Inside The Great Mosque of Makkah

The Great Mosque of Makkah

Inside The Great Mosque of Makkah The Great Mosque of Makkah is HUGE! The first floor is devoted entirely to the main prayer hall. The mosque enclosure is 100 times larger than Muhammad's original mosque and can hold more than half a million people. The mosque features a flat paved roof with 24 square-base domes above it. The inside is illuminated via holes drilled into the base of each dome. During peak hours, the roof is also utilized for prayer, with the 24 domes sliding out on metal tracks to shade portions of the roof and provide light wells for the prayer hall. At these periods, umbrellas mounted to freestanding columns shade the courtyard of the Ottoman Mosque. 

Ottoman structure

The roof is accessible through escalators and stairs. The paved area surrounding the mosque, which is furnished with umbrella tents, is also utilized for prayer. Three porticos are evenly distributed on the north face, while two are evenly positioned on the east, west, and south facades. Six additional minarets are connected to the new enlargement, while four more surround the Ottoman structure. Polychrome marble and stones are used to elaborately embellish the mosque. The columns are made of white marble and have brass caps. They support arches made of black and white stones that are slightly pointed. The temperature inside the prayer hall is controlled by ventilation grills on the column pedestals. The original mosque is housed within the modern mosque. Ar-Rawdah an-Nabawiyah, which runs from Muhammad's tomb to his pulpit, is a highly remarkable but modest space in the heart of the mosque. 

Pilgrims 

Pilgrims try to visit ar-Rawdah and pray there since it is said that supplications and prayers made here are never refused. Because the little location can only hold a few hundred individuals, access to ar-Rawdah is not always accessible. Two small gates in Ar-Rawdah are guarded by Saudi police officers. The Ottomans created the current marble pulpit. The first pulpit, which was made of palm tree wood rather than marble, was much smaller than the current one. Jannah or heaven includes the area of Ar-Rawdah an-Nabawiyah. Now, the history of the Mosque is very important and pretty cool! But before we get into it, we’d appreciate if you took a moment like the video and subscribe to the channel for more content like this. The Great Mosque of Makkah, also known as the Holy Mosque or Haram Mosque, is a mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, designed to encircle the Ka’aba, Islam's holiest shrine. It gets millions of pilgrims each year as one among the hajj and Umrah pilgrimage locations. The contemporary structure's oldest elements date from the 16th century. Several pilgrimage ceremonies are held in the mosque, which has a rectangular Centre courtyard surrounded by covered prayer sections. The awf, or ritual circumambulation of the Ka’aba, is performed in the courtyard by pilgrims. In the courtyard, there are two more sacred sites: the station of Abraham, a stone associated with the Qurnic tale of Abraham and Ishmael reconstructing the Ka’aba, and the Zamzam well, a hallowed stream, according to Islamic belief. Al-af and al-Marwah, two tiny hills to the east and north of the courtyard, are where pilgrims must run or walk in a ceremony known as the say. The contemporary structure is the result of centuries of evolution. 

Ka'aba as the Qibla 

The Ka’aba, then a shrine for Arab polytheists, stood in an open space where worshippers gathered to pray and perform rites in the pre-Islamic era. The Ka’aba was likewise revered by the Prophet Muhammad's early followers. Muslims briefly prayed toward Jerusalem after their departure to Medina in 622 CE, until a Quranic revelation defined the Ka’aba as the Qiblah, or direction of prayer. When Muhammad arrived at Mecca in 630, he ordered the idols at the shrine to be destroyed, purging the shrine of polytheistic associations. Throughout the twentieth century, the mosque was refurbished and expanded on multiple occasions. In 1948, the mosque became the first to deploy an electric public-address system. The mosque underwent the most significant transformations in the second half of the twentieth century, when commercial air travel increased the number of pilgrims to Mecca and Saudi Arabia's new oil wealth allowed its rulers to fund huge construction projects. The first expansion of the mosque in Saudi Arabia occurred in 1955, during the reign of King Saud. The 1973 extension included new construction surrounding the Ottoman Mosque, increasing its total size from 290,000 square feet to 1,630,000 square feet and raising its maximum capacity to 500,000 people. The tunnel connecting al-af and al-Marwah was extended and incorporated into the mosque's structure. 

King Fah'd Restorations

Under King Fahd's second restorations, the mosque gained a new wing as well as an outdoor prayer area. The King Fahd Gate leads to the new wing, which is also used for prayers. This expansion took place between 1982 and 1988, and included the addition of more minarets, the construction of a King's house overlooking the mosque, and the expansion of the prayer area within and outside the mosque. These events occurred at the same time as those at Arafat, Mina, and Muzdalifah. This extension also included the addition of 18 more gates, three domes matching to each gate, and over 500 marble columns. Heated flooring, air conditioning, escalators, and a drainage system were among the new additions. The government of King Abdullah published more details about the development in August 2011. It would include a multi-level addition on the north side of the complex, new stairways and tunnels, a gate named after King Abdullah, and two minarets, bringing the total number of minarets to eleven. It would cover an area of 4,300,000 sq ft and accommodate 1.2 million worshippers. 

Crane Toppled onto the Mosques

The Kaaba's circumambulation zones would be extended, and all enclosed places would be air-conditioned. It will increase the mosque's capacity from 770,000 to over 2.5 million worshippers once completed. In July 2015, King Salman, his successor, unveiled five megaprojects as part of the wider King Abdullah Expansion Project, totaling 4,910,000 sq. ft. The Saudi Binladin Group was in charge of the project. A crane toppled onto the mosque on September 11, 2015, killing at least 111 people and injuring 394 others. Following the event, construction work was halted, and it remained halted because to financial difficulties during the 2010s oil glut. In September 2017, development was re-started after a two-year hiatus. The mosque began closing at night on March 5, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Umrah pilgrimage was suspended to restrict attendance. The first phase of a gradual restoration of Umrah service, which was limited to Saudi citizens and expatriates from within the Kingdom at a rate of 30%, commenced on 4 October 2020. That is all for today folks!