The 3 Holiest Cities Of Islam - Boldsky.com »The 3 Holiest Cities Of Islam The 3 Holiest Cities Of Islam Updated: Friday, July 13, 2012, 18:14 [IST] Subscribe to Boldsky As the sun rises in East and the call of the melodious Azan is heard, millions of Muslims bow westwards to pay reverence to the holiest of the holy places in Islam, Mecca. Islam is the religion with the second largest number of followers in the world. There are three main branches of Islam, Sunni, Shia and Sufi. The 3 cities mentioned here are considered holy by all the three sects. These places mentioned here are 3 holiest cities of Islam. All of them are in the Middle East, where the religion of Islam originated. The core of the Islamic kingdom still lies here. The 3 Holies Cities Of Islam: 1. Mecca: It is the holiest city of Islam for Muslims all over the world. It is the city of the holy Kabaa, hosts the black stone that is supposed to be God sent. The Kabaa was built by Ibrahim, the son of Ishmael.

The Masjid-e-Haram is the holiest mosque in all of the Islamic world. There is also the well called Zamzam whose water has therapeutic properties. Your pilgrimage to Mecca is not complete without paying homage to Mount Arafat where the Prophet have his last message to the devoted. Apart from these structural features, Mecca is the holy Islamic city in which the Prophet Mohammed was born and received his enlightenment from the angel Gabriel. 2. Medina: This was the adopted city of the Prophet and also the city that holds the honour of having the first truly real mosque built according to Islamic tenets. The Kabaa Mecca existed before the advent of Islam. Mohammed had to flee Mecca as a strong group of of adversaries were planning to attack him. But Medina welcomed him with open arms. It is here that he lived and is buried. The famous Mosque of the Prophet or Masjid-al-Nabawi is built on his house where he rests in peace. It is the seat of power in the hay days of the Islamic empire as the Caliphas presided here. In both the holy cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, non Muslims are strictly forbidden to enter. 3. Jerusalem: There is something very special about this city.

Three major religions namely, Islam, Christianity and Judaism, consider this city as holy. Jerusalem has the Mosque of Al-Aqsa (Arabic name for Jerusalem). It is also the city to which the Prophet travelled on the night of his ascension to heaven. He travelled to Jerusalem from where he received the message of Allah, prayed with the previous prophets and went back to Mecca. These were the holy cities of Islam. As the holy month of Ramzan is upon us, it is a good time to refresh your memory and cherish the rich historical heritage of Islam. Mecca - ReligionFacts ReligionFacts Robinson, Francis (ed.) and Ira M. Lapidus (foreword) Mecca "From whencesoever you start forth, turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque; that is indeed the truth from your Lord. " {1} The most sacred place in Islam is the Ka'ba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Ka'ba is a mosque (built by Abraham according to Muslim tradition) constructed around a black stone. The prophet Muhammad designated Mecca as the holy city of Islam and the direction (qibla) in which all Muslims should offer their prayers.

The Ka'ba is believed to be the first place that was created on earth {2} and the place at which heavenly bliss and power touches the earth directly. {3} Mecca is located in the Hijaz region of western Saudi Arabia. The city lies inland 73 kilometers east of Jiddah, in the narrow, sandy Valley of Abraham. The Holy City is 277 meters (909 feet) above sea level. Each year, thousands of Muslims from around the world join in a pilgrimage to Mecca (the hajj), in fulfillment of one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The importance of Mecca for Muslims is inestimable. All Muslims, wherever they are on Earth, pray five times a day in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca (located at 21° 25' 24" N and 39° 49' 24" E in DMS notation). The direction of prayer is known as the qibla. The Religious Significance of Mecca In addition to prayer, a pilgrimage to Mecca is required of every Muslim who can afford it as one of the Five Pillars of the faith.

Every year about three million gather for the major pilgrimage, or Hajj, during the Muslim month of Dhu'l-Hijja, and many more perform the minor pilgrimage, or Umrah, at various times throughout the year. Few non-Muslims have ever seen the rites and rituals of the Hajj, as non-Muslims are strictly prohibited from entering Mecca and Medina. Roadblocks are stationed along roads leading to the city. The most famous incident of a non-Muslim visiting Mecca was the visit by the British explorer Sir Richard Burton in 1853. Burton disguised himself as an Afghani Muslim to visit and write Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Mecca. The focal point of Mecca is the Kaaba, the "House of God" believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and his son Ishmael, and which is covered in a gold-embroidered black fabric. Pilgrims circle the Kaaba seven times and may also try to touch or kiss its cornerstone, the Black Stone. Pilgrims may drink from the well of Zamzam. Its water of Zamzam is believed to have special properties.

