Editing Mecca (section)

==History==

=== Prehistory ===
In 2010, Mecca and the surrounding area became an important site for [[paleontology]] with respect to [[primate]] evolution, with the discovery of a ''[[Saadanius]]'' fossil. ''Saadanius'' is considered to be a primate closely related to the common ancestor of the [[Old World monkey]]s and [[apes]]. The fossil habitat, near what is now the Red Sea in western Saudi Arabia, was a damp forest area between 28&nbsp;million and 29&nbsp;million years ago.<ref>{{cite news|last=Sample|first=Ian|date=14 July 2010|title=Ape ancestors brought to life by fossil skull of 'Saadanius' primate|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jul/14/ape-ancestors-fossil-skull-saadanius|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927160050/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jul/14/ape-ancestors-fossil-skull-saadanius|archive-date=27 September 2016}}</ref> Paleontologists involved in the research hope to find further fossils in the area.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Laursen|first=Lucas|year=2010|title=Fossil skull fingered as ape–monkey ancestor|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|doi=10.1038/news.2010.354|issn = 0028-0836 }}</ref>

===Early history (up to 6th century CE)===

The early history of Mecca is still largely shrouded by a lack of clear sources. The city lies in the hinterland of the middle part of western Arabia of which there are sparse textual or archaeological sources available.<ref name="Literary" /> This lack of knowledge is in contrast to both the northern and southern areas of western Arabia, specifically the Syro-Palestinian frontier and Yemen, where historians have various sources available such as physical remains of shrines, inscriptions, observations by Greco-Roman authors, and information collected by church historians. The area of [[Hejaz]] that surrounds Mecca was characterized by its remote, rocky, and inhospitable nature, supporting only meagre settled populations in scattered oases and occasional stretches of fertile land. The Red Sea coast offered no easily accessible ports and the oasis dwellers and bedouins in the region were illiterate.<ref name="Literary" />

Academic research suggests that at the time of Muhammad the population of Mecca was around 550.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=M. Robinson|year=2022|title=The Population Size of Muḥammad's Mecca and the Creation of the Quraysh|journal=Der Islam|volume=1|issue=99|pages=10–37|doi=10.1515/islam-2022-0002|s2cid=247974816 |doi-access=free|hdl=10023/25835|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Muslims scholars using traditional sources may place the number as high as 10,000.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Al-Ateeqi |first=Binimad |title=Makkah at the Time of Prophet Muḥammad (PBUH) |year=2020 |isbn=978-1710858853 |publication-date=March 17, 2020 |pages=146–149 |publisher=Independently Published |language=EN}}</ref>
The first clear reference to Mecca in non-Islamic literature appears in 741, long after the death of Muhammad, in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, though here the author places the region in Mesopotamia rather than the Hejaz.<ref name="ReferenceA">Holland, Tom; In the Shadow of the Sword; Little, Brown; 2012; p. 471</ref>

Possible earlier mentions are not unambiguous. The Greek historian [[Diodorus Siculus]] writes about Arabia in the 1st century BCE in his work ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'', describing a holy shrine: "And a temple has been set up there, which is very holy and exceedingly revered by all Arabians".<ref>Translated by C.H. Oldfather, ''Diodorus Of Sicily, Volume II'', William Heinemann Ltd., London & Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1935, p. 217.</ref> Claims have been made this could be a reference to the [[Ka'bah]] in Mecca.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gibbon |first1=Edward |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.533456 |title=The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire |year=1862 |series=Book 5 |pages=223–224}}</ref> However, the geographic location Diodorus describes is located in northwest Arabia, around the area of [[Leuke Kome]], within the former [[Nabataean Kingdom]] and the Roman province of [[Arabia Petraea]].<ref>Jan Retsö, The Arabs in Antiquity (2003), 295–300</ref><ref>Photius, Diodorus and Strabo (English): Stanley M. Burnstein (tr.), Agatharchides of Cnidus: On the Eritraean Sea (1989), 132–173, esp. 152–3 (§92).)</ref>

Ptolemy lists the names of 50 cities in Arabia, one going by the name of Macoraba. There has been speculation since 1646 that this could be a reference to Mecca. Historically, there has been a general consensus in scholarship that Macoraba mentioned by [[Ptolemy]] in the 2nd century CE is indeed Mecca, but more recently, this has been questioned.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Crone, Patricia|title=Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1987|isbn=978-1-59333-102-3|pages=134–135}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author=Morris, Ian D.|year=2018|title=Mecca and Macoraba|url=https://islamichistorycommons.org/mem/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2018/11/UW-26-Morris.pdf|journal=Al-ʿUṣūr Al-Wusṭā|volume=26|pages=1–60|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117022342/https://islamichistorycommons.org/mem/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2018/11/UW-26-Morris.pdf|archive-date=17 November 2018|access-date=16 November 2018}}</ref> Bowersock favors the identity of the former, with his theory being that "Macoraba" is the word "''Makkah"'' followed by the aggrandizing [[Aramaic]] adjective ''rabb'' (great). The Roman historian [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] also enumerated many cities of Western Arabia, most of which can be identified. According to Bowersock, he did mention Mecca as "Geapolis" or "Hierapolis", the latter one meaning "holy city" potentially referring to the sanctuary of the [[Kaaba]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bowersock|first1=G. W.|title=The crucible of Islam|date=2017|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-05776-0|location=Cambridge (Mass.)|pages=53–55}}</ref> [[Patricia Crone]], from the [[Revisionist school of Islamic studies]] on the other hand, writes that "the plain truth is that the name Macoraba has nothing to do with that of Mecca [...] if Ptolemy mentions Mecca at all, he calls it Moka, a town in [[Arabia Petraea]]".<ref>Crane, P. ''Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam'', 1987, p.136</ref>

