Islam
ٱلْمَسْجِد ٱلْحَرَام
Masjid al-Haram
“The center around which the whole world turns as one”
Photo: Saudipics.com · CC BY-SA 4.0
Scenes
Meaning
Like a white tide, people circle slowly around a single point, and the resonance of it surrounds you.
The holiest mosque in Islam, it holds the Kaaba — the point toward which Muslims turn in prayer five times a day. Tradition holds that the Kaaba was raised by Abraham (Ibrahim) and his son Ishmael, and every Muslim who is able is called to the Hajj pilgrimage once in a lifetime. Pilgrims circle the Kaaba seven times in the tawaf and pass between the hills of Safa and Marwa, where Hagar is said to have run seeking water for her child. At the height of the Hajj, millions of pilgrims from every nation, dressed in the same white cloth, turn around a single point — the largest tide of pilgrimage on earth.
Voices across time
“There were tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world, of every colour — and we were one, in a spirit of unity and brotherhood.”
Roads through this light
The Hajj — Five Days Circling the Black Stone
“Wrapped in white cloth, circling the Kaaba seven times, then pacing between Safa and Marwa where Hagar ran seeking water for her child — the first steps, opening at the well of Zamzam”
The Hijra — The Prophet's Migration from Mecca to Medina
“The Grand Mosque of Islam, holding the Kaaba — where the message began, and from which, under persecution, the Hijra set out”
Field notes
- Location
- Mecca · Saudi Arabia · N21.4° · E39.8°
- Best time
- During the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage seasons, or at any of the five daily prayers
- Getting there
- Entry is reserved for Muslims; pilgrims typically travel to Mecca by way of Jeddah.
- Etiquette
- As a sacred precinct, the mosque's visiting guidelines are carefully observed.
Sources
- · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- · UNESCO
Photographs are freely licensed works from Wikimedia Commons and similar sources; the author and license appear beneath each image.