Few pilgrims return from the Hajj without a large plastic bottle of Zamzam water. During the Hajj pilgrims travel to Mina, a small village, where the Devil, symbolised by stone columns, is ritually stoned. They then proceed to the hill Arafat (sometimes called a mountain, but with a height of only 70 m), a site for prayers, where Muhammad is believed to have delivered his final sermon. The Masjid al Haram (Sacred Mosque) is for Muslims the holiest mosque on Earth. Both the mosque and the city itself are strictly off limits to non-Muslims. Mecca or Makkah? For most English speakers, "Mecca" has long been the accepted transliteration of the original Arabic for the holy city. The word Mecca in English has gone on to refer to any center of activity sought by a group of people with a common interest. Las Vegas, for example, is considered the "gambling Mecca" (even though gambling is strictly prohibited by Islamic law). Many Muslims find these out-of-context uses offensive.

In an effort to distinguish between the metaphorical and official references to the holy site, the Saudi Arabian government began promoting a new transliteration, Makkah al-Mukkaramah, in the 1980s. Many English-speaking Muslims now consider this the preferred spelling, and closer to the original Arabic. While this new usage has been officially adopted by the U.S. Department of State, its spread is still incipient among anglophones at large. References "Mecca." Encyclopedia Britannica. (Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service, 2004). "Mecca." Wikipedia. 2005. < Holy City | Islam | Christian | Judaism | Jerusalem | Mecca | Lhasa | Bethlehem | Varanasi Bethlehem, Israel Even if you're not a Christian, the name Bethlehem may ring a bell since it's mentioned in so many Christmas carols . This city is very important to Christians because it is the place where Jesus was born . Bethlehem has meaning for Muslims as well since they also believe in Jesus. However, unlike Christians, Muslims do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah - they think he was one of many prophets.

The city also has some significance for Jews because it is the home of David in the Old Testament. The city of Bethlehem has been caught in the middle of ongoing Israeli/Palestinian fighting, with both sides claiming the city as their own. Bethlehem, Israel Lhasa, Tibet Lhasa is the capital of Tibet and is where you'll find the palace that used to be home to the Dali Lama - the leader of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dali Lama fled to India after China occupied Tibet in 1951. He now lives in India, near the Tibetan border. Lhasa has many shrines, temples and other places of worship, including the Jokhang Temple, which is considered to be the holiest temple in Lhasa. Jokhang Temple - Tibet Mecca, Saudi Arabia Mecca (or Makkah) is a city in Saudi Arabia that is of major religious importance to Muslims. Mecca is the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad , who converted Arabia to Islam. One of the five duties of Islam is called the Hajj, which requires all able-bodied Muslims to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime.

There are about one billion Muslims worldwide so the city's economy easily thrives off the constant influx of worshipers. Varanasi, India Varanasi is in North Central India and is a very sacred city to Hindus. It is also believed to be one of the world's oldest cities. Varanasi is on the shores of the Ganges River, which is also extremely important to Hindus. There are about 1,500 temples, shrines and other places of worship in Varanasi. Hindus believe that dying in this city allows them to enter into heaven . The city also has importance to Buddhists, who believe that Buddha began preaching just four miles outside of this city. Related Stories : Articles: How Jerusalem Became Islam's 'Third Holiest City' How Jerusalem Became Islam's 'Third Holiest City' By Jonathan F. Keiler Recent Palestinian Arab attacks on Jews in Jerusalem have focused attention on the status of Israel’s capital – and in particular the Old City, home to Judaism’s sacred Temple Mount – and the Islamic shrine and mosque that currently sit atop it (respectively the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque).

As reported by the mainstream press, “militant” Jews provoked Palestinian Arab violence by protesting the ban on prayer by Jews and Christians atop the Temple Mount. The Waqf (the Muslim authority that oversees the area at the sufferance of the Israeli government) is responsible for the ban. The fact that this ban is even tolerated by the Israeli government is remarkable. That the ban it is either openly or tacitly supported by Western governments, the mainstream Western press, and Euro-American intelligentsia is due to historical ignorance, cowardice, and hypocrisy. Typically, the Temple Mount is referred to as the “third holiest site” in Islam, behind the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Sometimes, that formulation is balanced by reference to the Mount’s status as Judaism’s holiest site (and also of immense importance to Christians), sometimes not at all, and sometimes with bogus formulations like CNN’s “one of the holiest sites in Judaism and Islam.” But just how “holy” is the Temple Mount to Muslims historically? The answer is that its “third holiest” status is more a matter of political calculation and circumstance than an accurate statement of theology.