[[Procopius]]' 6th century statement that the [[Ma'add]] tribe possessed the coast of western Arabia between the [[Ghassanids]] and the [[Himyarite Kingdom|Himyarites]] of the south supports the Arabic sources tradition that associates [[Quraysh]] as a branch of the Ma'add and Muhammad as a direct descendant of Ma'add ibn Adnan.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shahid |first1=Irfan |title=Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, volume 1, part 1 |date=1995 |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks |isbn=978-0-88402-284-8 |page=163}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Procopius |title=History |pages=I.xix.14}}</ref>

Historian [[Patricia Crone]] has cast doubt on the claim that Mecca was a major historical trading outpost.<ref name="ReferenceB">Crone, Patricia; ''Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam''; 1987; p.7</ref><ref>Holland, Tom (2012). ''In the Shadow of the Sword''; Little, Brown; p. 303</ref> However, other scholars such as Glen W. Bowersock disagree and assert that Mecca was a major trading outpost.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Abdullah Alwi Haji Hassan|title=Sales and Contracts in Early Islamic Commercial Law|year=1994|isbn=978-969-408-136-6|pages=3 ff|publisher=Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bowersock|first=Glen. W.|title=Bowersock, G. W. (2017). The crucible of Islam. Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press. pp. 50 ff.|year=2017}}</ref> Crone later on disregarded some of her theories.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Crone |first1=Patricia |title=Quraysh and the Roman Army: Making Sense of the Meccan Leather Trade. |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |date=2007 |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=63–88 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X0700002X |jstor=40378894 |s2cid=154910558 }}</ref> She argues that Meccan trade relied on skins, hides, manufactured leather goods, clarified butter, Hijazi woollens, and camels. She suggests that most of these goods were destined for the Roman army, which is known to have required colossal quantities of leather and hides for its equipment.

Mecca is mentioned in the following early Quranic manuscripts:
* Codex Is. 1615 I, folio 47v, [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dated]] to 591–643.
* Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01–29.1, folio 29a, radiocarbon dated between 633 and 665.
* Codex Arabe 331, folio 40 v, radiocarbon dated between 652 and 765.

The earliest Muslim inscriptions are from the Mecca-[[Ta'if]] area.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoyland |first1=Robert |title=Seeing Islam as others saw it |date=1997 |publisher=Darwin Press |isbn=0-87850-125-8 |page=565}}</ref>

'''Islamic narrative'''

{{multiple image
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| image1            = Makkah mentioned in Quranic manuscript Codex Arabe 331dated to 652-765 CE with 95.4% probability.png
| caption1          = Mecca mentioned in Quranic manuscript Codex Arabe 331 ([[Q48:24]])
| image2            = OldmapofMecca.jpg
| caption2          = A 1787 [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Turkish map of [[Al-Haram Mosque]], and related religious sites, such as Jabal al-Nour
}}

In the Islamic view, the beginnings of Mecca are attributed to the [[Biblical people in Islam|Biblical figures]], [[Adam]], [[Abraham]], [[Hagar]] and [[Ishmael]]. It was Adam himself who built the first God's house in Mecca according to a heavenly prototype but this building was destroyed in the [[Genesis flood narrative|Noahic Flood]].<ref name="Literary" /> The civilization of Mecca is believed to have started after [[Abraham in Islam|Ibrāhīm]] (Abraham) left his son Ismāʿīl (Ishmael) and wife [[Hagar in Islam|Hājar]] (Hagar) in the valley at [[Allah]]'s command.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} Some people from the Yemeni tribe of [[Jurhum]] settled with them, and Isma'il reportedly married two women, one after divorcing the first, on Ibrahim's advice. At least one man of the Jurhum helped Ismāʿīl and his father to construct or according to Islamic narratives, reconstruct, the ''[[Kaaba|Ka'bah]]'' ('Cube'),<ref>{{qref|2|127|b=y}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1" /><ref>{{qref|22|25-37|b=y}}</ref> which would have social, religious, political and historical implications for the site and region.<ref name="Glasse1991">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|title=Kaaba|encyclopedia=The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam|publisher=[[HarperSanFrancisco]]|year=1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dlPuAAAAMAAJ|isbn=0-0606-3126-0}}</ref><ref name="Lings1983">{{cite book |last=Lings |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Lings |title=Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources |publisher=Islamic Texts Society |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-946621-33-0|title-link=Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources }}</ref>

