Mecca
Mecca (Makka). The birthplace of the Prophet Muḥammad. Muḥammad's initial preaching made little impression, and indeed evoked increasing opposition, esp. from the ruling clan, the Quraish. He therefore made the hijra to Madīna, only recapturing Mecca near the end of his life. He immediately established the ḥajj practices, thus ensuring the centrality of Mecca to Muslim life, even when the centres of political power under different dynasties of caliphs (khalīfa) moved far away. The mosque at Mecca is al-Masjid al-Ḥarām; and the two towns, Mecca and Madīna, are known as al-Haramain (Arab. dual, ‘the two holy places’). Muslims turn toward Mecca in prayer (ṣalāt, qibla), and make the obligatory pilgrimage (ḥajj) to it.
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Mecca
