Mecca
| Makkah al-Mukarramah مكة المكرمة | |
| Location in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | |
| Coordinates: 21°25′N 39°49′E | |
|---|---|
| Province | Makkah |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Usama Al-Barr |
| Area | |
| - Total | 26 km² (10 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 277 m (909 ft) |
| Population (2004) | |
| - Total | 1,294,168 |
Mecca (Makkah al-Mukarramah, Arabic: مكة المكرمة) is a holy Islamic city in Saudi Arabia's Makkah province, in the historic Hejaz region. It has a population of 1,294,167 (2004 census). The city is located 73 kilometers (45 miles) inland from Jeddah, in the narrow sandy Valley of Abraham, 277 metres (909 ft) above sea level. It is located 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Red Sea.
The city is revered by Muslims for containing the holiest site of Islam, the Masjid al-Haram. A pilgrimage that involves an extended visit to the city is required of all able-bodied Muslims who can afford to go at least once in an individual's lifetime. People of other faiths are forbidden from entering the holy city, under pain of death.
The English word mecca, meaning "a place to which many people are attracted" is derived from Makkah.
Religious importance
Historical background
The city of Mecca (also known as Mekka or Makkah) in the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia is the Islamic religion’s holiest city. Its position as center of the Islamic world is attributed to it being the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and to the religion he founded.
Ancient Mecca was an oasis on the caravan route linking the Mediterranean world with South Arabia, East Africa, and South Asia. It had become an important trade and religious center, known as Macoraba, by Roman and Byzantine time.
Mecca and Medina (the second holiest city after Mecca) are located in an area known as the Hijaz, in the western region of the Arabian peninsula. The Tropic of Cancer runs through the center of this region. Mecca is in the Sirat Mountains, about 50 miles from the port city of Jidda (Jeddah).
The holiness of Mecca was established before the days of Muhammad, traceable to Ka'bah and the Spring of Zamzam.
Objects and places of veneration
Ka'bah
The Ka'bah is a large cubical building located inside Islam's holiest mosque Masjid al-Haram. The Ka'bah is also called al-Baytu’l-Ḥarām (البيت الحرام "The Sacred House"). For the Muslim community, the Ka'bah holds a place analogous to that of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for Jews. According to the Qur'an, the Ka'bah was built by Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ismail (Ishmael), and has been a religious center ever since. The Ka'bah can be called the holiest place in Islam. Muslims throughout the world turn in the direction of the Ka'bah for their daily prayers, symbolizing unity in worshiping one God.
The Black Stone
The Black Stone is an object of reverence, said by some to date back to the time of Adam and Eve, concealed during the great flood and later restored to Abraham for inclusion in the original Ka'bah. The Stone is the eastern cornerstone of the Ka'bah. According to legend, the stone, originally white, was given to Adam on his fall from paradise. It has turned black through absorbing the sins of the thousands of pilgrims who have kissed and touched it.
Well of Zamzam
The Well of Zamzam (or Zamzam Well or Zamzam) is a well located within the Masjid al Haram near the Ka'abah.
Muslims believe that the Zamzam well was revealed to Hagar, wife of Abraham and mother of Ishmael. According to Islamic legend, Abraham had left Mecca on God’s command, leaving Hagar and Ishmael with only some water and dates. When the water ran out, Hagar ran between the hills of Safa and Marwa in search of more. She made the journey seven times, until the angel Jibril appeared and struck the ground with his wing. A spring appeared, which Hagar then confined with sand and stones.
The Zamzam Spring, from which the well draws, is considered by Muslims to be a tributary of the Waters of Paradise. The water continues to flow to this day. It is considered divinely blessed, able to satisfy both hunger and thirst, as well as cure illness. Pilgrims make every effort to drink of this water during their pilgrimage to Mecca.
Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām
"The Sacred Mosque", sometimes called "The Noble Sanctuary" is not only the largest mosque in Mecca, but in the world. It surrounds the Ka'bah, to which Muslims turn while offering daily prayer. It is considered to be the holiest place on Earth by devotee Muslims. The mosque is also commonly known as the Haram or Haram Sharif.