Muslims see the mention of a pilgrimage at the [[Bakkah#Valley of the Bakha|Valley of the Bakha]] in the [[Old Testament]] chapter [[Psalm 84]]:3–6 as a reference to Mecca, similar to the Quran at Surah {{qref|3|96|}} In the ''[[Al Imran|'āl ʿimrān]]'', a commentary on the [[Samaritans|Samaritan]] [[midrash]]ic chronology of the Patriarchs, of unknown date but probably composed in the 10th century CE, it is claimed that Mecca was built by the sons of [[Nebaioth]], the eldest son of Ismāʿīl or [[Ishmael]].<ref>Crown, Alan David (2001) [https://books.google.com/books?id=e5iW24esf-sC&pg=PA27 ''Samaritan Scribes and Manuscripts'']. Mohr Siebeck. p. 27</ref><ref>Crone, Patricia and Cook, M.A. (1977) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ta08AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA22 ''Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World,''] Cambridge University Press. p. 22.</ref><ref>Lazarus-Yafeh, Hava (1992). [https://books.google.com/books?id=mzQABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 ''Intertwined Worlds: Medieval Islam and Bible Criticism'']. Princeton University Press. pp.61–62</ref>

====Thamudic inscriptions====
Some [[Thamudic]] inscriptions which were discovered in southern [[Jordan]] contained names of some individuals such as ''ʿAbd Mekkat'' ({{lang|ar|{{Script|Arab|عَبْد مَكَّة}}}}, "Servant of Mecca").<ref>G. Lankester Harding & Enno Littman, Some Thamudic Inscriptions from the Hashimite Kingdom of the Jordan (Leiden, Netherlands – 1952), p. 19, Inscription No. 112A</ref>

Some related inscriptions contained personal names such as ''Makki'' ({{lang|ar|مَكِّي}}, "Makkan, of Makkah"), but Jawwad Ali from the [[University of Baghdad]] suggested that there's also a probability of a tribe named "Makkah".<ref>Jawwad Ali, The Detailed History of Arabs before Islam (1993), Vol. 4, p. 11</ref>

====Under the Quraish====
Sometime in the 5th century, the Ka'bah was a place of worship for the deities of [[Arabian mythology|Arabia's pagan tribes]]. Mecca's most important [[Paganism|pagan]] [[deity]] was [[Hubal]], which had been placed there by the ruling [[Quraysh (tribe)|Quraish]] tribe.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Hawting, G.R.|year=1980|title=The Disappearance and Rediscovery of Zamzam and the 'Well of the Ka'ba'|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|volume=43|issue=1|pages=44–54 (44)|doi=10.1017/S0041977X00110523|jstor=616125|s2cid=162654756}}</ref><ref>[[#iw|''Islamic World'']], p. 20</ref> and remained until the [[Conquest of Mecca]] by [[Muhammad]].{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} In the 5th century, the Quraish took control of Mecca, and became skilled merchants and traders. In the 6th century, they joined the lucrative [[spice trade]], since battles elsewhere were diverting [[trade route]]s from dangerous sea routes to more secure overland routes. The [[Byzantine Empire]] had previously controlled the [[Red Sea]], but [[piracy]] had been increasing.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} Another previous route that ran through the [[Persian Gulf]] via the [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]] rivers was also being threatened by exploitations from the [[Sassanid Empire]], and was being disrupted by the [[Lakhmids]], the [[Ghassanids]], and the [[Roman–Persian Wars]]. Mecca's prominence as a trading center also surpassed the cities of [[Petra]] and [[Palmyra]].<ref name="EIE">"Makka – The pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam''</ref><ref name="lapidus-14">[[#Lapidus|Lapidus]], p. 14</ref> The Sassanids however did not always pose a threat to Mecca, as in 575 they protected it from a Yemeni invasion, led by its Christian leader [[Abraha]]. The tribes of southern Arabia asked the Persian king [[Khosrau I]] for aid, in response to which he came south to Arabia with foot-soldiers and a fleet of ships near Mecca.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bauer, S. Wise|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1u2oP2RihIgC&pg=PA243|title=The history of the medieval world: from the conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2010|isbn=978-0-393-05975-5|page=243}}</ref>

By the middle of the 6th century, there were three major settlements in northern [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]], all along the south-western coast that borders the Red Sea, in a habitable region between the sea and the Hejaz mountains to the east. Although the area around Mecca was completely barren, it was the wealthiest of the three settlements with abundant water from the renowned [[Zamzam Well]] and a position at the crossroads of major [[Camel train|caravan]] routes.<ref name="world-13" />

