Mina is the plain of Arafat, which has a hillock
called the Mount of Mercy and two mosques—
Namira and Muzdalifa. The cave nearby in the
Mount of Light is where Muhammad is said to
have received his first revelation. There are many
other sites in Mecca containing traces of past
events in Islamic sacred history, but the passage
of time, urban development, and the conservative
nature of Saudi rule have combined to erase many
of them.
The legendary holiness of the city of Mecca
and the distinctiveness of its landscape are inex-
tricably connected to an amalgam of ritual prac-
tices and celebrations, which intensify during the
annual hajj season. In addition to the five daily
prayers, these rites include sevenfold circum-
ambulation of the Kaaba, sevenfold “running”
between Safa and Marwa, communal gatherings
in Mina and Arafat, stoning Mina’s three pillars,
animal sacrifices and feasting during the id al-
adha, and collecting water at the Zamzam well.
The Quran is recited, sermons are delivered, and
pilgrims pronounce special ritual phrases and
petitions to God. During the hajj, pilgrims areThe Sacred Mosque in Mecca, as depicted in Ottoman ceramic tilework in the Sabil-Kuttab of Abd al-Rahman
Katkhuda (18th century), Cairo, Egypt. The Kaaba is in the center, Safa and Marwa in the foreground, and the
sacred mountains of Arafat and Light are in the background. (Juan E. Campo)
K 466 Mecca