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Lying between two opposite combinations of mountains extending in a north-south direction, Makkah covers an area of three kilometers in length and one kilometer in width. Its stone-built houses have mostly three to four stories. In the center of the city is a great mosque named Masjid al-Haram.

Makkah was the birth place of Prophet Muhammad, and although he was forced to move to Madinah, he had profound admiration for the city. He is reported to have said: "O Makkah! Had not my people forced me out from here, I would never have liked to settle elsewhere." (Tirmizi) The city of Makkah around the Sacred Mosque and the whole territory surrounding Makkah up to several kilometers in every direction has been declared as sacred Haram Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Makkah although some Europeans are known to have penetrated the sacred city in disguise, the first being Ludovico di Bartema in 1503 and the most famous visitor was Sir Richard Burton in 1853.

For Muslims, the holiest and most blessed structure on the face of the earth is Ka’bah, the House of Allah, and the mosque that surrounds Ka’bah is called Masjid al-Haram. The reward of one prayer offered in it is worth one hundred thousand prayers offered elsewhere.



Masjid al-Haram is open on the top and has a yard which, like the yards of Istanbul's mosques, is surrounded by three rows of domes. The domes number five hundred and are supported by 462 pillars, of which 218 are made of slender marble, 224 are carved from a stone called Hajjar-i-shams, six or eight angled, and yellow-colored. Masjid al-Haram has an oblong form, its north wall is 164 meters long, south wall 146 meters long, east wall 106 meters long, and west wall 124 meters long. Saudis in 1375 [1955 A.D.] extended these four walls, so that Safa and Marwa were included in the Masjid. Hence, the mosque became 160,000 square meters.

Masjid al-Haram has nineteen doors, of which four are on the east wall, three on the west wall, five on the north wall and seven on the south wall. It has seven minarets. During the time of the Ottoman Empire, the distance between Makkah and the port of Jiddah was 75 km., between Medina and Jiddah 424 km., and between Medina and Badr 150 km.

The shortest road between Makkah and Medina is 335 km. The coastal way by which the Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him, migrated was 400 km. Makkah is 360 meters above the sea level. Medina is 160 kilometers inland from the coast. Before the time of Hadrat 'Umar (radi-Allahu 'anh), Masjid al-Haram did not have any walls. Around the Kaba was a small square, which was surrounded by houses. The Caliph 'Umar had some of the houses demolished and had a one-meter-high wall built around the Kaba, and thus Masjid al-Haram was built. Masjid al-Haram was restored various times. Today's Masjid al-Haram, together with the eleventh restoration of the Kaba al-muazzama, was built in 1045 hijri [1635 A.D.], during the time of Sultan Murad Khan IV, the seventeenth Ottoman Emperor.

The Kaba al-muazzama is a cubical room built of stone in the middle of Masjid al- Haram, and is 11.4 meters tall. Its north wall is 9.25 meters long, south wall 8.5 meters long, east wall 13.5 meters long, and west wall 13.3 meters long. On the corner of the east- south walls is the stone of Hajjar-i-aswad, which is over one meter above the ground. With so many Hajjis having kissed it, its surface is now rather concave.

The Kaba has a door on the east wall. 1.88 meters above the ground, the door is 1.7 meters wide and 2.6 meters high. Its inner side, as well as the floor, is covered with colored marble. Its minaret-like spiral staircase near the corner called Rukn-i-Iraqi, which has twenty-seven stairs of which seven are made of marble and the rest of wood, was restored by Mustafa Khan II. To the right of the door is a hollow and three pillars reaching high up to the ceiling. The outer side of the Kaba is dressed with black silk tissue. The door is curtained with green satin.

The Zamzam well, also within Masjid al-Haram, is in a room opposite the corner of Hajjar-i-aswad and 14.5 meters away from the corner, and has a stone curb 1.9 meters high. Its diameter is two and a half meters long, and its depth is thirty meters. The room, built by Sultan Abd-al Hamid Khan I, has a floor covered with marble, sloping near the walls, and ending in gutters at the feet of the walls. The gutters are of such competent work that they do not let any water ooze into the well. The mouth of the well is about one meter and half above their level. The four corners of the Kaba are called the four rukns.

The one pointing to Damascus is termed Rukn-i-Shami, the one pointing to Baghdad is termed Rukn-i-Iraqi, the one toward the Yaman is termed Rukn-i-Yamani, and the fourth corner is termed Rukn-i-Hajjar-il- aswad. It is mustahab to drink Zamzam after the farewell tawaf. Even with hundreds of thousands of Hajjis drinking the Zamzam, washing themselves with it, and taking some of it back to their countries, the water in the well cannot be exhausted. Today the water is pumped out day and night with a machine and a large-hose pipe, but it still does not seem to be exhaustible . There is a Gold Gutter on the north wall of the Kaba. The space between this gutter and the curved small wall, which is below the gutter and in line with it, is called the Hatim. While making the tawaf it is necessary to make the turns outside of this Hatim wall. The earth has only one Kaba. And it is in the city of Makkah al-mukarrama. To perform the Hajj believers go to the city of Makkah al-mukarrama, and there they do the things commanded by Allahu ta'ala, and become Hajjis.

Forbidden acts in the haram of Makkah: To cut or pull out from roots, trees, plants or other kinds of vegetation including thorny bushes, etc., growing in the sacred precincts of Mecca. Izkhar ( a sweet smelling grass) is an exception, which the Holy Prophet allowed to be cut on the request of Hazrat Abbas. The trees or plants which are not included in natural growth, but have been planted or sown, may be cut. To hunt or kill wild animals except the following kind of animals or insects that are likely to be harmful: the wolf, attack dog, snake, scorpion, rat, lizard, crow, mosquito, bugs, flies, wasps, etc. It is permissible to kill these harmful creatures. To enter the precincts of Haram without Ihram, the defaulter has to offer a sacrifice. To clip or get one’s hair shaved outside the bounds of Haram, the defaulter has to offer a sacrifice. To break or roast eggs of the birds of Haram, and to kill locusts. To pick up lost property except for the sake of identifying it to its owner. It is also permissible to hunt water animals. Killing of someone was not allowed in Makkah before Islam; this prohibition was lifted for the Holy Prophet for a short time on the day of the Conquest of Mecca, and after that was enforced again till the day of Judgment.

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