The harsh conditions and terrain of the Arabian peninsula meant a near-constant state of conflict between the [[Tribes of Arabia|local tribes]], but once a year they would declare a truce and converge upon Mecca in an annual pilgrimage. Up to the 7th century, this journey was intended for religious reasons by the pagan Arabs to pay homage to their shrine, and to drink [[Zamzam Well|Zamzam]]. However, it was also the time each year that disputes would be arbitrated, debts would be resolved, and trading would occur at Meccan fairs. These annual events gave the tribes a sense of common identity and made Mecca an important focus for the peninsula.<ref name="lapidus-16">[[#Lapidus|Lapidus]], pp. 16–17</ref>

====Year of the Elephant (570)====
The "[[Year of the Elephant]]" is the name in [[Islam]]ic history for the year approximately equating to 570–572, when, according to Islamic sources such as [[Ibn Ishaq]], [[Abraha]] descended upon Mecca, riding an elephant, with a large army after building a [[Church (building)|cathedral]] at [[Sanaa|San'aa]], named ''al-Qullays'' in honor of the [[Negus]] of [[Axum]]. It gained widespread fame, even gaining attention from the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref name="Hajjah" /> Abraha attempted to divert the pilgrimage of the Arabs from the Ka'bah to al-Qullays, effectively converting them to Christianity. According to Islamic tradition, this was the year of [[Muhammad]]'s birth.<ref name="Hajjah">{{cite book |last=Hajjah Adil |first=Amina |title=Prophet Muhammad |url=https://archive.org/details/muhammadmessenge0000adil |year=2002 |publisher=[[Islamic Supreme Council of America|ISCA]] |isbn=1-930409-11-7 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Abraha allegedly sent a messenger named Muhammad ibn Khuza'i to Mecca and [[Tihamah]] with a message that al-Qullays was both much better than other houses of worship and purer, having not been defiled by the housing of idols.<ref name="Hajjah" /> When Muhammad ibn Khuza'i got as far as the land of [[Banu Kinanah|Kinana]], the people of the lowland, knowing what he had come for, sent a man of [[Banu Hudhayl|Hudhayl]] called ʿUrwa bin Hayyad al-Milasi, who shot him with an arrow, killing him. His brother Qays who was with him, fled to Abraha and told him the news, which increased his rage and fury and he swore to raid the Kinana tribe and destroy the Ka'bah. Ibn Ishaq further states that one of the men of the [[Quraysh]] tribe was angered by this, and going to Sana'a, entering the church at night and defiling it; widely assumed to have done so by [[defecation|defecating]] in it.<ref name="DACB">[http://www.dacb.org/stories/ethiopia/_abraha.html "Abraha."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113213718/http://www.dacb.org/stories/ethiopia/_abraha.html|date=13 January 2016}} ''Dictionary of African Christian Biographies''. 2007. (last accessed 11 April 2007)</ref><ref name="Muller">Müller, Walter W. (1987) [http://www.yemenweb.com/info/_disc/0000002c.htm "Outline of the History of Ancient Southern Arabia"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010075912/http://www.yemenweb.com/info/_disc/0000002c.htm|date=10 October 2014}}, in Werner Daum (ed.), ''Yemen: 3000 Years of Art and Civilisation in Arabia Felix''.</ref>

Abraha marched upon the Ka'bah with a large army, which included one or more [[war elephant]]s, intending to demolish it. When news of the advance of his army came, the Arab tribes of Quraysh, Kinanah, [[Banu Khuza'a|Khuza'a]] and Hudhayl united in the defense of the Ka'bah and the city. A man from the [[Himyarite Kingdom]] was sent by Abraha to advise them that Abraha only wished to demolish the Ka'bah and if they resisted, they would be crushed. [[Abdul Muttalib]] told the Meccans to seek refuge in the hills while he and some members of the Quraysh remained within the precincts of the Kaaba. Abraha sent a dispatch inviting Abdul-Muttalib to meet with Abraha and discuss matters. When Abdul-Muttalib left the meeting he was heard saying: "The Owner of this House is its Defender, and I am sure he will save it from the attack of the adversaries and will not dishonor the servants of His House."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-10-18|title=The Year of the Elephant|url=https://www.al-islam.org/life-muhammad-prophet-sayyid-saeed-akhtar-rizvi/year-elephant|access-date=2021-07-07|website=Al-Islam.org|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Significance Behind Prophet Mohammad's Birth in the Year of the Elephant|url=http://aliftaa.jo/ArticleEn.aspx?ArticleId=2462|access-date=2021-07-07|website=aliftaa.jo}}</ref>