Enclosed within the vast structure are not only the Ka'bah but the Zamzam Well, the Hijr and the hills of Safa and Marwa. The Haram is ringed by seven towering minarets and sixty-four gates. The structure covers an area of 356,800 square meters including the outdoor and indoor praying spaces and can accommodate up to 820,000 worshippers during the Hajj period. The current structure is the result of a large extension project begun in 1982 under the sponsorship of the late King Fahd. The importance of the mosque is twofold. It not only serves as the common direction towards which Muslims pray, but is also the main location for pilgrimages.
According to Islamic theology, the mosque was first built by the angels before the creation of mankind, when God ordained a place of worship on Earth to reflect the house in heaven called al-Baytu l-Maˤmur (Arabic: البيت المعمور), which translates to 'The Worship Place of Angels'. The Ka'abah is believed to be directly below the heavenly Al-Baytu l-Maˤmur.
The first Ka'bah was built by angels, and Adam was the first human to re-build it. From time to time the mosque was destroyed then built anew. According to popular belief it was famously built by Ibrahim with the help of his son Ismael. They were ordered by Allah to build the mosque and the Ka'bah. The Black Stone is situated near the eastern corner of the Ka'abah, and is believed to have 'fallen from heaven' and turned black due to man's misdeeds.
| “ | And when Abraham and Ishmael raised the foundations of the House (Kaaba): Our Lord! accept from us; surely Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing. | „ |
After the Hijra, upon Muhammed's victorious return to Mecca, the people of Mecca themselves removed all the idols in and around the Ka'aba and cleansed it. This began the Islamic rule over the Ka'aba, and the construction of the mosque around it.
Pilgrimmage
The Haram is the focal point of the Hajj and umrah pilgrimages that occur in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah in the Islamic calendar and at any time of the year, respectively. The Hajj pilgrimage is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, required of all able-bodied Muslims who can afford the trip. In recent times, about 3 million Muslims perform the hajj every year.
Some of the rituals performed by pilgrims are symbolic of historical incidents. For example, the episode of Hagar's search for water is emulated by Muslims as they run between the two hills of Safa and Marwah whenever they visit Mecca.
an obligation to be performed at least once by all male and female adults whose health and finances permit it. The pilgrimage takes place each year between the 8th and 13th days of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Before setting out, a pilgrim should redress all wrongs, pay all debts, and plan to have enough money for their journey and the support of their family while away. It is interesting to note that prior to the age of the European world explorations, the pilgrimage to Mecca was the single largest expression of human mobility. As the religion of Islam rapidly spread across the world from Indonesia and China in the Far East to Spain, Morocco and West Africa in the west, ever increasing numbers of pilgrims made the long, and often dangerous, journey to Mecca. Some came by boat, braving the Red Sea, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Others spent months in camel caravans slowly crossing great tracts of land. The most important pilgrimage caravans were the Egyptian, the Syrian, the Maghribi (the trans-Saharan route), the Sudanese (the sub-Saharan, savanna route), and those from Iraq and Persia.
History
Academic historians, however, state with certainty only that Makkah was a shrine and trading center for a number of generations before Prophet Muhammad . The extent of Makkan trade has been hotly debated. Some historians believe that Makkah was a waypoint on a land route from southern Arabia north to the Roman and Byzantine empires, and that Arabian and Indian Ocean spices were funneled through Makkah. Patricia Crone, in her book Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam, argues that the Meccans were small merchants dealing in hides, camel butter, and the like.
According to the Qur'ān and Muslim traditions, the city was attacked by an Ethiopian Aksumite army led by Abraha in 570, the year of Muhammad's birth. The attack was said to have been repelled by stones dropped by thousands of birds, followed by a plague. [citation needed]
Before the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Makkah was under the control of the Banu Quraish.[1] Muhammad, a member of the Banu Quraish, exiled from the city for preaching against paganism, returned to the city in triumph in 630 and after removing the cult images from the Kaaba, dedicating it as the center of Muslim pilgrimage.[citation needed] (For further information, see the main article, Conquest of Mecca.)