Today, in the highly charged contest between Arabs and Israelis over the land of Israel, it behooves the Arab/Islamic side to maximize the “historic status” of “Palestine” to the Islamic world. The usual basis asserted by Muslims for the claim of Jerusalem as the religion’s tertiary sacred city is the Quran’s account of Mohammed’s night journey, during which Allah allowed Islam’s prophet to visit heaven. Mohammed’s ascension, according to the Quran, occurred from Islam’s “furthest precinct.” Perhaps that was a location known to Mohammed’s followers nearly 1,500 years ago, but it has been lost to actual history. Today, Muslims claim the reference is to Jerusalem, and specifically to the site of the Dome of the Rock. In fact, the reference to the “furthest precinct” almost certainly did not mean Jerusalem, which seems not to have figured at all in Mohammed’s limited and provincial knowledge of Jewish and Christian tradition. This limitation is well-known, as any objective reader of the Quran can attest, and a limitation that quickly soured relations between the fledgling Muslim community and established Jewish and Christian populations in Medina (after Mohammed’s flight to that city in 622).

It is quite likely, in fact, that Mohammed did not even know of Jerusalem – at least there is no positive historical evidence that he did. Jerusalem’s actual arrival in Islamic history would have to await the great Arab conquests that occurred after Mohammed’s death under the first caliphs. Jerusalem fell early in the violent and remarkably successful military campaigns that erupted from Arabia, its Byzantine defenders weakened from centuries of conflict with the rival Sassanid Empire of Persia (which was itself enfeebled by the same conflict). Islam’s second and arguably greatest caliph, Umar, arrived in Jerusalem in 637 at the head of powerful Arab armies, far from the Arab authorities in Mecca and Medina that controlled Islam’s central pilgrimage site, the Ka’aba, and Mohammed’s burial place in Medina. It wasn’t long before Umar found himself in active dispute with the local rulers of Islam’s holiest sites, a dispute that threatened Umar’s hold over the rapidly expanding Muslim-Arab umma (community of the faithful). A shrewd and resourceful leader, Umar quickly saw the value of Jerusalem as a counter-weight to the Muslim authorities in Mecca and Medina.

The city was clearly important to local Christians and Jews (to whom according to Islamic tradition Umar was tolerant). Meanwhile, Islam itself was still in an early stage of development, with the Quran not yet in final written form. The holiest site in Jerusalem, at least according to the city’s Jews, was the Temple Mount, which in this period was mostly a rubble-strewn remnant of Israel’s Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in the 1st century. Arising from this rubble were both foundation stones from the temple itself and the bedrock upon which it had been originally constructed. According to local legend, one of these stony outcroppings was the very stone upon which Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac, as recounted in the Old Testament. Abraham is well-represented in the Quran, perhaps the most favorably among the forgoing Jewish and Christian prophets of Allah (e.g., Jesus, Moses, Daniel, and so on, all of whom, according to the Quran, were Muslims) before the arrival of Mohammed (the “Seal of the Prophets”). Umar, scholarly as well as politically and militarily astute, was certainly acquainted with the Old Testament biblical story of Isaac’s near sacrifice and Abraham’s status in Islam.

Umar saw an opportunity to kill several problematic birds with a single well-placed stone, by building an Islamic shrine over the rocky outcrop on the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock (which was begun under Umar but finished decades later) became the first example of monumental Islamic architecture (its form borrowed from the Byzantines, but now largely associated with Islam). Its location in Jerusalem, a city holy to Christians and Jews, but until that time essentially meaningless to Muslims, established for all to see the new Islamic suzerainty over the Levant, while also tying to the dynamic new religion to Jewish and Christian roots, thus helping to bolster its legitimacy in the eyes of recently conquered populations. The new myth of Mohammed’s ascension from the Rock was invented by one of Umar’s close associates (a Jewish rabbi recently converted to Islam). This story neatly closed the questionable theological circle. Finally, the establishment of a shrine containing a “holy rock” was a direct challenge to Umar’s rivals in Mecca, the guardians of the pagan “holy stone” of Islam.

