Encyclopedia of Islam

Mecca

  

467  J

---

and seized the Kaaba’s b

lack

 s

tone

. Mecca’s dis-

tance from the centers of political power provided 

the Sharifs, a local aristocracy claiming descent 

from the 

ahl

 

al

-

bayt

 through Muhammad’s grand-

son Hasan (d. 669), with opportunities to main-

tain order and exercise power in the Hijaz region 

in varying degrees from the 10th century until 

the fall of the last sharif of Mecca to Saudi forces 

in 1924. His heirs were subsequently made the 

Hashemite kings of Transjordan (now J

ordan

) and 

Iraq by the British. Meanwhile, the Fatimid and 

Ayyubid dynasties exercised what amounted to 

indirect control over Mecca between the 10th and 

13th centuries, followed by the Mamluks (13th to 

16th centuries), and the Ottomans (16th to 20th 

centuries). The largesse of these rulers, together 

with religious endowments (waqfs) established 

by pious individuals, were what provided the city 

with the infrastructure, financial resources, and 

even food supplies needed to serve its inhabitants 

and pilgrims through the centuries.

The creation of the Kingdom of s

aUdi

 a

rabia

in 1932 has inaugurated an era of epic change for 

Mecca. The Wahhabi outlook of the country has 

led to the eradication of many of its shrines and 

Sufi landmarks. The government, however, has 

been very careful to protect and improve the sites 

of the required hajj rituals to keep up with the 

growing numbers of pilgrims and win the good 

will of Muslims around the world. Within two 

years after taking control of the city in 1924, King 

a

bd

 

al

-a

ziz

 

ibn

 s

aUd

 (1880–1953) upgraded the 

electrical system of the Sacred Mosque, widened 

adjacent roads for the passage of automobiles, 

and built the city’s first paved road. The Saudis 

conducted two major hajj building projects in 

1955–78 and 1980–95. The latter construction 

phase is estimated to have cost $155 million, 

financed by the government from its oil revenues. 

The expansion and upgrading of the Sacred 

Mosque and adjacent neighborhoods has, how-

ever, led to the loss of much of the city’s venerable 

architectural heritage, to the chagrin of archi-

tectural historians and cultural preservationists. 

Commercial development of the precincts around 

the Sacred Mosque has resulted in the erection 

of luxury hotels, shopping malls, and high-rent 

residential complexes. As an indication of the 

importance Mecca has to the Saudi government, 

the governor of Mecca Province, which includes 

both Mecca and Jedda, is always a member of the 

royal family.

Because of Mecca’s geography and climate, its 

population has been small for most of its history. 

An Ottoman census of its inhabitants in the early 

16th century counted only 12,000, excluding 

merchants and soldiers. However, a recent census 

demonstrates how much the city has grown thanks 

to modern technologies, mechanized transport, 

and economic development. In 2004 it had an 

estimated population of 1.7 million. Likewise, 

the influx of pilgrims has grown at an astounding 

rate since the beginning of the 20th century. An 

estimated 83,000 pilgrims participated in the hajj 

of 1807; by the beginning of the 21st century over 

two million were thought to be performing the hajj 

annually. At other times of the year the umra now 

brings an additional 1.5 to 2 million pilgrims.

Even with all of the aspects of modernity that 

have become embedded in Mecca’s sacred land-

scape, it continues to serve as a vital religious sym-

bol in the everyday lives of Muslims everywhere. 

When they pray they face toward it, when they 

read the Quran they are reminded which of its 

chapters were revealed there, when they study the 

hadith they are studying the words of people who 

are believed to have been born there. The imagery 

of Mecca has been captured in poetry and art, and, 

more recently, on television and the Internet.

See also:  a

dam

 

and

  e

ve

;  a

rabian

 

religions

, 

pre

-i

slamic

;  c

ompanions

 

oF

 

the

  p

rophet

;  e

mi

-

grants

; 

goddess

; h

ashimite

 

dynasty

; s

UFism

.