After the rise of the Islamic empire, Makkah attracted pilgrims from all over the extensive empire, as well as a year-round population of scholars, pious Muslims who wished to live close to the Kaaba, and local inhabitants who served the pilgrims. Due to the difficulty and expense of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage was small compared to the millions that swell Makkah today. Pilgrims arrived by boat, at Jedda, and came overland, or joined the annual caravans from Syria or Iraq. The city was small. 18th and 19th century maps and pictures show a small walled city of mud-brick houses crowded around the mosque.[citation needed]
Makkah was never the capital of the Islamic empire; the first capital was Medina, some 250 miles (400 km) away. The capital of the caliphate was soon moved to Kufa by the fourth Caliph Ali and then to Damascus by the Ummayads and Baghdad by the Abbasids and then to Cairo after the Mongol invasion, and then at last to Constantinople by the Ottomans.
Makkah re-entered Islamic political history briefly when it was held by Abd-Allah ibn al-Zubayr, an early Muslim who opposed the Umayyad caliphs. The caliph Yazid I besieged Makkah in 683. Thereafter the city figured little in politics; it was a city of devotion and scholarship. For centuries it was governed by the Hashemite Sharifs of Mecca, descendants of Muhammad by his grandson Hassan ibn Ali. The Sharifs ruled on behalf of whatever caliph or Muslim ruler had declared himself the Guardian of the Two Shrines. Makkah was attacked and sacked by Ismaili Muslims in 930. In 1926, the Sharifs of Makkah were overthrown by the Saudis, and Makkah was incorporated into Saudi Arabia.
On November 20, 1979 two hundred armed Islamist dissidents seized the Grand Mosque. They claimed that the Saudi royal family no longer represented pure Islam and that the mosque, and the Kaaba, must be held by those of the true faith. The rebels seized hundreds of pilgrims as hostages and barricaded themselves in the mosque. The mosque was eventually retaken, after some bloodshed, and the rebels were executed. There is a great deal of uncertainty as to what forces were involved in retaking the mosque and how the assault was carried out. (See: the Grand Mosque Seizure for further discussion).
The City
Makkah is at an elevation of 277 m (910 ft.) above sea level. The city is situated between mountains, which has defined the contemporary expansion of the city. The city centers around the Masjid al-Haram (holy place of worship). The area around the mosque comprises the old city. The main avenues are Al-Mudda'ah and Sūq al-Layl to the north of the mosque, and As-Sūg as Saghīr to the south. Houses near the mosque have been razed and replaced with open spaces and wide streets. Residential complexes are more compacted in the old city than in residential areas. Traditional homes are built of local rock and are two to three stories. The city has a few slums, where poor pilgrims who were unable to finance a trip home after the hajj settled.[2]
Transportation
Transportation facilities related to the Hajj or Umrah (minor pilgrimage) are the main services available. Makkah has no airport, or rail service. Paved roads and modern expressways link Makkah with other cities in Saudi Arabia. The city has good roads. Most pilgrims access the city through the hajj terminal of King Abdul Aziz International Airport (JED) or the Jeddah Islamic Port both of which are in Jeddah.[2]
People
Population density in Makkah is very high. Most of the people who live in Makkah live in the old city. The city has an average of four million visitors as "pilgrims" and that is only in hajj time each year. Pilgrims also visit all year round for Umra. [2]
Government
The mayor of Makkah is appointed by the king of Saudi Arabia. The current mayor of the city is Usama Al-Barr. A municipal council of fourteen locally elected members is responsible for the functioning of the municipality.
