Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570, and thus Islam has been inextricably linked with the city

ever since. Muhammad was born in a minor faction, the Hashemites, of the ruling uraysh tribe. It was in Mecca, in the nearby mountain cave of Hira on !abal al"#our, that, according to Islamic tradition, Muhammad is said to have begun receiving divine revelations from $od through the angel $abriel in %&0 '(, and began to )reach his form of 'brahamic monotheism against Meccan )aganism. 'fter enduring )ersecution from the )agan tribes for &* years, Muhammad emigrated +see Hi,ra- in %.. with his com)anions, the Muhajirun, to /athrib +later called Medina-. 0he conflict between the uraysh and the Muslims, however, continued1 the two fought in the 2attle of 2adr, where the Muslims defeated the uraysh army outside Medina3 while the 2attle of 4hud ended indecisively. 5verall, however, Meccan efforts to annihilate Islam failed and )roved to be very costly and ultimately unsuccessful. (uring the 2attle of the 0rench in %.7, the combined armies of 'rabia were unable to defeat Muhammad6s forces .7..8 In %.9, Muhammad and his followers marched to Mecca, attem)ting to enter the city for )ilgrimage. Instead, however, they were blocked by the uraysh, after which both Muslims and Meccans entered into the 0reaty of Hudaybiyyah, whereby the uraysh )romised to cease fighting Muslims and )romised that Muslims would be allowed into the city to )erform the )ilgrimage the following year. 0wo years later, the uraysh violated the truce by slaughtering a grou) of Muslims and their allies. Muhammad and his com)anions, now &0,000 strong, decided to march into Mecca. However, instead of continuing their fight, the city of Mecca surrendered to Muhammad and his followers who declared )eace and amnesty for the inhabitants. 0he native )agan imagery was destroyed by Muhammad and his followers and

the location Islami:ed and rededicated to the worshi) of 'llah. Muhammad declared Mecca as the holiest site in Islam ordaining it as the center of Muslim )ilgrimage, one of the faith6s ;ive <illars. He also declared that no non"Muslim would be allowed inside the city so as to )rotect it from the influence of )olytheism and similar )ractices. Muhammad returned to Medina, after assigning 'kib ibn 4said as governor of the city. Muhammad6s other activities in 'rabia led to the unification of the )eninsula.7&%87..8 0he 5ttoman =m)ire Muhammad died in %*., but with the sense of unity that he had )assed on to his 4mmah +Islamic nation-, Islam began a ra)id ex)ansion, and within the next few hundred years stretched from #orth 'frica well into 'sia and )arts of =uro)e. 's the Islamic =m)ire grew, Mecca continued to attract )ilgrims not ,ust from 'rabia, but now from all across the Muslim world and beyond, as Muslims came to )erform the annual Ha,, )ilgrimage. Mecca also attracted a year"round )o)ulation of scholars, )ious Muslims who wished to live close to the >aaba, and local inhabitants who served the )ilgrims. (ue to the difficulty and ex)ense of the Ha,,, )ilgrims arrived by boat at !eddah, and came overland, or ,oined the annual caravans from ?yria or Ira@. [edit] Medieval and pre-modern times Mecca was never ca)ital of any of the Islamic states but Muslim rulers did contribute to its u)kee). (uring the reigns of 4mar +%*A"AA B=- and 4thman ibn 'ffan +%AAC5%concerns of flooding caused the cali)hs to bring in Bhristian engineers to build barrages in the low"lying @uarters and construct dykes and embankments to )rotect the area round the >aaba.7&%8

Muhammad6s migration to Medina shifted the focus away from Mecca, this focus moved still more when the 4mayyad Bali)hate took )ower choosing (amascus in ?yria as their ca)ital. 0he 'bbasid Bali)hate moved the ca)ital to 2aghdad, in modern"day Ira@, which remained the center of the Islamic =m)ire for nearly 500 years. Mecca re"entered Islamic )olitical history briefly when it was held by 'bd 'llah ibn al"Dubayr, an early Muslim who o))osed the 4mayyad cali)hs and again when the cali)h /a:id I besieged Mecca in %9*.7.*8 ;or some time thereafter the city figured little in )olitics remaining a city of devotion and scholarshi) governed by the Hashemite ?harifs. In E*0, Mecca was attacked and sacked by armatians, a millenarian Ismaili Muslim sect led by 'bF"0Ghir 'l"!annGbH and centered in eastern 'rabia.7.A8 0he 2lack (eath )andemic hit Mecca in &*AE.7.58 In &5&7, the ?harif, 2arakat bin Muhammed, acknowledged the su)remacy of the 5ttoman Bali)h but retained a great degree of local autonomy.7.%8 0he ;irst ?audi ?tate Mecca in &950 In &90* the city was ca)tured by the ;irst ?audi ?tate,7.78 which held Mecca until &9&*. 0his was a massive blow to the )restige of the +0urkish- 5ttoman =m)ire, which had exercised sovereignty over the holy city since &5&7. 0he 5ttomans assigned the task of bringing Mecca back under 5ttoman control to their )owerful Khedive +viceroy- of =gy)t, Muhammad 'li <asha. Muhammad 'li <asha successfully returned Mecca to 5ttoman control in &9&*. In &9&9, followers of the ?alafi ,uristic school were again defeated, but some of the 'l ?aud clan survived and founded the ?econd ?audi ?tate that lasted until &9E& and