That bowling ball-sized rock resides in the Ka’aba, Islam’s holiest shrine, and helped in its own way to legitimize the new religion among Arabia’s pagan Arabs. Now the Dome of the Rock would do the same thing for Islam’s new dominions, and perhaps even supplant the Mecca if the authorities there refused to come to heel. In this very practical if cynical manner did Jerusalem become “Islam’s third holiest site.” Umar won his contest with the Meccan authorities (though was later murdered by other rivals), and Jerusalem quickly sank back into relative obscurity within Islam. Damascus and then Bagdad became the central cities respectively of the two great Arab dynasties (the Umayyad and Abbasid). In the following centuries there are many accounts extolling the glories of these cities to dar al Islam, while Jerusalem became a backwater. Only with the Crusades did Jerusalem regain status and importance within the Islamic world, again to be discarded as a significant sacred site until the Zionist movement once again centered Arab/Islamic attention on the city. Thus, Jerusalem is important to Arabs and Islam only in direct proportion to its importance to Christians and Jews.

Were it not for Jewish interest in what is legitimately their holiest site, Muslims would hardly notice the city, as was the case for centuries before and after the Crusades. That the mostly Christian West elevates this cynical game of power politics to the level of holy status, co-equal or superior to Jewish (and even Christian) concerns, is but another example of the growing tendency toward subservient dhimmi status regarding Islam in the West. Which is of course is largely what Umar had in mind when he set out to build the Dome of the Rock in the first place. Recent Palestinian Arab attacks on Jews in Jerusalem have focused attention on the status of Israel’s capital – and in particular the Old City, home to Judaism’s sacred Temple Mount – and the Islamic shrine and mosque that currently sit atop it (respectively the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque). As reported by the mainstream press, “militant” Jews provoked Palestinian Arab violence by protesting the ban on prayer by Jews and Christians atop the Temple Mount. The Waqf (the Muslim authority that oversees the area at the sufferance of the Israeli government) is responsible for the ban. The fact that this ban is even tolerated by the Israeli government is remarkable.

That the ban it is either openly or tacitly supported by Western governments, the mainstream Western press, and Euro-American intelligentsia is due to historical ignorance, cowardice, and hypocrisy. Typically, the Temple Mount is referred to as the “third holiest site” in Islam, behind the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Sometimes, that formulation is balanced by reference to the Mount’s status as Judaism’s holiest site (and also of immense importance to Christians), sometimes not at all, and sometimes with bogus formulations like CNN’s “one of the holiest sites in Judaism and Islam.” But just how “holy” is the Temple Mount to Muslims historically? The answer is that its “third holiest” status is more a matter of political calculation and circumstance than an accurate statement of theology. Today, in the highly charged contest between Arabs and Israelis over the land of Israel, it behooves the Arab/Islamic side to maximize the “historic status” of “Palestine” to the Islamic world. The usual basis asserted by Muslims for the claim of Jerusalem as the religion’s tertiary sacred city is the Quran’s account of Mohammed’s night journey, during which Allah allowed Islam’s prophet to visit heaven.

Mohammed’s ascension, according to the Quran, occurred from Islam’s “furthest precinct.” Perhaps that was a location known to Mohammed’s followers nearly 1,500 years ago, but it has been lost to actual history. Today, Muslims claim the reference is to Jerusalem, and specifically to the site of the Dome of the Rock. In fact, the reference to the “furthest precinct” almost certainly did not mean Jerusalem, which seems not to have figured at all in Mohammed’s limited and provincial knowledge of Jewish and Christian tradition. This limitation is well-known, as any objective reader of the Quran can attest, and a limitation that quickly soured relations between the fledgling Muslim community and established Jewish and Christian populations in Medina (after Mohammed’s flight to that city in 622). It is quite likely, in fact, that Mohammed did not even know of Jerusalem – at least there is no positive historical evidence that he did. Jerusalem’s actual arrival in Islamic history would have to await the great Arab conquests that occurred after Mohammed’s death under the first caliphs.