Makkah is also the capital of Makkah province.[2], which also includes neighboring Jeddah. The governor was Prince Abdul-Majid bin Abdul-Aziz from 2000 until his death in 2007.[3] On May 16, 2007, Prince Khalid al-Faisal was appointed as the new governor.[4]
History
Current Status
The city has grown substantially in the last several decades, as the convenience and affordability of jet travel has increased the number of pilgrims participating in the Hajj. Thousands of Saudis are employed year-round to oversee the Hajj and staff the hotels and shops that cater to pilgrims; these workers in turn have increased the demand for housing and services. The city is now ringed by freeways, and contains shopping malls and skyscrapers.[5]
Non-Muslims and Makkah
Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Makkah. Road blocks are stationed along roads leading to the city, with officials conducting occasional random checks to confirm that intending visitors are legitimate pilgrims and in possession of the required documentation. The main airport has a similar security policy. While one of the purpose of these checks is to ensure that the visitor is, in fact, a Muslim, they also serve to prevent illegal immigrants including guest workers whose visas have expired or who have not attained the extra permit required to perform the pilgrimage.[citation needed] As one might expect, the existence of cities closed to non-Muslims and the mystery of the Hajj aroused intense curiosity in European travelers. A number of them disguised themselves as Muslims and entered the city of Makkah and then the Kaaba to experience the Hajj for themselves [citation needed]. The most famous account of a foreigner's journey to Makkah is A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca and al-Madina, written by Sir Richard Francis Burton. Burton traveled as a Qadiri Sufi from Afghanistan; his name, as he signed it in Arabic below his front piece portrait for "The Jew, The Gypsy and al-Islam," was al-Hajj 'Abdullah. [citation needed]
Spelling
Mecca is the original English transliteration of the Arabic name. In the 1980s, the Saudi Arabian government and others began promoting the transliteration Makkah (in full, Makkah al-Mukarramah), which more closely resembles the actual Arabic pronunciation.
The spelling Makkah or Meccah is not new and has always been a common alternative [6]. (In the works and letters of T E Lawrence, almost every conceivable variation of the spelling appears.)
Some Muslims find the spelling Mecca offensive since it is a trade name associated with gambling [2], which is strictly prohibited in Islam.
The spelling Makkah is starting to be taken up by many organizations, including the United Nations[7], U.S. Department of State[8] and the British Foreign Office [9], but the spelling Mecca remains in common use.
Economy
The Makkan economy is almost entirely dependent on money spent by people attending the hajj. The city takes in more than $100 million during the hajj. The Saudi government spends about $50 million on services for the hajj. There are some industries and factories in the city, but Makkah no longer plays a major role in Saudi Arabia's economy, which is mainly based on oil exports.[10] The few industries operating in Makkah include textiles, furniture, and utensils. The majority of the economy is service oriented. Water is scarce and food must be imported.[2]
See also
- Allah
- Allat
- Hajj
- Hejaz
- Islam
- Jeddah
- Manah
- Medina
- Saudi Arabia
- Sharif of Mecca
- Shia
- Uzza
Notes
- ↑ "Quraysh". Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise edition (online). (2007). Retrieved on 2007-2-19.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Mecca and Medina". Encyclopedia Britannica. Fifteenth edition 23: 698-699. (2007).
- ↑ Associated Press (May 7, 2007). Prince Abdul-Majid, Governor of Mecca, Dies at 65.
- ↑ Saudi Press Agency [1]
- ↑ "Shame of the House of Saud: Shadows over Mecca", The Independent (UK), 2006-04-19. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
- ↑ Six Months in Meccah, John Keane,Tinsley Brothers, 1881.
- ↑ United Nations. Typical document illustrating Makkah spelling.</
- ↑ U.S. Department of State Background Note: Saudi Arabia.
- ↑ British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Typical document illustrating Makkah spelling.
- ↑ Mecca. World Book Encyclopedia. 2003 edition. Volume M. P.353
Sources and Further reading
- Rosenberg, Matt. Mecca, About.com. Retrieved August 29, 2007.
- Encyclopedia of the Orient. Mecca, Retrieved August 29, 2007.
- Places of Peace and Power. Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Retrieved August 29, 2007.
- Ibn Khaldûn. 1980. The Muqaddimah: an introduction to history. Bollingen series, 43. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691097976 and ISBN 9780691097978
- Crone, Patricia. 1987. Meccan trade and the rise of Islam. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691054800 and ISBN 9780691054803
- Stewart, Desmond. 1980. Mecca. New York: Newsweek. ISBN 0882252879 and ISBN 9780882252872
- Ross, Mandy. 2003. Mecca. Holy places. Chicago, IL: Raintree. ISBN 0739860801 and ISBN 9780739860809
External links
- Travel guide to Mecca from Wikitravel
- Samex. The Holy City of Makkah. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
- Burton, Richard. Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Meccah. University of Adelaide Library. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
- Encyclopedia of the Orient. Mecca. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
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- Mapping from Multimap or GlobalGuide or Google Maps
- Satellite image from WikiMapia
- Mapping from OpenStreetMap
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