Abraha eventually attacked Mecca. However, the lead elephant, known as Mahmud,<ref>{{cite web|author=ʿAbdu r-Rahmān ibn Nāsir as-Saʿdī|title=Tafsir of Surah al Fil – The Elephant (Surah 105)|date=23 December 2009 |url=http://islaam.net/main/display.php?id=1480&category=176|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220090653/http://islaam.net/main/display.php?id=1480&category=176|archive-date=20 December 2010|access-date=15 March 2013|translator=Abū Rumaysah |publisher=Islamic Network|quote=This elephant was called Mahmud and it was sent to Abrahah from [[Negus|Najashi]], the king of Abyssinia, particularly for this expedition.}}</ref> is said to have stopped at the boundary around Mecca and refused to enter. It has been theorized that an epidemic such as by [[smallpox]] could have caused such a failed invasion of Mecca.<ref>{{cite journal|author-link=John S. Marr|vauthors=Marr JS, Hubbard E, Cathey JT|date=2015|title=The Year of the Elephant|journal=WikiJournal of Medicine|volume=2|issue=1|doi=10.15347/wjm/2015.003|doi-access=free}}<br />In turn citing: {{cite web|author=Willan R.|date=1821|title=Miscellaneous works: comprising An inquiry into the antiquity of the small-pox, measles, and scarlet fever, now first published; Reports on the diseases in London, a new ed.; and detached papers on medical subjects, collected from various periodical publi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TXEFAAAAQAAJ|publisher=Cadell|page=488}}</ref> The reference to the story in [[Quran]] is rather short. According to the 105th [[Sura]]h of the Quran, [[Al-Fil]], the next day, a dark cloud of small birds sent by Allah appeared. The birds carried small rocks in their beaks, and bombarded the Ethiopian forces, and smashed them to a state like that of eaten straw.<ref>{{qref|105|1-5|b=y}}</ref>

====Economy====
Camel caravans, said to have first been used by Muhammad's great-grandfather, were a major part of Mecca's bustling economy. Alliances were struck between the merchants in Mecca and the local nomadic tribes, who would bring goods – leather, livestock, and metals mined in the local mountains – to Mecca to be loaded on the caravans and carried to cities in [[Syria (region)|Shaam]] and [[Iraq]].<ref name="world">[[#iw|''Islamic World'']], pp. 17–18</ref> Historical accounts also provide some indication that goods from other continents may also have flowed through Mecca. Goods from Africa and the Far East passed through en route to Syria including spices, leather, medicine, cloth, and slaves; in return Mecca received money, weapons, cereals, and wine, which in turn were distributed throughout Arabia.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} The Meccans signed treaties with both the Byzantines and the [[Bedouin]]s, and negotiated safe passages for caravans, giving them water and pasture rights. Mecca became the center of a loose confederation of client tribes, which included those of the [[Banu Tamim]]. Other regional powers such as the [[Habesha people|Abyssinians]], Ghassanids, and Lakhmids were in decline leaving Meccan trade to be the primary binding force in Arabia in the late 6th century.<ref name="lapidus-16" />

=== Muhammad and the conquest of Mecca ===
{{Main|Muhammad|Conquest of Mecca|Muhammad in Mecca|List of expeditions of Muhammad}}
[[File:Site of the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.jpg|thumb|[[Makkah Al Mukarramah Library]] ({{coord|21|25|30|N|39|49|48|E|type:landmark_scale:5000_region:SA|name=Bayt al-Mawlid / Makkah Al Mukarramah Library}}) is believed to stand on the spot where Muhammad was born, so it is also known as ''[[Bayt al-Mawlid]]'']]

Muhammad was [[mawlid|born]] in Mecca in 570, and thus Islam has been inextricably linked with it ever since. He was born into the faction of [[Banu Hashim]] in the ruling tribe of [[Quraysh]]. It was in the nearby mountain cave of Hira on [[Jabal al-Nour]] that Muhammad began receiving divine [[revelation]]s from God through the [[archangel]] [[Gabriel|Jibreel]] in 610, according to Islamic tradition. Advocating his form of [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic monotheism]] against Meccan paganism, and after enduring persecution from the pagan tribes for 13 years, Muhammad emigrated ([[Hijra (Islam)|''hijrah'']]) in 622 with his companions, the ''[[Muhajirun]]'', to Yathrib (later renamed [[Medina]]). The conflict between the Quraysh and the Muslims is accepted to have begun at this point. Overall, Meccan efforts to annihilate Islam failed and proved to be costly and unsuccessful.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} During the [[Battle of the Trench]] in 627, the combined armies of Arabia were unable to defeat Muhammad's forces (as the trench surrounding Muhammad's forces protected them from harm and a storm was sent to breach the Quraysh tribe).<ref name="lapidus-32">[[#Lapidus|Lapidus]], p. 32</ref> In 628, Muhammad and his followers wanted to enter Mecca for pilgrimage, but were blocked by the Quraysh. Subsequently, Muslims and Meccans entered into the [[Treaty of Hudaybiyyah]], whereby the Quraysh and their allies promised to cease fighting Muslims and their allies and pledged to permit Muslims into the city to perform the pilgrimage the following year. It was meant to be a ceasefire for 10 years; however, just two years later, the [[Banu Bakr]], allies of the Quraish, violated the truce by slaughtering a group of the Banu Khuza'ah, allies of the Muslims. Muhammad and his companions, now 10,000 strong, marched into Mecca and conquered the city. The pagan imagery was destroyed by Muhammad's followers and the location [[Islamized]] and rededicated to the worship of [[Allah]] alone. Mecca was declared the holiest site in Islam ordaining it as the center of Muslim pilgrimage (''[[Hajj]]''), one of the Islamic faith's [[Five Pillars of Islam|Five Pillars]].

