THE MIRACLE OF MECCA

THE MIRACLE OF MECCA

 

Mecca or Makkah is a city in the hezaj region of saudi arabia that is also capital of the makkah Region. The city is located 70 km  inland from jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of 277 m  above sea level, and 340 kilometres  south of medina. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although visitors more than triple this number every year during the hajj  period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah.

As the birthplace of muhammad and the site of Muhammad's first revelation of the quran (specifically, a cave 3 km  from Mecca), Mecca is regarded as the holiest city in the religion of islam and a pilgrimage to it known as the hajj is obligatory for all able muslims. Mecca is home to the kaaba, by majority description Islam's holiest site, as well as being the direction of Muslim prayer. Mecca was long ruled by Muhammad's descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by ibn saud in 1925. In its modern period, Mecca has seen tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure, home to structures such as the Abraj Al Bait, also known as the Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel, the world's fourth tallest building and the building with the third largest amount of floor area. During this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress.Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj. As a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, even though non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city.

 The Grand Mosque, sometimes called the Masjid al-Haram or Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, is a mosque located in Makkah City Al Mukharamah, built around the Kaaba, which is the direction of the Muslim mecca in doing worship prayer. In addition in this mosque is one of the pillars of pilgrimage that must be done by Muslims ie tawaf, surround the Ka'bah seven times. As a Muslim holy city, under the laws of Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims are not allowed to enter. 
The Ka'bah, also referred as al-ka`bah al-musharrafah (The Holy Kaaba), is a building at the center of Islam's most sacred mosque, that is Al-Masjid Al-Ḥarām , in Mecca, Hejaz, Saudi Arabia. It is the most sacred site in Islam. It is considered by Muslims to be the bayt Allāh, the "House of God", and has a similar role to the Tabernacle and Holy of Holies in Judaism. Wherever they are in the world, Muslims are expected to face the Kaaba when performing salat (prayer). From any point in the world, the direction facing the Kaaba is called the qibla.

https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makkah