اَلْمَسْجِدُ ٱلْحَرَامُ

Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām
اَلْمَسْجِدُ ٱلْحَرَامُ

Masjid al-Haram was built around the Kaaba. It is also the largest mosque in the world. It was first built under the leadership of the Caliph Omar Ibn al-Khattab (634-644) and has been modified continuously under several Muslim rulers. Omar, the first Caliph, ordered the demolition of some houses surrounding the Kaaba in order to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims and built a 1.5 meter high wall to delineate a large prayer area. During the reign of his successor Caliph Uthman Ibn Affan (644-656), the prayer space was enlarged and was covered with a roof carried on wooden columns and arches. In 692, after Caliph Abdul Malik bin Marwan conquered Mecca from Ibn Zubayr, the guardian of the holy site, the outer walls of the mosque were raised, the ceiling was covered with teak and the column capitals were painted in gold. His son, al-Walid (705-715), contributed to the Mosque of al-Haram by replacing the wooden columns with marble ones and by decorating its arches with mosaics. Later, Abbasid Caliph Abu Ja’far al-Mansur (754-775) added mosaics to the columns. He also doubled the size of the northern and western wings of the prayer hall and erected the minaret of Bab al-Umra on the northwest corner. In 777, due to the growing number of pilgrims, Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi (775-785) ordered the rebuilding of the mosque, demolishing more houses around the Ka’ba. The new mosque enclosure centered on the Kaaba, measured 196 meters by 142 meters. It was built on a grid plan, with marble columns from Egypt and Syria, decorated with gilt teak wooden inlay. Al-Mahdi also built three minarets crowned with crenellations and placed above Bab al-Salam, Bab Ali and Bab al-Wadi of the mosque.

MASJID AL-HARAM

The largest mosque in the world – Masjid al-Haram – is built around all these sacred places. The first mosque was built here in 692 AD, numerous rebuildings and extensions have taken place since then. Construction activities seem to be eternal here – all the time around the sacred sites are seen numerous construction cranes. Nowadays mosque has an area of 35.7 ha and can accommodate up to four million pilgrims. It has nine, up to 89 m tall minarets. This is one of few mosques, where men and women worship together. The giant Masjid al-Haram includes also both sacred hills, where Hagar was looking for water – Al-Safa and Al-Marwah. Distance between the hills is approximately 450 m and Muslims should walk seven times forth and back between the hills, starting from Al-Safa. This walking should be done on the same day when Tawaf (seven circles around Kaaba) is done. The fate of contemporary pilgrims though is much easier than the fate of Hagar. The walk between both hills today leads through a long, air-conditioned gallery.