Muhammad then returned to Medina, after assigning '[[Attab ibn Asid]] as governor of the city. His other activities in Arabia led to the unification of the Arabian Peninsula under the banner of Islam.<ref name="EIE" /><ref name="lapidus-32" /> Muhammad died in 632. Within the next few hundred years, the area under the banner of Islam stretched from North Africa into Asia and parts of Europe. As the [[Rashidun Caliphate|Islamic realm]] grew, Mecca continued to attract pilgrims from all across the [[Muslim world]] and beyond, as Muslims came to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Mecca also attracted a year-round population of scholars, pious Muslims who wished to live close to the Kaaba, and local inhabitants who served the pilgrims. Due to the difficulty and expense of the Hajj, pilgrims arrived by boat at Jeddah, and came overland, or joined the annual caravans from Syria or Iraq.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

=== Medieval and pre-modern times ===
Mecca was never the capital of any of the [[caliphate|Islamic states]]. Muslim rulers did contribute to its upkeep, such as during the reigns of '[[Umar]] (r. 634–644) and '[[Uthman ibn Affan]] (r. 644–656) when concerns of flooding caused the caliphs to bring in Christian engineers to build barrages in the low-lying quarters and construct dykes and embankments to protect the area around the Kaaba.<ref name="EIE" />

Muhammad's return to Medina shifted the focus away from Mecca and later even further away when '[[Ali]], the fourth caliph, took power and chose [[Kufa]] as his capital. The [[Umayyad Caliphate]] moved the capital to [[Damascus]] in Syria and the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] to [[Baghdad]], in modern-day Iraq, which remained the center of the Islamic Empire for nearly 500 years. Mecca re-entered Islamic political history during the [[Second Fitna]], when it was held by [[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr|Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr]] and the Zubayrids.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} The city was twice besieged by the Umayyads in [[Siege of Mecca (683)|683]] and [[Siege of Mecca (692)|692]], and for some time thereafter, the city figured little in politics, remaining a city of devotion and scholarship governed by various other factions. In 930, Mecca was [[Sack of Mecca|attacked and sacked]] by [[Qarmatians]], a [[millenarianism|millenarian]] [[Shia Islam|Shi'a]] [[Ismailism|Isma'ili]] [[Islamic schools and branches|Muslim sect]] led by [[Abū-Tāhir Al-Jannābī]] and centered in eastern Arabia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mecca|url=http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0832430.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817083014/http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0832430.html|archive-date=17 August 2010|access-date=6 April 2010|publisher=Infoplease.com}}</ref> The [[Black Death]] [[pandemic]] hit Mecca in 1349.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Islamic World to 1600: The Mongol Invasions (The Black Death)|url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/mongols/blackDeath.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721033845/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/mongols/blackDeath.html|archive-date=21 July 2009|access-date=6 April 2010|publisher=Ucalgary.ca}}</ref>

==== Ibn Battuta's description of Mecca ====
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One of the most famous travelers to Mecca in the 14th century was a Moroccan scholar and traveler, [[Ibn Battuta]]. In his ''rihla'' (account), he provides a vast description of the city. Around the year 1327 (729 AH), Ibn Battuta arrived at the holy city. Immediately, he says, it felt like a holy sanctuary, and thus he started the rites of the pilgrimage. He remained in Mecca for three years and left in 1330. During his second year in the holy city, he says his caravan arrived "with a great quantity of alms for the support of those who were staying in Mecca and Medina". While in Mecca, prayers were made for (not to) the King of Iraq and also for [[Saladin|Salaheddin al-Ayyubi]], Sultan of Egypt and Syria at the Ka'bah. Battuta says the Ka'bah was large, but was destroyed and rebuilt smaller than the original. According to Ibn Battuta, the original Kaaba, prior to the conquest of Makkah by the Prophet, contained images of angels and prophets including Jesus (Isa in Islamic tradition), his mother Mary (Maryam in Islamic tradition), and many others - Ibn Battuta however states these were all destroyed by the Prophet in the year of victory. Battuta describes the Ka'bah in his time as an important part of Mecca due to the fact that many people make the pilgrimage to it. Battuta describes the people of the city as being humble and kind, and also willing to give a part of everything they had to someone who had nothing. The inhabitants of Mecca and the village itself, he says, were very clean. There was also a sense of elegance to the village.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Battuta|first=Ibn|title=The Travels of Ibn Battuta|publisher=Cosimo|year=2009}}</ref>

