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Mecca has been referred to by many names. As with many Arabic words, its etymology is obscure. [24] Widely believed to be a synonym for Makkah, it is said to be more specifically the early name for the valley located therein, while Muslim scholars generally use it to refer to the sacred area of the city that immediately surrounds and includes the Ka'bah.
Fred Donner, on the other hand, stated that "[the] assumption that Mecca was the linchpin of international luxury trade [has] been decisively challenged in recent years – notably in Patricia Crone, Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam.", [15] although Patricia Crone's theory has been challenged by Robert Bertram Serjeant who favored the Meccan ...
The Kaaba, [b] sometimes referred to as al-Ka'ba al-Musharrafa, [d] is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] It is considered by Muslims to be the Baytullah (Arabic: بَيْت ٱللَّٰه , lit.
More than 2 million people are expected to take part in this year's hajj, which means "pilgrimage."
According to Islamic tradition, Islam as a religion precedes Muhammad, [13] [14] [15] representing previous prophets such as Abraham. [16] According to Islamic scholars, Abraham is seen as having built the Kaaba in Mecca, and consequently its sanctuary, which according to the Muslim view is seen as the first mosque [17] that ever existed.
An ongoing dispute concerns the identity of the second male Muslim, that is, the first male who accepted the teachings of Muhammad. [3] [2] Shia and some Sunni sources identify him as Muhammad's cousin, Ali ibn Abi Talib, aged between nine and eleven at the time. [4] For instance, this is reported by the Sunni historian Ibn Hisham (d.
Earlier, they circled the cube-shaped Kaaba in the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site. More than 1.5 million pilgrims from around the world have already amassed in and around Mecca for the Hajj ...
The mound southeast of Mecca is little known outside Islam. For non-Muslims, the circling of the Kaaba — the black, cube-shaped structure in the holy city — is the most arresting visual moment ...