Mecca is the holiest city of Muslims. It is where the prophet Mohammed was born and where the Kaaba is found, a cube that holds the black stone that God would have sent to Adam for the remission of sins.
Mecca is in Saudi Arabia, in the Middle East, and about 80 km away from the Red Sea coast. In relation to Brazil, on the map Mecca is directed towards the east.
The term mecca is also used as important place reference for certain non-religious group. For example: "Paris is a fashion mecca".
Mecca is the name given to the fish of the species Xiphias Gladius, also popularly known as Swordfish.
The mecA nomenclature is related to a gene found in bacterial cells that make them resistant to antibiotics like penicillin.
Mecca is also the name of a music Festival in Brazil, which takes place annually.
Meaning of Mecca for Islam
mecca in arabic is Makka al-Mukarrama and it means Mecca the Honored One. The other holy cities of Islam are Medina, also in Saudi Arabia, and Jerusalem.
It is towards Mecca that the Muslims must position themselves in their five daily prayers. And all the mosques, the Muslim temples, face Mecca.
The direction in which to pray is called the Qibla, which points to where the Kaaba in Mecca. The exact coordinates are 21°25′21.15″N latitude and 39°49′34.1″E longitude. For Muslims, Mecca and the Kaaba they form a focal point where prayers are directed, not objects or places to be worshipped.
THE Kaaba, the holy house of God, is in the center of the Holy Mosque of al-Mashid. It is a 15 meter high cube, covered in a black cloth embroidered in gold called a kiswah. Carved into one of its walls is the black stone, called in Arabic Hajar-el-Aswad.
The stone would have been Adam and Eve, sent from heaven by God as a way for the couple to redeem their sins. She was originally white, but darkened due to the sins of the children of Adam, according to the Qur'an.
There is no agreement on the construction of the Kaaba, but Abraham is alleged to have reconstructed it and received the stone by the Angel Gabriel.
The black stone cannot be photographed, but it is exposed and allowed to be touched, being the highlight of the pilgrimage ritual.
hajj is the name of the pilgrimage to Mecca, and should be made by every Muslim who is financially and in good health, at least once in his life.
As a tourist destination, Mecca has as points of interest the mosque Masjid al-Haram, which is where the Kaaba, the mountain Jabal al-Nour, Mount Arafat, and the complex Abraj Al Bait, known as the clock tower. But only followers of Islam can enter the holy city.
Learn more about Islam.