Mecca is the landing place of revelation, where the angels assemble. It is the Kiblat of all Muslims. and the setting of their sights. It is the title of their honour and unity.
Mecca is the Muslims' direction wheen practicing their religious ceremonies and daily prayers. It is the house to which they make pilgrimage every year.
The Almighty God Has honoured Mecca, for all of it is a bountiful place. It is the sacred place for God and His sanctuary.
Enough honour has been given to it that the Prophet (p b. u. h) grew up in it, whom God Has, exclusively, honored him, when He sent him with verses and wise reminiscence. So it is the first place for revelation. the first to receive the guarding angle Gabriel, and the heading place for God's Prophets and righteous Apostles.
Mecca is located in the western side of the Arabian peninsula, in a valley inclined from North to South, and restricted between Northern and Southern Mountain ranges.
The Northern range is made up of the following mountains: Al- Falaq, Quyqaan, Al- Hindi, Laalaa, and Kadaa, whereas the southern range has Abi Hadidat, Kudai, Abi Qays, and then Khandama mountains.
Its altitude is about 330m above mean sea level, with a latitude of 31 degrees 28 minutes, and longitude of 40 degrees and 9 minutes. Some researchers have concluded that the Kaaba is the exact center of gravity of the earth.
Mecca is only a short distance away from the Red Sea to which it is connected through Jeddah port.
Mecca's history is very old, it may go back to thousands of years. what is certain, however, is that Mecca valley, before the building of the city, used to be a resting station for the caravans, because of its middle location between the farthest place in the North in the lands of Palestine to the farthest place in the South in the lands of Yeurne.
Also, Mecca was the most important city to the Arabs before Islam, and today it is the most important city to the Muslims.
To the sacred House, used to come the oppressed, the destitute, and the depressed, and rarely did someone make a supplication and was not answered positively. Moreover, people were used to making pilgrimage to the place of the Holy House, after Abraham (p. b. u. h) the Friend of God coustructed it by His order.
The Name "Mecca" is mentioned only once in the Holy Qur'an, in surat Al -Fath. But other names related to that city were also mentioned, which are: Baraat, Ummul- Qura, Al- Balad, Al Baldat, and Al Haram Al Aamin (The Safe Precinct).
As it was mentioned earlier, Mecca was a passage for the trading caravans, and a resting station for the tribes during certain seasons of the year. It was also, a market for trading goods among the different caravans, in addition to being a place for pilgrimage to the Old House until it was built by Abraham the Friend or God (p. b. u. h), with the help of his son Ishmael, by God's order the Almighty.
All that was after God had tested Abraham by ordering him to slaughter his son Ishmael, and then sacificed him instead with a lamb. God said in his book:
"And remeber when Abraham raised the foundations of the house with Ishmael" 2:127
The most sacred thing in the House of God is the Black stone (Al- Hajar Al- Aswad). The Prophet of God Abraham (p. b. u. h) placed it in the eastern Corner of the Kaaba, then our Prophet Muhammad (SAW) put it again, with his benedicted hands, in the same place when Quraysh rebuilt the House, the Prophet (p. b. u. h) was only 35 years old. It was narrated that the different tribes disagreed on who would be honoured to put the stone in its Original place, until the Prophet came and solved the problem.
The Black stone is a heavy elliptic shape stone, with a 3Ocm diameter. From it "Tawaf" starts around the House and since Abraham (p) put it in place, it has ever been respected and exalted. It stands about 1.5 meters above the ground.
Abraham used to make Pilgrimage to the House every year, as did all the succeeding prophets and nations. In some of the narrations, it is said that "...Between the corner and the standing place 'up to Zamzam, there exists the graves of ninety nine Prophets who came for pilgrimage and were buried there".
Across from the door of the Kaaba, and a few meters away, there exists a stone inside a cage, it is called the standing place of Abraham (Maqam Ibrahim). God the Almighty said:
"And Take ye the standing place of Abraham, as a place of prayer" 2:125
Here, it is note worthy to say that the Holy House and its Mosque have been subject to expansions and rennovations, in the past and recent times. Currently, its surface area is about 193 square meters, which fits about 400 thousand pilgrims at one time.
As for the exterior areas, they are 40 thousand square meters, which can hold about 65 thousand pilgrims. After the end of the on going renovations, it is expected that the surface
area would reach 309 thousand square meters, which can fit around 605 thousand pilgrims at one time.
The Kaaba is located in the middle of the Holy Mosque. It is one big square shaped room, with an elevation of 15 meters . Its main door is 2 meters from the ground. As for the corners of the Kaaba, they are called Arkan, and they are as follows:
The Northern corner is called the Iraqi Ruqn.
The Southern corner is called the Yemani Ruqn.
The Western corner is called the Sammi Ruqn.
The Eastern corner is called the Black stone Ruqn.
The Kaaba is standing on a foundation made up of marble, and its walls are of greyish stones brought from the neighbouring mountains. The walls are covered with a huge silky textile coloured in black with some tree drawings. On it was sawn the statement of testimony, and at two thirds of its height a golden belt of Qur'anic verses is woven. Across from the North-western wall, there is a white marble wall, in a Semi- circular shape, called (Al- Hatim). Its elevation is 3 feet and thickness 5 feet. Between Al Hatim and Al Kaaba, Hijr Ishmael is placed, which is better Known as «Hijr Ismail
It is a sacred wall, also called the wall of Ishmael, and located in the precinct across the Eastern Ruqn. Its depth is about 140 feet.
They are two rocks within the honourable precinct. The pilgrims would jog between them seven times, as one of the mandatory ceremonies during Al- Hajj and Umra.
It is a mountain 12 miles east of Mecca, with a height of 150 feet. It is also called the Mountain of Mercy. The pilgrims go to it after Tawaf around Kaaba, to perform the ceremony of standing there at noon time of the 9th of Dhu'l Hijja. The standing there is meant as a presence in that place.
It is somewhere on the road between Mina and Arafat. When the pilgrims end their ceremony in Arafat at sunset of the 9th of Dhu'l- Hijja, they walk to Al Muzdalifa where they stay the night picking up some stones for casting away (Rajem) the Shaitan later on.
It is 6.5 Km away from Mecca, and exists between the mountains, in a narrow valley, extending from East to West, with a total distance of about 1500 paces.
In Mina, pilgrims begin casting away the Shaitan by symbolically throwing stones at him on the first day of the feast During this time, also, pilgrims present their Sacrifices (slaughtering the lambs), then shave or shorten their own hair.
1. The house where Prophet Muhammad (p b. u. h) was born is transformed into a mosque, and today it exists in the suburb (Shiaab) of Bani Hashem or Ali.
2. Dar Al- Arqam, where the Prophet used to meet secretly with his close companions.
3 The Rayat mosque at the highest place in Mecca, where the Prophet (p. b. u, h) fixed the flag at the day of opening Mecca.
4. The «Jinn» or "Harass", mosque, also called ''Al Bayaat" mosque, is the place where the Jinn have pledged allegiance to the Prophet (p b. u. h), after his return from Taef where he was hurt.
Besides these, there are other mosques like (<Al-Surur) (Al- Muttakee), and (Dhee- Towa).
One of the most honourable traces remaining from the time of the Prophet is ''Ghar Hiraa'' .
It is a cave at the top of the mountain of light «Annoor», where the Prophet used to go for worshipping and meditation, before he was sent and chosen as a Messenger. In it, revelation was brought down, and from it the Holy Qur'an began its descent.
Another one is «Ghar Thowr» at the mountain (Thowr), where the Prophet sought refuge in his migration from Mecca to Medina.