page_title: Mecca
section_title: Significance in Islam
hierarchical_section_title: Mecca / Significance in Islam
caption_attribution_description: Etapes du pélerinage à La Mecque
context_page_description: Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah and commonly shortened to Makkah, is the holiest city in Islam and the capital of the Makkah Province of Saudi Arabia. The city is located 70 km inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley 277 m above sea level. Its last recorded population was 1,578,722 in 2015. estimated metro population in 2020 is 2.042 million, making it the third-most populated city in the kingdom. Pilgrims more than triple this number every year during the Ḥajj pilgrimage, observed in the twelfth Hijri month of Dhūl-Ḥijjah.
  Mecca is the birthplace of Muhammad. The Hira cave located atop the Jabal al-Nur is located just outside the city and is the location where Muslims believe the Qur'an was first revealed to Muhammad. Visiting Mecca for the Hajj is an obligation upon all able Muslims. The Great Mosque of Mecca, known as the Masjid al-Haram is home to the Ka'bah, believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and Ishmael, is one of Islam's holiest sites and the direction of prayer for all Muslims, cementing Mecca's significance in Islam.
context_section_description: Mecca holds an important place in Islam and is the holiest city in all branches of the religion. The city derives its importance from the role it plays in the Hajj and 'Umrah.
caption: The Hajj involves pilgrims visiting Al-Haram Mosque, but mainly camping and spending time in the plains of Mina and Arafah
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