lead on to the )resent country of ?audi 'rabia. Mecca was regularly afflicted with cholera e)idemics.7.98 .7 e)idemics were recorded during )ilgrimages from the &9*& to &E*0. More than .0,000 )ilgrims died of cholera during the &E07C09 ha,,.7.E8 [edit] Saudi Arabia In !une &E&%, (uring the 'rab Ievolt, the ?harif of Mecca, Hussein bin 'li revolted against the 5ttoman =m)ire from Mecca and it was the first city ca)tured by his forces following 2attle of Mecca +&E&%-. ?harif Hussein declared a new state, >ingdom of He,a:, and declared Mecca as the ca)ital of the new kingdom. ;ollowing the 2attle of Mecca +&E.A-, the ?harif of Mecca was overthrown by the ?aud family, and Mecca was incor)orated into ?audi 'rabia.758 Mecca in &E&0 5n #ovember .0, &E7E two hundred armed Islamist dissidents led by ?audi )reacher !uhayman al"5taibi sei:ed the $rand Mos@ue. 0hey claimed that the ?audi royal family no longer re)resented )ure Islam and that the Mas,id al" Haram +0he ?acred Mos@ue- and the >aaba, must be held by those of true faith. 0he rebels sei:ed tens of thousands of )ilgrims as hostages and barricaded themselves in the mos@ue. 0he siege lasted two weeks, and resulted in several hundred deaths and significant damage to the shrine, es)ecially the ?afa"Marwa gallery. <akistani forces carried out the final assault3 they were assisted with wea)ons, logistics and )lanning by an elite team of ;rench commandos from 0he ;rench $I$# commando unit.7*08 [edit] The Hajj festivities

0he main reason Muslims go to Mecca is to )ray in the Mas,id al"Haram. 5ften, they )erform the 4mrah, the lesser )ilgrimage, while visiting the Mas,id al"Haram. 5nce a year, the Ha,,, the greater )ilgrimage, takes )lace in Mecca and nearby sites. (uring the Ha,,, several million )eo)le of varying races and nationalities worshi) in unison. =very adult, healthy, sane Muslim who has the financial and )hysical ca)acity to travel to Mecca and can make arrangements for the care of hisJher de)endents during the tri), must )erform the Ha,, once in a lifetime. In .00E, the Ha,, began on Kednesday, #ovember .5. [edit] Geography

Mas,id al"Haram )anorama. Mecca is at an elevation of .77 m +E0E ft- above sea level, and a))roximately 90 km +50 mi- inland from the Ied ?ea.7&98 Bentral Mecca lies in a corridor between mountains, which is often called the Lhollow of Mecca.L 0he area contains the valley of 'l 0aneem, the Malley of 2akkah and the valley of 'b@ar.7&%87*&8 0his mountainous location has defined the contem)orary ex)ansion of the city. 0he city centers on the Mas,id al"Haram area, whose elevation is lower than most of the city. 0he area around the mos@ue com)rises the old city. 0he main avenues are Al-Mudda'ah and Sq al-Layl to the north of the mos@ue, and As-Sg Assaghr to the south. 's the ?audis ex)anded the $rand Mos@ue in the center of the city, where there were once hundreds of houses are now re)laced with wide avenues and city s@uares. 0raditional homes are built of local rock and are generally two to three stories. 0he total area of Mecca metro today stands over &,.00 km. +A%0 s@ mi-.7*.8 In )re"modern Mecca, the city ex)loited a few chief sources of water. 0he first were local wells, such as the Dam:am

Kell, that )roduced generally brackish water. 0he second source was the s)ring of 'yn Dubayda. 0he sources of this s)ring are the mountains of !abal ?ad +!abal ?a6d- and !abal >abkGb, which lie a few kilometers east of ,abal 'rafa +(,abal 6'rafa- or about .0 km +&. mi- east southeast of Mecca. Kater was trans)orted from it using underground channels. ' very s)oradic third source was rainfall which was stored by the )eo)le in small reservoirs or cisterns. 0he rainfall, as scant as it is, also )resents the threat of flooding and has been a danger since earliest times. 'ccording to 'l" >urdH, there had been 9E historic floods by &E%5, including several in the ?audi )eriod. In the last century the most severe one occurred in &EA.. ?ince then, dams have been constructed to ameliorate the )roblem.7*&8 [edit] Climate 4nlike other ?audi 'rabian cities, Mecca retains its warm tem)erature in winter, which can range from &7 NB +%* N;- at midnight to .5 NB +77 N;- in the afternoon. ?ummer tem)eratures are considered very hot and break the A0 NB +&0A N;- mark in the afternoon dro))ing to *0 NB +9% N;- in the evening. Iain usually falls in Mecca in small amounts between #ovember and !anuary.