Early Middle Ages

Where Is Mecca and Why Is It Important?

Mecca, in western Arabia, is the holiest city of Islam: birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, home of the Kaaba, and destination of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Question & answer

Mecca is a city in the western Hejaz region of Arabia, located in modern Saudi Arabia some 80 kilometers inland from the Red Sea coast and 340 kilometers south of Medina. Mecca is the holiest city of Islam, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, and the destination of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam. The city is dominated by the Masjid al-Haram, the Sacred Mosque, in the center of which stands the Kaaba, the cubic structure that Muslims face in their daily prayers. The pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj, is performed by at least two million Muslims each year and is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world.

Mecca has been a holy city for Muslims since the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century, but the city was a religious center long before the rise of Islam. The Kaaba, the cubic structure at the heart of the Masjid al-Haram, is identified in the Qur’an itself as the first house of worship, built by Abraham and his son Ishmael, and the rites of the Hajj, including the circumambulation of the Kaaba, the running between the hills of Safa and Marwa, and the standing at Arafat, are understood in Islamic tradition to have been instituted by Abraham. The pre-Islamic Arabs had, in fact, been making pilgrimage to Mecca for centuries before Muhammad, and the city was already a major center of trade and religion when the Prophet was born around 570.

The Geography of Mecca

Mecca lies in a narrow, sandy valley surrounded by rocky hills, in a region of western Arabia known as the Hejaz. The valley is traversed by the Wadi Ibrahim, traditionally associated with the spring from which Hagar and her son Ishmael were saved in the biblical and Qur’anic account. The climate is hot and dry, with summer temperatures regularly exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. The city has no river and no water supply beyond the famous well of Zamzam, located within the Masjid al-Haram. The surrounding hills and mountains include Jabal Abu Qubays, Jabal Khandama, and the cave of Hira on Jabal Nur, where the Prophet is said to have received his first revelations.

The historical core of the city is the area surrounding the Masjid al-Haram, which has been repeatedly rebuilt and expanded over the centuries. In the time of the Prophet, the city was a small town with a population of perhaps 10,000 to 20,000. The city has grown enormously in the modern period: the population of the Mecca municipality is now over two million, and the Masjid al-Haram, the Sacred Mosque, is one of the largest buildings in the world.

The Kaaba

The Kaaba, the cubic structure at the center of the Masjid al-Haram, is the most sacred site in Islam. The structure is approximately 13.1 meters tall, with sides of about 11 to 12 meters, and is built of granite. The Kaaba is covered by a black silk curtain, the kiswa, which is replaced annually. The structure contains a black stone, the Hajar al-Aswad, set into one of its corners, which Muslims believe to be a stone from Paradise, originally white but turned black by the sins of humanity. The Kaaba is the qibla, the direction of prayer, for Muslims throughout the world: wherever they may be, Muslims face the Kaaba in their five daily prayers.

The Kaaba has a long pre-Islamic history. In the pre-Islamic Arabian religion, the Kaaba housed a number of cult images, including statues of Hubal, al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat. The structure was a sanctuary (haram) protected by the Quraysh, and the surrounding area was a place of refuge in which violence and bloodshed were forbidden. According to Islamic tradition, the Kaaba was originally built by Adam and was rebuilt by Abraham and his son Ishmael. The Prophet Muhammad removed the idols from the Kaaba in 630, after the Muslim conquest of Mecca, and rededicated the structure to the worship of the one God.

The Hajj

The Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is required, at least once in a lifetime, of every Muslim who is physically and financially able to perform it. The Hajj is performed in the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar, Dhu al-Hijjah, and involves a series of rituals, including the circumambulation of the Kaaba (the tawaf), the running between the hills of Safa and Marwa (the sa’i), the standing at Arafat (the wuquf), the stoning of the pillars at Mina (the ramy al-jimar), and the sacrifice of an animal (the udhiyah).

The Hajj is, in many respects, a re-enactment of the rites instituted by Abraham and Hagar. The circumambulation of the Kaaba commemorates the angels’ circumambulation of the throne of God. The running between Safa and Marwa commemorates Hagar’s search for water for her son Ishmael. The standing at Arafat commemorates the standing of Abraham at the place of revelation. The stoning of the pillars commemorates Abraham’s repudiation of Satan. The sacrifice commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. The Hajj is, in this sense, a return to the origins of the Abrahamic tradition.

The Hajj is also one of the great acts of Islamic solidarity. Muslims from all over the world, of every ethnicity, language, and social class, gather in Mecca in the same white garments, perform the same rituals, and recite the same prayers. The Hajj has, throughout Islamic history, been a major force in the unification of the Muslim community. The great medieval geographer Ibn Jubayr, who performed the Hajj in the late twelfth century, was deeply moved by the sight of the Muslim community gathered in Mecca from all the lands of Islam, and his account is one of the most important sources for the experience of the medieval Hajj.

Mecca in the Early Centuries of Islam

Mecca was the political capital of the early Muslim community under the caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman, but the capital was moved to Kufa by Ali and to Damascus by the Umayyad caliphate. Mecca remained, however, a major religious center. The Meccan pilgrimage was one of the principal rituals of Islam, and the city’s scholars, including the great legal schools of the eighth and ninth centuries, were important in the elaboration of Islamic law and theology.

The Abbasid period saw a series of revolts and civil wars in Mecca, including the revolt of al-Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet, and the various Shia and Abbasid movements. The city was sacked several times in the tenth and eleventh centuries by the Qarmatians, the Fatimids, and other groups. The Ottoman conquest of the Hejaz in 1517 brought the holy cities under Ottoman rule, and they remained so until the Hashemite dynasty established control of the Hejaz in the early twentieth century. The Saudi conquest of the Hejaz in 1924-1925 brought the holy cities under Saudi rule, where they have remained.

Mecca Today

Mecca is, today, a city of some two million people in the western part of Saudi Arabia. The city is closed to non-Muslims, and the Masjid al-Haram, the Sacred Mosque, has been expanded several times in the modern period to accommodate the ever-growing number of pilgrims. The Hajj remains one of the largest annual religious gatherings in the world, and the pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the central obligations of the Islamic faith. The city is also the site of major modern engineering projects, including the Jabal Omar development, the Abraj al-Bait tower complex, and the new high-speed rail link to Medina. The story of the Prophet’s life in Mecca is told in the The Life of Muhammad, and the migration from Mecca to Medina is treated in the What Is the Hijra?.