MECCA

Arabic Makkah, ancient Bakkah, or Macoraba, city in western Saudi Arabia, located in the Sirat Mountains, inland from the Red Sea coast. It is the holiest of Muslim cities. Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was born in Mecca, and it is toward this religious centre that Muslims turn five times daily in prayer. All devout Muslims attempt a pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Because it is sacred, only Muslims are allowed to enter the city. In the 20th century the city has undergone vast improvements. The area around the religious shrines has been cleared, the mosque has been enlarged, housing and sanitation have been improved, and transportation facilities have been enhanced. As a result, Mecca can accommodate the continually increasing number of pilgrims. The city has an area of about 10 square miles (26 square kilometres). Arabic Makkah, ancient Bakkah, or Macoraba city, western Saudi Arabia. Mecca is the most holy city of Islam; it was the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, and is a religious centre to which Muslims attempt a pilgrimage, or hajj, during their lifetime. Mecca is located in the Sirat Mountains, 45 miles (72 km) inland from the Red Sea port of Jidda. The city is situated in the dry beds of the Wadi Ibrahim and several of its short tributaries. Temperatures are high and precipitation is low, but, because of Mecca's relatively low-lying position, it is threatened by seasonal flash floods. Mecca has developed supplementary industries to diversify its economy, once largely based on income from pilgrimages. The city's growing industrial base includes the manufacture of textiles, furniture, and utensils; pottery making is also important. The overall economy, however, is commercial. Transportation and facilities related to pilgrimages are the main service industries. Because arable land and water are scarce, Mecca must import most of its food. Mecca centres upon the Al-Haram Mosque and the sacred well of Zamzam, located inside. In the mosque's central courtyard is the Ka'bah, the holiest shrine of Islam. The Ka'bah, according to tradition, was built by Abraham and his son Ishmael as a replica of God's house in heaven. It has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. The compact built-up area around the mosque constitutes the old city, which stretches to the north and southwest but is limited on the east and west by the nearby mountains. Since World War II, Mecca has expanded along the roads through the mountain gaps. Areas in the old city have been renovated, and Mecca has been transformed into a modern city with fountains in its four main squares. During the month of pilgrimage (the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah), Mecca's population swells with the addition of about a million pilgrims. Only Muslims are permitted to reside in the city. Mecca has two university-level colleges (for the study of jurisprudence and for teacher training) and a number of cultural clubs and public libraries. Mecca has no airport and no rail or water transport services. It is well served, however, by Jidda's seaport and international airport, which was built in the early 1980s, as well as by truck, bus, and taxi services. A well-developed transport network carries pilgrims to religious destinations. Asphalt roads link Mecca with Medina and other Saudi Arabian cities and with neighbouring countries. Area city, 10 square miles (26 square km). Pop. (1980 est.) 550,000. Additional reading Literature about Mecca is available mainly in Arabic, and writings on Mecca often include coverage of Medina as well. For pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, see M.A.A. al-Azraqi, Akhbar Makkah, written in the 9th century (1875, reprinted 1969); and A.I. al-Sharif, Makkah wa-al-Madinah (1965). For the Middle Ages, see Ibn Jubayr, The Travels of Ibn Jubayr. . . , written in the 12th century, trans. by R.J.C. Broadhurst (1952); and Ibn Batuta, Travels, A.D. 13251354 , written in the 14th century, trans. by H.A.R. Gibb (1958). Other English-language accounts include John L. Burckhardt, Travels in Arabia (1829); John F. Keane, Six Months in Meccah (1881); C. Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka, 2 vol. (188889); Eng. trans. of vol. 2, Mekka in the Latter Part of the 19th Century: Daily Life, Customs and Learning (1931); Sir Richard Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah, 5th ed., 3 vol. (1906); Arthur Wavell, A Modern Pilgrim in Mecca and a Siege in Sanaa (1912); Eldon Rutter, The Holy Cities of Arabia (1928); J.B. Philby, A Pilgrim in Arabia (1946); Desmond Stewart, Mecca (1980); and John Sabini, Armies in the Sand: The Struggle for Mecca and Medina (1981). Ass'ad Sulaiman Abdo Sir John Bagot Glubb History Ancient Mecca was an oasis on the old caravan trade route that linked the Mediterranean world with South Arabia, East Africa, and South Asia. The town was located about midway between Ma'rib in the south and Petra in the north, and it gradually developed by Roman and Byzantine times into an important trade and religious centre. It was known to Ptolemy as Macoraba. According to Islamic tradition, Abraham and Ishmael, his son by Hagar, built the Ka'bah as the house of God. The central point of pilgrimage in Mecca before the advent of Islam in the 7th century, the cube-shaped stone building has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. During biblical times, the city was ruled by a series of Yemeni tribes. Under the Quraysh, it became a type of city-state, with strong commercial links to the rest of Arabia, Ethiopia, and Europe. Mecca became a place for trade, for pilgrimage, and for poetry festivals. The city gained its religious importance with the birth of Muhammad about 570. The prophet was forced to flee from Mecca in 622, but he returned eight years later and took control of the city. He purged Mecca of idols, declared it a centre of Muslim pilgrimage, and dedicated it to Allah. Since then, the city has remained the major religious centre of Islam. As the ancient caravan route fell into decline, Mecca lost its commercial significance and has since lived mainly on the annual pilgrimages and the gifts of Muslim rulers. Mecca remained virtually independent, although it acknowledged the power of Damascus and later of the 'Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad, Iraq. In 1269 it came under the control of the Egyptian Mamluk sultans. In 1517 dominion over the holy city passed to the Ottoman Turks in Constantinople (now Istanbul). The local city rulers were chosen from the sharifs, or descendants of Muhammad, who retained a strong hold on the surrounding area. With the fall of Turkish power after World War I, control of Mecca was contested between the sharifs and the Al Sa'ud (the Wahhabis) of central Arabia. King Ibn Sa'ud entered the city in 1925, and it became part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the capital of Makkah manatiq idariyah. Under the Al Sa'ud, a puritanical moral code and law and order were enforced, and the facilities for pilgrims were improved. With the exploitation of Saudi Arabia's oil resources since World War II, Mecca has had a high level of economic development. Ass'ad Sulaiman Abdo