Ka’ba in Mecca (The most sacred place in Islam)

The most sacred place in Islam is the Ka’ba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Ka’ba is a mosque (built by Abraham according to Muslim tradition) built around a black stone. The Prophet Muhammad designated Mecca as the holy city of Islam and the direction in which all Muslims should offer their prayers.

Mecca is a holy city, and non-Muslims are not permitted to enter it. But for Muslims the pilgrimage to Mecca, or the hajj, is one of the basic tenets of the religion. Each year, over 1,000,000 people visit during the month of pilgrimage. The core of Mecca, including the commercial district, surrounds the al-Haram or Great Mosque, which can hold 300,000 people. Inside the mosque, the Kaaba (a shrine enclosing a sacred Black Stone) and the well of Zamzam are located. They are the focus of the pilgrimage.

  
The main economic activity in Mecca is the provision of services to pilgrims. Merchants in particular benefit from the trade of travelers, as huge fairs are held during the month of the pilgrimage. Because of the yearly influx of visitors, the city’s transportation network is well developed.

Mecca is connected to Jidda and Riyadh by road, and the airport at Jidda serves Mecca.
Even before Muhammad’s birth , the city was an important commercial and religious center the Black Stone was sacred in early Arabic religions). Muhammad began to preach in the city c.613 but was forced to flee to Medina in 622 (the Hegira). In 630 he returned with 10,000 men to conquer the city and establish it as the center of the Islamic world. The city was ruled by the Carmathians from 930 until 1269, when the Egyptian Mamelukes gained control.

The Ottoman Turks ruled from 1517 until 1916, when the Hejaz region became independent, with Mecca as its capital. Mecca fell to Ibn Saud in 1924, and in 1932 Hejaz became a province of Saudi Arabia. In November 1979 a group of 200 Muslim zealots seized Mecca’s Great Mosque; they were driven out by Saudi troops after 10 days, and many were executed. In 1987, Iranian pilgrims staged violent demonstrations in the city.

The Ka’ba is believed to be the first place that was created on earth and the place at which heavenly bliss and power touches the earth directly.Mecca is located in the Hijaz region of western Saudi Arabia. The city lies inland 73 kilometers east of Jiddah, in the narrow, sandy Valley of Abraham. The Holy City is 277 meters (909 feet) above sea level.

Each year, thousands of Muslims from around the world join in a pilgrimage to Mecca, in fulfillment of one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

In addition, a pilgrimage to Mecca is required of every Muslim who can afford it as one of the Five Pillars of the faith. Every year about three million gather for the major pilgrimage, or Hajj, during the Muslim month of Dhu’l-Hijja, and many more perform the minor pilgrimage, or Umrah, at various times throughout the year.