Islam
Indonesia's Danantara buys 4.4 hectares in Makkah for a "Hajj Village"
The land in Thakher will hold hotels, lodging and support services; CEO Rosan Roeslani says the goal is a groundbreaking or start of construction in December.
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Mecca
IslamA century of one imam and one congregation at Masjid al-Haram
On 27 October 1926 King Abdulaziz ended the separate congregations of the four madhhabs at Masjid al-Haram and brought all worshippers behind a single imam. The decision is now 100 years old.
IslamAjyad, the Mecca pasture where the Prophet (pbuh) herded his family's sheep
Hadith accounts say the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) grazed his family's sheep as a boy at Ajyad, or Jiyad, where upper and lower Mecca meet; stones for the rebuilding of the Kaaba were also carried from there.
Islam
Umar Yamaoka, the first Japanese on record to perform Hajj, in 1909
Umar Yamaoka travelled to Makkah for Hajj in 1909, the first Japanese whose pilgrimage is historically recognised; Japan's first Muslim was the journalist Shotaro Noda.
Islam
Makkah's Quran museum shows a 15th-century manuscript in thuluth script
The Holy Quran Museum in Makkah's Hira Cultural District is displaying a Quran manuscript written in thuluth script in the ninth century of the Hijri calendar.
IslamHow the Quraysh rebuilt the Kaaba and the Prophet settled the Black Stone dispute
Around 605 CE, five years before prophethood, the Quraysh rebuilt a Kaaba damaged by fire and flood; when the clans nearly came to blows over the Black Stone, Muhammad (peace be upon him), then 35, settled it with his cloak.
IslamBangladeshi hafiz who came third at Mecca's Quran contest honoured by the President
Hafiz Mahmudul Hasan Ashrafi placed third in the full-Quran memorisation category of the King Abdulaziz International Holy Quran Competition in Mecca, against contestants from 133 countries; the President received him at Bangabhaban and announced land and an allocation for a home.
IslamThe moon passes almost directly over the Kaaba, for the second time this year
The Jeddah Astronomical Society says the moon reached about 89.87 degrees above Makkah at 7:50:31am local time on 5 October; it is the second such alignment this year after 28 February.
IslamOver 1.2 million pilgrims from 109 countries in the new Umrah season, up 30 percent
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah says more than 1.2 million pilgrims arrived from the start of the new season to 30 Muharram, 30 percent more than a year earlier, with Umrah visas up 27 percent.
IslamMakkah and Madinah transformed: hotels, homes and parks rise around the two mosques
Rua Al Madinah east of the Prophet's Mosque plans 47,000 hotel rooms by 2030; in Makkah the King Salman Gate and Masar Makkah projects advance, with a goal of serving 30 million Umrah pilgrims a year.
IslamThe Prophet's marriage to Khadija: date, the debate over her age and the mahr
The Prophet married Khadija around 595 CE after his second trade journey to Syria; early sources give her age as 40, 28, 30 or 35, and the mahr was twenty young camels.
IslamMasjid al-Haram: The Sacred Heart of the Muslim World
At the heart of Makkah, Masjid al-Haram surrounds the Kaaba and serves as the central destination for Hajj, Umrah and Muslim prayer around the world.
Environment
Birds Roam Freely in the Courtyard of the Kaaba
With tawaf at the Kaaba suspended during the coronavirus pandemic, flocks of birds have settled on the empty courtyard, a photo on the Haramain Sharifain Facebook page shows.