Makkah
The four-faced Mecca Clock Tower is seen from the top of Mount Al-Noor, where Muslims believe Prophet Mohammad received the first words of the Koran through Gabriel in the Hera cave, during the annual Haj pilgrimage in Mecca September 30, 2014. REUTERS /Muhammad Hamed (SAUDI ARABIA – Tags: RELIGION CITYSCAPE)
Mecca witnessed the birth of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and in one of its mountains the revelation came to him (Reuters)
6/11/2014
Umm al-Qura, where the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, was born, and in one of its mountains the revelation came down to him, and in its heart is the Grand Mosque, the greatest mosque in Islam, with the Holy Kaaba in the middle, the qibla of Muslims .
Location:
Makkah Al-Mukarramah is located in the west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , about 400 kilometers from Medina in the southwestern direction, about 120 kilometers from the city of Taif in the eastern direction, and 72 kilometers from the economic capital, Jeddah.
It is in a barren mountainous area, with no trees or fruit, at the intersection of latitude 25/21 north and longitude 49/39 east, within the Tihama region, west of the Arabian Peninsula , 80 km from the Red Sea, within the Arabian Shield formations, whose mountains consist of metamorphic rocks. , subductive plutonic rocks, and granitic rocks.
Between its mountains are valleys covered by gravel and sand deposits, and most of these valleys that make up Mecca follow in their formation the movements of the faults and fractures that passed through the Arabian Shield during ancient geological times.
The area of the city of Mecca is about 850 square kilometers, of which 88 are inhabited . The area of the central area surrounding the Grand Mosque in the center of the city is about six kilometers, and its height above sea level is about 277 meters.
Population:
According to 2012 statistics, the population of Mecca was about two million people, all of them Muslims, but the Holy City witnesses influxes throughout the year to perform the Hajj and Umrah rituals, making its population double.
advertisement
Economy:
Mecca remained a stop for caravans between the north and the south in the days of pre-Islamic times, and it held the reins of trade between the edges of the Arabian Peninsula and between the two competing parties, the Persians and the Romans.
It also flourished due to commercial markets and seasonal literary forums, the most famous of which in pre-Islamic times were: Souq Ukaz, Souq Majnah, and Souq Dhu al-Majaz.
It enjoyed good economic conditions through internal and external trade, and its people were able to achieve great wealth from trade that compensated for the poverty of the environment that surrounded them, as the merchants of Mecca were able to establish trade relations with both the Abyssinians and the Egyptians, taking advantage of its proximity to the Red Sea, and they were used for this purpose. Self-employed merchant ships.
The modern economy of Mecca depends mainly on religious seasons and government spending , so the Hajj and Umrah season constitutes an essential source of income for the people of Mecca .
The annual budget allocated by the Saudi government to the secretariat of the Holy Capital is estimated at approximately $50 million, which is spent on basic services, including infrastructure, development and implementation of development plans, housing construction, and road construction, as well as care for the Grand Mosque and the holy sites and their expansions, renovations, and repairs.
advertisement
History
The founding of Mecca dates back to before the birth of the Prophet Ishmael and his raising the foundations of the Kaaba with his father, the Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon them. Mecca was initially a small town inhabited by the sons of the Prophet Adam until it was destroyed during the flood that struck the earth during the era of the Prophet Noah.
The area then became a barren valley surrounded by mountains on all sides. Then people began to flock to it and settle there when the Zamzam Well exploded at the feet of Ishmael, peace be upon him, after Abraham, peace be upon him, left his wife Hagar and her son Ismail in that barren valley.
In later stages, the authority of Mecca was transferred to the Quraysh, a branch of the Kinana tribe affiliated with al-Nadr ibn Kinana, under the command of Qusayy ibn Kilab, the fourth grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
02:28
In the year 571 AD, Abraha the Abyssinian went out with his army accompanied by elephants, wanting to destroy the Kaaba in Mecca and force the Arabs to make a pilgrimage to his church. When he approached the city, the elephants refused to advance towards the Kaaba, and God sent Ababil birds with stones of shale, which destroyed Abraha and his army, according to what was stated in the Holy Qur’an. This year was called the Year of the Elephant, and it is the year in which Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, was born.
At the beginning of the second decade of the seventh century AD, Islam appeared in Mecca. The people of Mecca strongly opposed it, weakened its followers, and forced them to migrate. The Prophet of Islam – may God bless him and grant him peace – migrated to Medina in the year 622 AD.
In the tenth year of the Hijra (630 AD), Muslims conquered the city of Mecca peacefully after its people surrendered. All the idols that were erected in the Kaaba were destroyed, and entry into the Holy City was forbidden to non-Muslims according to the texts of the Holy Qur’an.
Landmarks:
There are a group of the most important international religious and historical landmarks in general and Islamic landmarks in Mecca in particular. In its heart lies the Grand Mosque, the greatest mosque in Islam. In the middle of it is the Holy Kaaba, the qibla for Muslims in their prayers, and the first house established for people. It is the greatest and holiest spot on the face of the earth for Muslims.
advertisement
The Grand Mosque includes a group of sacred archaeological and religious monuments , the most important of which is the Kaaba. It is located almost in the middle of the Grand Mosque in the form of a large, high-built, square-shaped room covered with a black silk robe decorated with Qur’anic verses written in gold threads. Twenty meters from the Kaaba is the Zamzam Well.
In the eastern side of Mecca, 20 kilometers away, is Mount Arafat , where the most important Hajj rituals are held.
One of the landmarks of Mecca is the Cave of Hira, which is the cave in which the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to perform his ritual vows before the revelation of the Qur’an, and in which the revelation was revealed to him. It is in the east of Mecca, to the left of the one going to Arafat, at the top of “Jabal Al-Nour” at an altitude of 634 metres. It is approximately four kilometers from the Grand Mosque.