====Under the Ottomans====
[[File:Khalili Collection Hajj Mecca panorama.jpg|alt=|thumb|Panorama of Mecca, 1845, from the [[Khalili Collection of Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage]]]]In 1517, the Sharif of Mecca, Barakat bin Muhammad, acknowledged the supremacy of the [[Ottoman Caliphate|Ottoman Caliph]] but retained a great degree of local autonomy.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Mecca|volume=17|page=952}}</ref> In 1803 the city was captured by the [[First Saudi State]],<ref>"[http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/7.htm The Saud Family and Wahhabi Islam] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721222356/http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/7.htm|date=21 July 2011}}". [[Library of Congress Country Studies]].</ref> which held Mecca until 1813, destroying some of the historic tombs and domes in and around the city. The Ottomans assigned the task of bringing Mecca back under Ottoman control to their powerful ''[[Khedive]]'' (viceroy) and ''[[Wali (administrative title)|Wali]]'' of Egypt, [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali Pasha]]. Muhammad Ali Pasha successfully returned Mecca to Ottoman control [[Ottoman return of Mecca 1813|in 1813]]. In 1818, the Saud were defeated again but survived and founded the [[Second Saudi State]] that lasted until 1891 and led on to the present country of Saudi Arabia. In 1853, Sir [[Richard Francis Burton]] undertook the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina disguised as a Muslim. Although Burton was certainly not the first non-Muslim European to make the ''Hajj'' ([[Ludovico di Varthema]] did this in 1503),<ref>{{cite web|author=Leigh Rayment|title=Ludovico di Varthema|url=http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/varthema.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617222339/http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/varthema.html|archive-date=17 June 2012|work=Discoverers Web}}</ref> his pilgrimage remains one of the most famous and documented of modern times. Mecca was regularly hit by [[cholera]] [[Cholera outbreaks and pandemics|outbreaks]]. Between 1830 and 1930, cholera broke out among pilgrims at Mecca 27 times.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/114078/cholera/253250/Seven-pandemics#ref=ref886683 Cholera (pathology)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627012745/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/114078/cholera/253250/Seven-pandemics|date=27 June 2009}}. Britannica Online Encyclopedia.</ref>

=== Modern history ===
[[File:Makkah-1910.jpg|thumb|Mecca in 1910]]
====Hashemite revolt and subsequent control by the Sharifate of Mecca====

In [[World War I]], the Ottoman Empire was at war with the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]]. It had successfully repulsed an attack on [[Istanbul]] in the [[Gallipoli campaign]] and on Baghdad in the [[Siege of Kut]]. The British intelligence officer [[T. E. Lawrence]] conspired with the Ottoman governor, [[Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca|Hussain bin Ali]], the Sharif of Mecca to revolt against the Ottoman Empire and it was the first city captured by his forces in the [[Battle of Mecca (1916)|1916 Battle of Mecca]]. Sharif's revolt proved a turning point of the war on the eastern front. Hussein declared a new state, the [[Kingdom of Hejaz]], declaring himself the Sharif of the state and Mecca his capital. News reports in November 1916 via contact in [[Cairo]] with returning [[Hajj]] pilgrims, stated that with the Ottoman Turkish authorities gone, the Hajj of 1916 was free of the previous massive extortion and monetary demands made by the Turks who were agents of the Ottoman government.<ref>''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' Saturday 25 November 1916, reprinted in ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' Friday 25 November 2016 issue (p. 36)</ref>

====Saudi conquest====

Following the [[Battle of Mecca (1924)|1924 Battle of Mecca]], the Sharif of Mecca was overthrown by the Saud family, and Mecca was incorporated into Saudi Arabia.<ref name="encarta">[https://web.archive.org/web/20091028055612/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761577367/Mecca.html "Mecca"] at [[Encarta]]. (Archived) 1 November 2009.</ref> Under Saudi rule, much of the historic city has been demolished as a result of the Saudi government fearing these sites might become sites of association in worship besides Allah (''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]''). The city has been expanded to include several towns previously considered to be separate from the holy city and now is just a few kilometers outside the main sites of the Hajj, Mina, Muzdalifah, and Arafat. Mecca is not served by any airport, due to concerns about the city's safety. It is instead served by the [[King Abdulaziz International Airport]] in [[Jeddah]] (approx. 70&nbsp;km away) internationally and the [[Ta'if Regional Airport]] (approx. 120&nbsp;km away) for domestic flights.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

The city today is at the junction of the two most important highways in all of the Saudi Arabian highway system, Highway 40, which connects the city to Jeddah in the west and the capital, [[Riyadh]] and [[Dammam]] in the east and Highway 15, which connects it to [[Medina]], [[Tabuk, Saudi Arabia|Tabuk]] and onward to [[Jordan]] in the north and [[Abha]] and [[Jizan]] in the south. The Ottomans had planned to extend their railway network to the holy city, but were forced to abandon this plan due to their entry into the [[First World War]]. This plan was later carried out by the Saudi government, which connected the two holy cities of Medina and Mecca with the modern [[Haramain high-speed railway]] system which runs at 300&nbsp;km/h (190&nbsp;mph) and connects the two cities via Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport and [[King Abdullah Economic City]] near Rabigh within two hours.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

The [[Haram (site)|haram area]] of Mecca, in which the entry of non-Muslims is forbidden, is much larger than that of Medina.

