Eps 14: Saudi Arabia and the Hajj Pilgrimage Human Geography
Mecca can accommodate the continually increasing number of pilgrims, or hajjis.
Mecca's houses are more compacted in the old city than in the modern residential areas.
Most of the people are concentrated in the old city, while densities in the modern residential areas are the lowest in the city.
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Gertrude Boyd
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Saudi Arabia is often associated with the more orthodox sect of Sunni Islam, Wahhabism. Saudi rule and Wahhabi-enforced state understanding have improved facilities for pilgrims in recent years, particularly in the form of new hotels, mosques, and other religious institutions.
Since the exploitation of Saudi Arabia's oil resources after World War II, Mecca has undergone a major economic development, with the number of annual pilgrims exploding. Iranian pilgrims often take part in political protests that lead to clashes with Saudi police, and there are many dead and injured. In 1979, a group of militants, including those from many other Islamic countries, occupied the Grand Mosque and drove hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, many of them Muslims, out of the city.
Once a year, nomadic tribes met in Mecca to pay homage to their idol, the Kaaba, drinking samzam and declaring a truce. The Arab city of Mecca was built by several tribes as a trading center as maritime trade routes became more dangerous and they were directed to a safer route overland. The cities of Mecca and Medina served as an important hub for trade between the Arabian Peninsula and the rest of the Middle East and North Africa.
When Hagar died, Abraham and Ishmael built a rectangular shrine in Mecca, which contained special stones. Arab tribes gained political power around 400 AD, and several Jewish tribes ruled the oasis city of Yathrib, also known as Medina, until the end of the 5th century AD. Patriarch Abraham came to Mecca with his son, the Prophet Mohammed, who was born in 571 AD and was the first prophet of Islam.
The shrine was to become one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Muslims and Jews worldwide. All able Muslims are expected to make pilgrimages or hajj at least once in their lives.
As more and more people in the Arabian Peninsula began to convert to Islam, they spread its teachings throughout the region. Muslim leaders, legions of Bedouin fighters, moved into the desert, conquered the country and placed it under the control of the Muslim empire, which in the Middle Ages controlled large areas of the world.
According to Islamic belief, the fountain near the city of Mecca is a miraculously produced water source of God.
Since the majority of pre-Islamic Arabia was nomadic, there were several important cities that emerged as commercial and religious centers. The most important of these cities was Mecca, which was an important trading centre in the area and one of the most revered shrines of Islam. Since the 7th century, when it became the center of all holiest mosques of Islam, tribal icons have been housed in the holy buildings in and around the city of Mecca.
The Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage, is one of the five pillars of the Muslim faith and is part of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The Muslim world, especially those living in hot weather inSaudi Arabia, and the pilgrimage itself are an important part of their daily lives.
In the past, the journey to Mecca was a difficult one, crossing oceans and miles of deserts. These people are celebrating the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Islam's holy city of Mecca. The trip falls between five and seven years in summer, spring and autumn.
For five or more days they are clothed in simple white robes and in the holy city of Mecca special activities, rituals and ceremonies are performed such as prayer, fasting and fasting.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and a must - for all Muslims, provided that adult Muslims are able to do it. The prevalence of diabetes in Arab and Muslim countries ranges from 2% to 5% of adults and from 1.5% to 3% in children. When this is taken into account, together with the high number of Muslims with diabetes who perform the Hajj, it is estimated that the total number of non-diabetic Muslims who perform the Hajj could exceed 220,000 per year.
In addition, the Hajj is performed by more than 1.5 million Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa region alone.
Mecca is basically a place that people visit annually to fulfill their duty as Muslims and believers before Allah. However, it is also believed that Allah Himself commanded Prophet Abraham to build a special structure in the center for believers to pray to and worship to. Another thing I will mention about the Kaaba is that it is the ultimate place of worship and pilgrimage.