[38][39][40], The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus writes about Arabia in his work Bibliotheca historica, describing a holy shrine: "And a temple has been set up there, which is very holy and exceedingly revered by all Arabians". [109] The prohibition extends to Ahmadis, as they are considered non-Muslims. [52][53][54], Some Thamudic inscriptions which were discovered in the south Jordan contained names of some individuals such as ʿAbd Mekkat (عَبْد مَكَّة, "Servant of Mecca"). The structure is that of a book, representing the Quran, sitting on a rehal, or bookrest.[116]. The British intelligence agent T.E. The city has been expanded to include several towns previously considered to be separate from the holy city and now is just a few kilometers outside the main sites of the Hajj, Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat. "[29], In 2010, Mecca and the surrounding area became an important site for paleontology with respect to primate evolution, with the discovery of a Saadanius fossil. The masjid is also the site of the Zamzam Well. According to the 115th Surah of the Quran, Al-Fil, the next day, a dark cloud of small birds sent by Allah appeared. A Mosque in the area of Medina, possibly: This page was last edited on 7 May 2021, at 22:02. 4, p. 11. Several temporary clinics are set up during the Hajj to tend to wounded pilgrims. They boast of having descended from Abraham through Ishmael, believing that this patriarch built Mecca and died there. It has been theorized that an epidemic such as by smallpox could have caused such a failed invasion of Mecca. These annual events gave the tribes a sense of common identity and made Mecca an important focus for the peninsula. WordSense Dictionary: mec - meaning, definition, synonyms, origin. Even though detailed descriptions of Western Arabia were established by the Romans, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. [27] According to Arab and Islamic tradition, another name for Mecca, Fārān, is synonymous with the Desert of Paran mentioned in the Old Testament at Genesis 21:21. The Meccan economy has been heavily dependent on the annual pilgrimage. [72] The Black Death pandemic hit Mecca in 1349. Mecca is an unusual given name for women but a very prominent surname for both adults and children (#15099 out of 150436, Top 10%). Mecca features a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh), in three different plant hardiness zones: 10, 11 and 12. [100] The few industries operating in Mecca include textiles, furniture, and utensils. The Hajj pilgrimage, also called the greater pilgrimage, attracts millions of Muslims from all over the world and almost triples Mecca's population for one week in the twelfth and final Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Adorning the southern facade of the Masjid al-Haram, the Abraj al-Bait Complex, which towers over the Great Mosque, is a seven-building complex with the central clock tower having a length of 601 m (1,972 feet), making it the world's fourth-tallest building. [25], Another name used for Mecca in the Quran is at 6:92 where it is called Umm al-Qurā[26] (أُمّ ٱلْقُرَى, meaning "Mother of all Settlements". [93][94] The mountain is located on the eastern entrance of the city and is the highest point in the city at 642 meters (2,106 feet). Al Baik, a local fast-food chain, is very popular among pilgrims and locals alike. [28] Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah coastal plain and the site where Ishmael settled was Mecca. The fossil habitat, near what is now the Red Sea in western Saudi Arabia, was a damp forest area between 28 million and 29 million years ago. [73], One of the most famous travelers to Mecca in the 14th century was Moroccan scholar and traveler, Ibn Battuta. See more. ", Abraha eventually attacked Mecca. Arabic name Makkah. Statistical information department of the ministry of education: Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer says that Mecca was not banned to non-Muslim till nineteenth century; destruction of several historical structures and archaeological sites, Khalili Collection of Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage, Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites in Saudi Arabia, https://web.archive.org/web/20181117112400/https://www.stats.gov.sa/sites/default/files/ar-g-serv-2015-makkah.pdf, "Mecca for the rich: Islam's holiest site 'turning into Vegas, Islamic Pilgrims Bring Cosmopolitan Air to Unlikely City, "Mayor of Makkah Receives Malaysian Consul General", "Prince Khalid Al Faisal appointed as governor of Makkah region", "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), MAACAH, MAACAH, MACORABA", "Ape ancestors brought to life by fossil skull of 'Saadanius' primate", "Civil Society Institutions in Pre-Islamic Mecca", "Outline of the History of Ancient Southern Arabia", "Tafsir of Surah al Fil – The Elephant (Surah 105)", "Miscellaneous works: comprising An inquiry into the antiquity of the small-pox, measles, and scarlet fever, now first published; Reports on the diseases in London, a new ed. [96] Mecca also has its own paper owned by the city, Al Nadwa. The city was finally conquered in the Saudi conquest of Hejaz by Ibn Saud and his allies in 1925. Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah (Arabic: مكة المكرمة‎, romanized: Makkat al-Mukarramah, lit. There are ten main hospitals in Mecca:[103]. Ummah (Arabic: أمة ‎ ) is an Arabic word meaning "community".It is distinguished from shaʻb (شعب), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography.Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history. Mecca is one of a number of place names which have taken on figurative meanings over time. There are some industries and factories in the city, but Mecca no longer plays a major role in Saudi Arabia's economy, which is mainly based on oil exports. [64] Abraha attempted to divert the pilgrimage of the Arabs from the Ka'bah to al-Qullays, effectively converting them to Christianity. The Umayyad Caliphate moved the capital to Damascus in Syria and the Abbasid Caliphate to Baghdad, in modern-day Iraq, which remained the center of the Islamic Empire for nearly 500 years. exterior. The Saudi regime expanded this press into a larger operation, introducing the new Saudi official gazette of Mecca, Umm al-Qurā. This is a mountain believed by Muslims to have been the place where Muhammad spent his time away from the bustling city of Mecca in seclusion. [5], Muslim rulers from in and around the region long tried to take the city and keep it in their control, and thus, much like most of the Hejaz region, the city has seen several regime changes. The Byzantine Empire had previously controlled the Red Sea, but piracy had been increasing. : With locations like Canyonlands National Park, the entire state has become a mecca for thrill seekers. The pagan Arabs never accused Muhammad of preaching a different Allah than the one they already worshipped. In 1853, Sir Richard Francis Burton undertook the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina disguised as a Muslim. The total area of modern Mecca is over 1,200 km2 (460 sq mi).