Mecca the Blessed

Here is the heart of the Islamic world, and even the Islamic cosmos by virtue of containing at its center the Ka’bah, the point where the world axis of the Islamic universe connecting Heaven and earth touches our human world. This is the city upon whose soil Abraham and Ismail (Ishmael) walked, in one of whose precincts the most perfect creature of God, Muhammad ibn Abd Allah— may God’s blessings and peace be upon him—was born, in whose vicinity God revealed the first verses of the Noble Qur’an. It was here that the earliest Islamic community was born and where the Prophet experienced his greatest trials and triumphs. Its streets were traversed by the great companions, such as Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman, while Ali was born in the Ka’bah at the heart of the city. The house of the Prophet where Fatimah was born stood in Mecca until only recently. Are there other cities which have produced so many figures who transformed world history? And then there are all those great Islamic scholars, scientists, theologians, philosophers and Sufi saints who have visited Mecca over the ages. Their spirit seems to hover over the city as does the spirit of all the great men of action who came as humble pilgrims to its doors.

The prayer of sunset (maghrib) performed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca shortly before the annual Hajj when some two million pilgrims gather in that city. The steep and craggy rock mountain beyond the Ka’bah is Mount Hira. At the top of it is located the cave in which the Blessed Prophet received the first Qur’anic revelation.

This gateway, designed as a Qur’an holder, stands over the main highway connecting Jeddah to Mecca. There is a checkpoint on the Jeddah side of the gate marking the boundaries of the sacred precinct beyond which non-Muslims are not permitted to travel.

The prayer in the evening of Laylat al-Qadr. Pilgrims become of the most spiritualized in the last days of Ramadan, the month of fasting. The night of the 27th day of Ramadan is considered the holiest night of the year. This evening’s prayer is to purify people of past sins and is joined by the second largest number of pilgrims next to the Hajj.

Mecca is the city of God, reflecting His absoluteness. To be here is to be at the center. To stand before the Ka’bah is to realize the journey’s end. There is nowhere else to go here on earth for here is the goal of all terrestrial wayfaring. From Mindanao to Mauritania, Muslims keep the love of Mecca, this mother of cities, in their heart and yearn to come to its welcoming embrace, to stand before God’s House in a city which was honored to be the birthplace and site of most of the life of God’s friend, Habib Allah, the Prophet whose supreme triumph in life was to return to Mecca toward the end of his earthly journey victorious in being able to re-establish the religion of the One (al-tawhid) in a land which had long ago been witness to the cry of the father of monotheism, Abraham, to the One God. Mecca was never to forget the religion of Divine Unity again and remains to this day and, in fact, will remain to the end of time the spiritual center of the religion of Islam whose very raison d’être is to bear witness to the One who ultimately is the sole Reality that abides for “all things perish save the Face of God”.

The building of the Ka’bah covered by a black cloth called the kiswah, adorned by verses from the Noble Qur’an embroidered in gold thread.

The Black Stone (hajar al-aswad), considered by Muslims to have descended from Heaven as the symbol of the covenant made between God and Adam and his progeny.

Some elderly people who have trouble walking make the tawaf on a palanquin carried by two men. When they come to the corner of the Black Stone, they hold up their hands in order to receive the barakah from the stone.

Pilgrims making the tawaf. The black cloth covering the Ka’bah is called the kiswah. Pilgrims chant the talbiyah during the tawaf.

People holding on to the kiswah while praying.

Footprints at the place where Abraham (Ibrahim) stood, called Maqam Ibrahim. The footprints are protected in a glass case to the east side of the Ka’bah.

Using gold thread, workers embroider the Arabic script for “Allah”, the name for God in Islam.

The Divine Name “Allah”, the Supreme Name of God in Islam, adorns the center of this part of the band of the kiswah.

Pilgrims conducting the sunset prayer (maghrib) completely fill the vast space around the Grand Mosque.

Soldiers stand guard as the door is opened for washing inside the Ka’bah. Washing is done twice a year: on the first day of Rajab (the seventh month of the Islamic calendar) and during the first day of Dhu al-hijjah (the twelfth month). Inside the Ka’bah three golden clad pillars support the roof.

The governor of Mecca, on behalf of the king, is in charge of the washing of the Ka’bah. Diplomats and dignitaries take part in the ceremony. They come out afterwards holding the cloths that they used.

Safa and Marwah are two stations in the vicinity of the Ka’bah between which pilgrims must walk quickly, almost at the pace of a run, or what is called sa’y. This is part of the ritual of the Hajj seen here photographed from the Safa side.

Upon completion of the ritual of sa’y, pilgrims pray toward the Ka’bah from the hill of Safa. The rapid walk of sa’y represents symbolically the running to and fro of Hagar (Hajar), the wife of the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim), in search of water for her son Ishmael (Ismail). Her search ended when the spring of Zamzam gushed forth miraculously.

People are gathering for the maghrib prayers around the Grand Mosque. The minarets, which rise 93 meters, are lit up at dusk.

A fountain at the entrance of Mecca district. In the Noble Qur’an, water symbolizes Divine Mercy and in traditional Islamic cities water fountains are to be found nearly everywhere.

The most popular merchandise sold in the shops around the Haram Mosque is the rosary (subhah). The Islamic rosary has ninety-nine beads corresponding to the ninety-nine “Beautiful Names of God” (al-asma al-husna).

Although most of the older buildings of Mecca and Medina were destroyed as a result of the urban development of the past few years, some remain. Here is one with wooden lattice windows (mashrabiyyah) which have the effect of cooling the air inside the building.

A view of Mount Hira where the Blessed Prophet received the first revelation. The photograph reveals many pilgrims climbing up the mountain despite signs saying “Do not climb,” “Do not remove stones,” etc.

Underneath a rock painted white there is the small cave to which the Prophet would often come for meditation even before being chosen as Prophet and where he heard the first verses of the Qur’anic revelation. This site remains extremely holy in the eyes of Muslims.