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Masjid Al-Haram

Great Mosque of Mecca
The Sacred Mosque
Masjid al-Haram cropped.jpg
Al-Masjid al-Haram from Abraj Al Bait
Great Mosque of Mecca is located in Saudi Arabia
Great Mosque of Mecca
Location in Saudi Arabia
Basic information
Location Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Geographic coordinates 21°25′19″N 39°49′34″E / 21.422°N 39.826°E / 21.422; 39.826Coordinates: 21°25′19″N 39°49′34″E / 21.422°N 39.826°E / 21.422; 39.826
Affiliation Islam
Administration Saudi Arabian government
Leadership Imam(s):
Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais
Saud Al-Shuraim
Abdullah Awad Al Juhany
Saleh Al Talib
Saleh Al Humaid
Bandar Baleelah
Usaamah Khayyat
Khalid Al Ghmadi
Maher Al Mueaqly
Faisal Gazzawi
Website www.gph.gov.sa
Architectural description
Architectural type Mosque
Date established Pre-Islamic era
Specifications
Capacity 900,000 worshippers (increased to 4,000,000 worshippers during the Hajj period)
Minaret(s) 9
Minaret height 89 m (292 ft)

The Great Mosque of Mecca (Arabic: المسجد الحرام‎‎, Masjid al-Ḥarām, lit. "the sacred mosque"), also called the Grand Mosque, is the largest mosque in the world and surrounds Islam's holiest place, the Kaaba, in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Muslims face in the Qibla (direction of the Kaaba) while performing Salat (obligatory daily prayers). One of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every Muslim to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, one of the largest annual gatherings of people in the world, at least once in his or her lifetime if able to do so, including Tawaf (circumambulation) of the Kaaba.

The Quran states that Abraham, together with his son Ishmael, raised the foundations of a house [Quran 2:127] that is identified by most commentators as the Kaaba. Allah had shown Abraham the exact site, very near to the Well of Zamzam, where Abraham and Ishmael began work on the Kaaba's construction in circa 2130 BCE. After Abraham had built the Kaaba, an angel brought to him the Black Stone, a celestial stone that, according to tradition, had fallen from Heaven on the nearby hill Abu Qubays. According to a saying attributed to Muhammad, the Black Stone had "descended from Paradise whiter than milk but the sins of the sons of Adam had made it black". The Black Stone is believed to be the only remnant of the original structure made by Abraham.

After placing the Black Stone in the Eastern corner of the Kaaba, Abraham received a revelation, in which Allah told the aged prophet that he should now go and proclaim the pilgrimage to mankind, so that men may come both from Arabia and from lands far away, on camel and on foot. Quran 22:27 Going by the dates attributed to the patriarchs, Ishmael is believed to have been born around 2150 BCE, with Isaac being born a hundred years later.


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