[95]. A part of town that attracts lots of young professionals is an example of a place that could be referred to as a mecca for young professionals. Which of the following would be a convenience sample. A man from the Himyarite Kingdom was sent by Abraha to advise them that Abraha only wished to demolish the Ka'bah and if they resisted, they would be crushed. Location origin of Islam? Learn to win at any game with our many tools and word lists. "Makka – The pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods", CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (. As of 2005, there were 532 public and private schools for males and another 681 public and private schools for female students. Mecca is primarily served by King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah for international and regional connections and Ta'if Regional Airport for regional connections. The first such recorded example of a non-Muslim entering the city is that of Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna in 1503. While under Hussein bin Ali, there were about 20 public telephones in the entire city; in 1936, the number jumped to 450, totaling about half the telephones in the country. Under the Saudi government, Mecca is governed by the Mecca Regional Municipality, a municipal council of 14 locally elected members headed by the mayor (called Amin in Arabic) appointed by the Saudi government. Saadanius is considered to be a primate closely related to the common ancestor of the Old World monkeys and apes. See more. ), Agatharchides of Cnidus: On the Eritraean Sea (1989), 132–173, esp. Mecca is also the birthplace of Muhammad. Water was transported from it using underground channels. Mecca definition: 1. the holy city of Islam in Saudi Arabia 2. a place to which many people are attracted: 3. the…. Widely believed to be a synonym for Makkah, it is said to be more specifically the early name for the valley located therein, while Muslim scholars generally use it to refer to the sacred area of the city that immediately surrounds and includes the Ka'bah. [96] Football is now the most popular sport in Mecca and the kingdom, and the city hosts some of the oldest sport clubs in Saudi Arabia such as Al Wahda FC (established in 1945). The rainfall, scant as it is, also presents the threat of flooding and has been a danger since earliest times. [65][66], Abraha marched upon the Ka'bah with a large army, which included one or more war elephants, intending to demolish it. 'Makkah the Honored'). Muhammad Ali Pasha successfully returned Mecca to Ottoman control in 1813. [7][8][9] Non-Muslims (Kuffar) are strictly prohibited from entering the city.[10][11]. What is the name of the process of liquid water changing into water vapor due to heating? the origin is where the word came from but the specific origin of the word ballot is latin root word. Other regional powers such as the Abyssinians, Ghassanids, and Lakhmids were in decline leaving Meccan trade to be the primary binding force in Arabia in the late 6th century.[63]. [33] The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 CE,[34] ruling cities such as Hegra (now known as Mada'in Saleh), located around 800 km (500 mi) north of Mecca. Traditional, historical homes built of local rock, two to three stories long are still present within the city's central area, within view of modern hotels and shopping complexes. [25] Many etymologies have been proposed: the traditional one is that it is derived from the Old South Arabian root "M-K-R-B" which means temple. Limited radio communication was established within the Kingdom under the Hashemites. However, it was also the time each year that disputes would be arbitrated, debts would be resolved, and trading would occur at Meccan fairs. [96] The city takes in more than $100 million, while the Saudi government spends about $50 million on services for the Hajj. Thousands of Saudis are employed year-round to oversee the Hajj and staff the hotels and shops that cater to pilgrims; these workers in turn have increased the demand for housing and services. Italian: from a pet form of a feminine form of the personal name Domenico (see Domingo). In pre-modern Mecca, the most common sports were impromptu wrestling and foot races. The Ottomans had planned to extend their railway network to the holy city, but were forced to abandon this plan due to their partaking in the First World War. A multinational force was finally able to retake the mosque from the dissidents. All seven buildings in the complex also form the third-largest building by floor area. When Abdul-Muttalib left the meeting he was heard saying,[citation needed], "The Owner of this House is its Defender, and I am sure he will save it from the attack of the adversaries and will not dishonor the servants of His House. is unclear. [3] The estimated metro population in 2020 is 2.042 million, making it the third-most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. [50][51], Muslims see the mention of a pilgrimage at the Valley of Baca in the Old Testament chapter Psalm 84:3–6 as a reference to Mecca, similar to the Quran at Surah 3:96. [31], The early history of Mecca is still largely disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam[32] and no architecture from the time of Muhammad. Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01–29.1, folio 29a, radiocarbon dated between 633 and 665 CE. [citation needed] Some people from the Yemeni tribe of Jurhum settled with them, and Isma'il reportedly married two women, one after divorcing the first, on Ibrahim's advice. By 1985, Mecca, like other Saudi cities, possessed modern telephone, telex, radio and television communications. Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570, and thus Islam has been inextricably linked with it ever since. [108] Adding to this, the discovery of oil in the past 50 years has brought hundreds of thousands of working immigrants.