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Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570, and thus Islam hasbeen inextricably linked with the city ever since. Muhammad

was born in a minor faction, the Hashemites, of the rulinguraysh tribe. It was in Mecca, in the nearby mountain caveof Hira on !abal al"#our , that, according to Islamic tradition,Muhammad is said to have begun receiving divinerevelations from $od through the angel $abriel in %&0 '(,and began to )reach his form of 'brahamic monotheism against Meccan )aganism. 'fter enduring )ersecution fromthe )agan tribes for &* years, Muhammad emigrated +seeHi ra- in % with his com)anions, the Muhajirun , to /athrib+later called Medina-. he conflict between the uraysh andthe Muslims, however, continued1 the two fought in the 2attle of 2adr , where the Muslims defeated the uraysh armyoutside Medina3 while the 2attle of 4hud ended indecisively.

verall, however, Meccan efforts to annihilate Islam failedand )roved to be very costly and ultimately unsuccessful.(uring the 2attle of the rench in % 7, the combined armiesof 'rabia were unable to defeat Muhammad6s forces . 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 Muslimsand Meccans entered into the reaty of Hudaybiyyah ,whereby the uraysh )romised to cease fighting Muslimsand )romised that Muslims would be allowed into the city to)erform the )ilgrimage the following year. wo 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 Meccasurrendered to Muhammad and his followers who declared)eace and amnesty for the inhabitants. he native )aganimagery was destroyed by Muhammad and his followers and

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the location Islami:ed and rededicated to the worshi) of 'llah . Muhammad declared Mecca as the holiest site inIslam ordaining it as the center of Muslim )ilgrimage, one ofthe faith6s ;ive aaba, andlocal inhabitants who served the )ilgrims. (ue to thedifficulty and ex)ense of the Ha , )ilgrims arrived by boat at!eddah, and came overland, or oined the annual caravansfrom ?yria or Ira@.

[edit ] Medieval and pre-modern times

Mecca was never ca)ital of any of the Islamic states butMuslim rulers did contribute to its u)kee). (uring the reignsof 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 andconstruct dykes and embankments to )rotect the area roundthe >aaba. &%8

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Muhammad6s migration to Medina shifted the focus awayfrom Mecca, this focus moved still more when the 4mayyadBali)hate took )ower choosing (amascus in ?yria as theirca)ital. he 'bbasid Bali)hate moved the ca)ital to2aghdad , in modern"day Ira@, which remained the center ofthe Islamic =m)ire for nearly 500 years. Mecca re"enteredIslamic )olitical history briefly when it was held by 'bd 'llahibn al"Dubayr , an early Muslim who o))osed the 4mayyadcali)hs and again when the cali)h /a:id I besieged Mecca in%9*. *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 , amillenarian Ismaili Muslim sect led by 'bF" Ghir 'l"!annGb and centered in eastern 'rabia. A8 he 2lack (eath )andemic hit Mecca in &*AE. 58

In &5&7, the ?harif, 2arakat bin Muhammed, acknowledgedthe su)remacy of the ttoman Bali)h but retained a greatdegree of local autonomy. %8

he ;irst ?audi ?tate

Mecca in &950In &90* the city was ca)tured by the ;irst ?audi ?tate , 78 which held Mecca until &9&*. his was a massive blow to the)restige of the + urkish- ttoman =m)ire, which hadexercised sovereignty over the holy city since &5&7. he

ttomans assigned the task of bringing Mecca back underttoman control to their )owerful Khedive +viceroy- of =gy)t,

Muhammad 'li

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lead on to the )resent country of ?audi 'rabia.Mecca was regularly afflicted with cholera e)idemics. 98 7e)idemics were recorded during )ilgrimages from the &9*&to &E*0. More than 0,000 )ilgrims died of cholera duringthe &E07C09 ha . E8

[edit ] Saudi Arabia

In !une &E&%, (uring the 'rab evolt , the ?harif of Mecca,Hussein bin 'li revolted against the ttoman =m)ire fromMecca and it was the first city ca)tured by his forcesfollowing 2attle of Mecca +&E&%- . ?harif Hussein declared anew state, >ingdom of He a:, and declared Mecca as theca)ital of the new kingdom. ;ollowing the 2attle of Mecca+&E A-, the ?harif of Mecca was overthrown by the ?audfamily, and Mecca was incor)orated into ?audi 'rabia. 58

Mecca in &E&0n #ovember 0, &E7E two hundred armed Islamist

dissidents led by ?audi )reacher !uhayman al" taibi sei:ed

the $rand Mos@ue . hey claimed that the ?audi royal familyno longer re)resented )ure Islam and that the Mas id al"Haram + he ?acred Mos@ue- and the >aaba, must be heldby those of true faith. he rebels sei:ed tens of thousands of)ilgrims as hostages and barricaded themselves in themos@ue . he siege lasted two weeks, and resulted inseveral hundred deaths and significant damage to theshrine, es)ecially the ?afa"Marwa gallery.

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he main reason Muslims go to Mecca is to )ray in theMas id al"Haram. ften, they )erform the 4mrah , the lesser)ilgrimage, while visiting the Mas id al"Haram. nce a year,the Ha , the greater )ilgrimage, takes )lace in Mecca andnearby sites. (uring the Ha , several million )eo)le ofvarying 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 makearrangements for the care of hisJher de)endents during thetri), 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 ed ?ea. &98

Bentral Mecca lies in a corridor between mountains, which isoften called the Lhollow of Mecca.L he area contains the

valley of 'l aneem, the alley of 2akkah and the valley of 'b@ar. &%8*&8 his mountainous location has defined thecontem)orary ex)ansion of the city. he city centers on theMas id al"Haram area, whose elevation is lower than most ofthe city. he area around the mos@ue com)rises the old city.

he main avenues are Al-Mudda'ah and Sq al-Layl to thenorth of the mos@ue, and As-Sg Assaghr to the south. 'sthe ?audis ex)anded the $rand Mos@ue in the center of thecity, where there were once hundreds of houses are nowre)laced with wide avenues and city s@uares. raditionalhomes are built of local rock and are generally two to threestories. he total area of Mecca metro today stands over&, 00 km +A%0 s@ mi-.* 8

In )re"modern Mecca, the city ex)loited a few chief sourcesof water. he first were local wells, such as the Dam:am

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Kell, that )roduced generally brackish water. he secondsource was the s)ring of 'yn Dubayda. he sources of thiss)ring are the mountains of ! abal ?a d +!abal ?a6d- and!abal >abkGb, which lie a few kilometers east of abal 'rafa +( abal 6'rafa- or about 0 km +& mi- east southeastof Mecca. Kater was trans)orted from it using undergroundchannels. ' very s)oradic third source was rainfall whichwas stored by the )eo)le in small reservoirs or cisterns . herainfall , as scant as it is, also )resents the threat of floodingand has been a danger since earliest times. 'ccording to 'l">urd , there had been 9E historic floods by &E%5, includingseveral in the ?audi )eriod. In the last century the most

severe one occurred in &EA . ?ince then, dams have beenconstructed to ameliorate the )roblem. *&8

[edit ] Climate

4nlike other ?audi 'rabian cities, Mecca retains its warmtem)erature in winter, which can range from &7 NB +%* N;- atmidnight to 5 NB +77 N;- in the afternoon. ?ummertem)eratures are considered very hot and break the A0 NB+&0A N;- mark in the afternoon dro))ing to *0 NB +9% N;- inthe evening. ain usually falls in Mecca in small amountsbetween #ovember and !anuary.

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