====1979 Grand Mosque seizure====
{{See also|Grand Mosque seizure}}
On 20 November 1979, two hundred armed dissidents led by [[Juhayman al-Otaibi]], [[Grand Mosque Seizure|seized the Grand Mosque]], claiming the Saudi royal family no longer represented pure Islam and that the [[Masjid al-Haram]] and the Ka'bah, must be held by those of true faith. The rebels seized tens of thousands of pilgrims as hostages and barricaded themselves in the mosque. The siege lasted two weeks, and resulted in several hundred deaths and significant damage to the shrine, especially the [[Al-Safa and Al-Marwah|Safa-Marwah]] gallery. A multinational force was finally able to retake the mosque from the dissidents.<ref>{{cite news|date=28 August 2007|title=The Siege of Mecca|publisher=Doubleday(US)|url=http://www.siegeofmecca.com|access-date=3 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018060953/http://www.siegeofmecca.com/|archive-date=18 October 2014}}
</ref> Since then, the Grand Mosque has been expanded several times, with many other expansions being undertaken in the present day.

====Destruction of Islamic heritage sites====
{{Main|Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites in Saudi Arabia}}

[[File:Makkah_Aerial_View.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Mecca, as seen from [[Jabal al-Nour]]. [[Abraj Al Bait|Mecca Clock Tower]] is visible in the skyline.]]
Under Saudi rule, it has been estimated that since 1985, about 95% of Mecca's historic buildings, most over a thousand years old, have been demolished.<ref name="independent" /><ref name="independent.co.uk">[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-destruction-of-mecca-saudi-hardliners-are-wiping-out-their-own-heritage-501647.html 'The destruction of Mecca: Saudi hardliners are wiping out their own heritage'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119151341/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-destruction-of-mecca-saudi-hardliners-are-wiping-out-their-own-heritage-501647.html|date=19 January 2011}}, The Independent, 6 August 2005. Retrieved 17 January 2011</ref> It has been reported that there are now fewer than 20 structures remaining in Mecca that date back to the time of Muhammad. Some important buildings that have been destroyed include the house of [[Khadija bint Khuwaylid|Khadijah]], the wife of Muhammad, the house of [[Abu Bakr]], Muhammad's birthplace, and the Ottoman-era [[Ajyad Fortress]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090310011511/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/shame-of-the-house-of-saud-shadows-over-mecca-474736.html 'Shame of the House of Saud: Shadows over Mecca'], The Independent, 19 April 2006 | archived from the original on 10 March 2009</ref> The reason for much of the destruction of historic buildings has been for the construction of hotels, apartments, parking lots, and other infrastructure facilities for [[Hajj]] pilgrims.<ref name="independent.co.uk" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bsheer|first=Rosie|date=20 December 2020|title=How Saudi Arabia obliterated its rich cultural history|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/saudi-arabia-obliterated-rich-cultural-history|access-date=2022-01-17|website=Middle East Eye|language=en}}</ref>

====Incidents during pilgrimage====
{{main|Incidents during the Hajj}}
Mecca has been the site of several incidents and failures of crowd control because of the large numbers of people who come to make the Hajj.<ref>{{cite news|date=27 December 2006|title=What is the Hajj? ("Hajj disasters")|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4180965.stm|url-status=live|access-date=18 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124121049/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4180965.stm|archive-date=24 January 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=17 December 2007|title=History of deaths on the Hajj|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4607304.stm|url-status=live|access-date=18 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610220505/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4607304.stm|archive-date=10 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ruthven|first=Malise|title=Islam in the World|year=2006|isbn=978-1-86207-906-9|page=10|publisher=Granta Books |author-link=Malise Ruthven}}</ref> For example, on 2 July 1990, a pilgrimage to Mecca ended in tragedy when the ventilation system failed in a crowded pedestrian tunnel and 1,426 people were either suffocated or trampled to death in a [[1990 Hajj stampede|stampede]].<ref>[https://www.expressandstar.com/days/1976-2000/1990.html Express & Star] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200651/http://www.expressandstar.com/days/1976-2000/1990.html|date=3 March 2016}}. ''Express & Star''. Retrieved 3 February 2013.</ref> On 24 September 2015, 700 pilgrims [[2015 Mina stampede|were killed]] in a stampede at [[Mina, Saudi Arabia|Mina]] during the stoning-the-Devil ritual at Jamarat.<ref>{{cite news|title=Over 700 Dead, 800 Injured in Stampede Near Mecca During Haj|publisher=NDTV|url=http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/at-least-100-dead-390-hurt-in-stampede-during-haj-in-saudi-arabia-say-officials-1221489?pfrom=home-lateststories|url-status=live|access-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925103415/http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/at-least-100-dead-390-hurt-in-stampede-during-haj-in-saudi-arabia-say-officials-1221489?pfrom=home-lateststories|archive-date=25 September 2015}}</ref>

====2027 total solar eclipse====
Mecca will experience a [[Solar eclipse of August 2, 2027|total solar eclipse]] on Monday, 2 August 2027, for a duration of 5 minutes and 8 seconds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Total Solar Eclipse on August 2, 2027: Path Map and Times |url=https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2027-august-2 |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=www.timeanddate.com |language=en}}</ref>