Acording to Islam,
Mecca was founded by
Ibrahim and
Ismael and
Hajar.
The well of
zamzam exploded under the infant Ismael's feet who was crying while his mother Hajar was searching for water and walking after a
mirage between two hills called Al Safa wa Al Marwa. Meaning: The Pure & The Quench, thinking it is an oasis of water because of the mirage effect,
Muslims perform the safa and marwa tawaf in memoration of hajar.
Ibrahim and Ismael later Rebuilt the
Kaba literaly meaning: The cube. According to Islam, The Kaba is the first place of worship to God on earth and Jerusalem was the second.
Mecca is mentioned in the old & new testament as
paran.
Brief history on the expansion of the holy
mosque in
Mecca.
630 A.D.
After the peaceful
conquest of Mecca by prophet
Mohammed, the Kabba (Arabic for cube) had a circular area for worship estimated at 2,000 square meters. The Kabba is located at the center of the city of
Mecca
638 A.D.
Floods spread through the Holy Mosque in Mecaa.
Calpih Omar bin Al-Khattab supervised the repair of the damage and enclosed the courtyard, adding 500 square meters to the older circular
plaza.
646 A.D.
Caliph Uthman Bin Affan extended the plaza by an estimated 1,700 square meters and enclosed it.
684 A.D.
Abdullah Bin Al-Zubar increased the area by 3,300 square meters.
754 A.D.
Abu Jafar Al-Mansour added 5,300 square meters.
??? A.D.
Muhammad Al-Mahdi increased the area by 15,000 square meters.
??? A.D.
Al-Mutadil Al-Abbasi added another 1,300 square meters.
918 A.D.
Al-Muqtadri Al-Abbasi added 950 square meter entrance hall. The total size of the mosque was 30,200 square meters. This stayed unchanged for over 1,000 years, partially because successive Muslim states neglected the mosque.
1955 A.D.
King
Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, founder of
Saudi Arabia in 1932, wanted to expand the mosque but never lived to see it. The project began in 1955 after Abdul Aziz's death, it enclosed mount
Safa and Marwa track, the track is called al Mas'a (closest related translation is hunt or seek, since Islamic tradition hold that
Haggar walked between these two mountains thinking that the
mirrage she saw was water), al mas'a was to be enclosed and incorporated into the mosque. Construction was slow paced and lasted for 20 year, by 1976, 300,000 worshipers can perform
Hajj.
1988 A.D.
King
Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz made further expansions and gave the mosque its current look. The expansion project took 4 years and ended in 1992. The prayer area inside the mosque was 76,000 square meters by now, a basement was built, including ground and first floor as well as a roof. Al Mas'a was incorporated into the Mosque by 1992. An open area surrounding the Mosque was built and measured at 10,000 square meters, the covered combined area is 86,800 square meters. The extension included seven 89 meter
minarets (towers where prayer calls are made from, the word is Arabic for light, as in guidance, derived from the 3 letter root noun Noon Wow Ra). Additionally, escalators were also added coupled with air conditioning to provide cooling for the worshipers.
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Reference:
http://www.iad.org/Makkah.html