Mecca or Makkah (in full:(مكة المكرمة Makkah al-Mukarramah), located in western Saudi Arabia, is the holiest city in Islam.
Understand
A pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the Hajj, is one of the Five Pillars of Sunni Islam and one of the ten Branches of Religion in Shi'a Islam, and thus obligatory for all Muslims with the physical and financial ability to make it. Over three million Muslims visit the city during the month of Dhu'l-Hijjah yearly. Visits outside this month are known as minor pilgrimages or Umrah.
Get in
The government of Saudi Arabia issues special visas for those making the pilgrimage. Most pilgrims opt to use a specialist travel agency, which will handle the considerable paperwork for them, but detailed information on the strict requirements is available at the Ministry of Hajj . As usual in Saudi Arabia, women must travel together with a male guardian (Mahram), unless they are over 45, travelling with a group and have their guardian's signed consent.
Visas are assigned to countries on a quota basis according to the number of Muslims they have. Recently, those who have previously been to Mecca have had additional restrictions placed on their entry, in an effort to discourage overcrowding while still accommodating those who have not yet made the pilgrimage. If the applicant was not born a Muslim, they must present a certificate testifying so, which has been notarized by an Islamic center. Usually your mosque will be able to arrange this or at least point the way.
By plane
Most pilgrims use direct charter flights to Jeddah.
By car
There is an excellent modern multi-lane highway from Jeddah. During the Hajj pilgrimage season it is jammed with American-style yellow school buses full of pilgrims. At any other time, trafiic is extremely light for the size of the road.
A few miles outside Mecca, there is a cutoff referred to as the "Christian bypass". Turn along this highway to drive another 50 miles out of the way to reach the lovely mountain town of Taif. Taif, at 5000 feet elevation, was the former summer palace of the Saudi Kings. If you remain on the main highway, there is a police checkpoint just after the exit, where non-Muslims are kept out of the holy city.
By bus
See
Most visitors to Mecca follow the set itinerary of the Hajj. Major sites include:
Buy
Gold souqs/other shopping is available throughout Mecca for the millions of religious tourists that come to Mecca every year.
Tamar (dates), praying mats, Makkah souvenir etc.
Eat
There are many types of food from all over the world available in Mecca, from the Middle Eastern Arab food to Southeast Asian food. There are also American fast food chains such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and Dunkin Donuts. No type of pork, ham, etc. is served in Saudi Arabia.
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
Drink
Alcohol is illegal in Saudi Arabia, and not tolerated in Mecca.
There are many tea shops that serve tea and snacks. Also many juice vendors right outside the Mosque.
Sleep
Mecca is full of hotels, from the Hilton to unknown hotels with practically no facilities. The price varies according to the hotel's distance from the Holy Mosque. Some of the worlds greatest hotels are situated in Mecca, and full year-round. Make sure to book early.
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
The Inter-Continental: Expect to spend about 200 Riyals per person.
Stay safe
Also, during the Hajj crowds pickpockets are not uncommon. Avoid having any valuables on your person when traversing through the crowds.
Get out
Most pilgrims also visit Medina, the second holiest city of Islam.
Mecca or Makkah (in full: Makkah al-Mukarramah ; 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 kilometres (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, and 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 (uncapitalized), meaning "a place to which many people are attracted" is derived from Makkah.
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.
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. On May 16, 2007, Prince Khalid al-Faisal was appointed as the new governor.
History
The Kaaba, a large cubical building now surrounded by the Masjid al-Haram. According to the Qur'an, the Kaaba was built by Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ismail (Ishmael), and has been a religious center ever since.
The Black Stone
The Black Stone (called الحجر الأسود al-Hajar-ul-Aswad in Arabic) is a Muslim object of reverence, said by some to date back to the time of Adam and Eve. It is the eastern cornerstone of the Kaaba in Makkah.
Well of Zamzam
Muslims believe that the Zamzam well was revealed to Hagar, wife of Abraham and mother of Ishmael. (Abraham is known as Ibrahim to Muslims.) She was desperately seeking water for her infant son, but could find none. Makkah is located in a hot dry valley with few other sources of water.
Muslims believe that the water of the Zamzam well is divinely blessed (it is believed to satisfy both hunger and thirst, and cure illness) and make every effort to drink of this water during their pilgrimage. The water is served to the public through coolers stationed throughout the Masjid al Haram in Makkah and the Masjid al Nabawi in Medina.
Importance of Makkah
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.
Before the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Makkah was under the control of the Banu Quraish. 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. (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.
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).
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.
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. 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 . 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.
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 . (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 , which is strictly prohibited in Islam.
The spelling Makkah is starting to be taken up by many organizations, including the United Nations, U.S. Department of State and the British Foreign Office , 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. 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.
References to Makkah in ancient texts
Crone, in her 1987 book, gives a precise of various Greek and Roman texts thought by some to have referred to Makkah. She argues that there is no hard evidence linking those references to the South Arabian trade to Makkah.
In the Torah/Bible
Some Muslims believe that Makkah is mentioned in the Jewish Torah/Christian Bible. Verse in Qur'an also confirms that Makkah was once called "Bakkah". They claim that the word "Baca" can be found in Psalm 84:6. However, some non-Muslim commentators of Qur'an do not accept that reading of Qur'an 3:96, and most modern translations of the Bible use "Valley of Weeping" instead of "Baca." In Arabic "Buka'" means weeping; for example, the famous Tabi'in, Muhammad ibn Munkadir was (due to his fear of God) nicknamed al-Bakka', which means "the one who cries much".
See also
Further reading
External links
