earth.

The term ‘Mecca’ has come into common usage metaphorically to mean any all-important site for any particular group of people. In the 1980s the government of Saudi Arabia changed the official English transliteration of the city’s name from ‘Mecca’, as it had been commonly spelled by westerners, to ‘Makkah’.

Mecca is the most holy city in Islam. The city is revered from being the first place created on earth, as well as the place where Ibrahim together with his son Isma’il, built the Ka’ba. The Ka’ba, the centre of Islam, is a rectangular building made of bricks. Around the Ka’ba is the great mosque, al-Haram, and around the mosque, in between the mountains, are the houses that make up Mecca.

Importance of Mecca

For Muslims, a pilgrimage to Mecca called the Hajj is required as one of the Five Pillars of the faith. In recent years, about two to three million have gathered for the major pilgrimage, during the Muslim month of Dhu al-Hijjah, and many more perform the minor pilgrimage or Umrah, which may be performed at any time of year.

The focal point of Mecca is the Ka’bah, the “House of God” believed by Muslims to have been rebuilt by Abraham and his son Ishmael; it is covered in a gold-embroidered black fabric (kiswah). The pilgrims circle the Ka’bah seven times and may also try to touch or kiss its cornerstone, the Black Stone. Pilgrims then drink from the well of Zamzam. The water of Zamzam is believed to have special properties and health benefits. Few pilgrims return from the Hajj without a large plastic bottle of the Zamzam water.

During the Hajj the pilgrims travel to Mina, a small village, where Iblis (the Devil), symbolised by stone columns, is ritually stoned. They then proceed to the Hill of Arafat, a site for prayers, where the prophet Muhammad is believed to have delivered The Farewell Sermon.

The importance of Mecca for Muslims is inestimable. All Muslims, wherever they are on the earth, are required to pray five times a day in the direction of the Ka’bah in Mecca (located at 21°25’24?N, 39°49’24?E). This direction of prayer is known as the qiblah. Muslims regard al-Masjid al-Haram (or ‘The Sacred Mosque’) as the holiest place on Earth.

History

Known around 0 CE as Macoraba, and was an important trade and religious centre.

630 Comes under control of Muhammad, and purged it of all traces of non-Muslim religion.

1269 Comes under control of the Egyptian Mamluks.

1517 Passes to the Ottoman Empire.

1925 Comes under control of King Ibn Sa’ud.

1979 November 21 On the first day of the 15th Islamic century, a group of 300 students from the Theological University of Medina take control over the Holy Mosque of Mecca. They keep control for two weeks, when 63 are captured alive and the mosque is recovered. All occupants are executed.

1987 July 31 Riot by Iranian pilgrims. More than 400 people die.

1989 July 9 Two bombs kill 1 person. Shi’is of Kuwait are accused, and 16 are executed.

1990 July 2: Stampede lead to 1402 people dead.

1994 A stampede kills 400 people.

1997 April 15 Fire kills 340 people.

2004 February 1 Stampede kills 244 people.

2006 January 13 More than 345 pilgrims dies in a stampede near the Jamrat Complex in Mina