Jerusalem fell early in the violent and remarkably successful military campaigns that erupted from Arabia, its Byzantine defenders weakened from centuries of conflict with the rival Sassanid Empire of Persia (which was itself enfeebled by the same conflict). Islam’s second and arguably greatest caliph, Umar, arrived in Jerusalem in 637 at the head of powerful Arab armies, far from the Arab authorities in Mecca and Medina that controlled Islam’s central pilgrimage site, the Ka’aba, and Mohammed’s burial place in Medina. It wasn’t long before Umar found himself in active dispute with the local rulers of Islam’s holiest sites, a dispute that threatened Umar’s hold over the rapidly expanding Muslim-Arab umma (community of the faithful). A shrewd and resourceful leader, Umar quickly saw the value of Jerusalem as a counter-weight to the Muslim authorities in Mecca and Medina. The city was clearly important to local Christians and Jews (to whom according to Islamic tradition Umar was tolerant). Meanwhile, Islam itself was still in an early stage of development, with the Quran not yet in final written form.

The holiest site in Jerusalem, at least according to the city’s Jews, was the Temple Mount, which in this period was mostly a rubble-strewn remnant of Israel’s Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in the 1st century. Arising from this rubble were both foundation stones from the temple itself and the bedrock upon which it had been originally constructed. According to local legend, one of these stony outcroppings was the very stone upon which Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac, as recounted in the Old Testament. Abraham is well-represented in the Quran, perhaps the most favorably among the forgoing Jewish and Christian prophets of Allah (e.g., Jesus, Moses, Daniel, and so on, all of whom, according to the Quran, were Muslims) before the arrival of Mohammed (the “Seal of the Prophets”). Umar, scholarly as well as politically and militarily astute, was certainly acquainted with the Old Testament biblical story of Isaac’s near sacrifice and Abraham’s status in Islam. Umar saw an opportunity to kill several problematic birds with a single well-placed stone, by building an Islamic shrine over the rocky outcrop on the Temple Mount.

The Dome of the Rock (which was begun under Umar but finished decades later) became the first example of monumental Islamic architecture (its form borrowed from the Byzantines, but now largely associated with Islam). Its location in Jerusalem, a city holy to Christians and Jews, but until that time essentially meaningless to Muslims, established for all to see the new Islamic suzerainty over the Levant, while also tying to the dynamic new religion to Jewish and Christian roots, thus helping to bolster its legitimacy in the eyes of recently conquered populations. The new myth of Mohammed’s ascension from the Rock was invented by one of Umar’s close associates (a Jewish rabbi recently converted to Islam). This story neatly closed the questionable theological circle. Finally, the establishment of a shrine containing a “holy rock” was a direct challenge to Umar’s rivals in Mecca, the guardians of the pagan “holy stone” of Islam. That bowling ball-sized rock resides in the Ka’aba, Islam’s holiest shrine, and helped in its own way to legitimize the new religion among Arabia’s pagan Arabs.

Now the Dome of the Rock would do the same thing for Islam’s new dominions, and perhaps even supplant the Mecca if the authorities there refused to come to heel. In this very practical if cynical manner did Jerusalem become “Islam’s third holiest site.” Umar won his contest with the Meccan authorities (though was later murdered by other rivals), and Jerusalem quickly sank back into relative obscurity within Islam. Damascus and then Bagdad became the central cities respectively of the two great Arab dynasties (the Umayyad and Abbasid). In the following centuries there are many accounts extolling the glories of these cities to dar al Islam, while Jerusalem became a backwater. Only with the Crusades did Jerusalem regain status and importance within the Islamic world, again to be discarded as a significant sacred site until the Zionist movement once again centered Arab/Islamic attention on the city. Thus, Jerusalem is important to Arabs and Islam only in direct proportion to its importance to Christians and Jews. Were it not for Jewish interest in what is legitimately their holiest site, Muslims would hardly notice the city, as was the case for centuries before and after the Crusades.

That the mostly Christian West elevates this cynical game of power politics to the level of holy status, co-equal or superior to Jewish (and even Christian) concerns, is but another example of the growing tendency toward subservient dhimmi status regarding Islam in the West. Which is of course is largely what Umar had in mind when he set out to build the Dome of the Rock in the first place. What is the name of the holiest city of Islam? A. Hijrah B. Medina C. Muslim D. Mecca E. Kaaba You have new items in your feed. Click to view. Question and answer What is the name of the holiest city of Islam? A. Hijrah B. Medina C. Muslim D. Mecca E. Kaaba What is the name of the holiest city of Islam? The answer is D. Mecca. Expert answered| jerry06 |Points 400| What is the name of the holiest city of Islam? A. Hijrah B. Medina C. Muslim D. Mecca E. Kaaba New answers There are no new answers. Comments Log in or sign up first.

Questions asked by the same visitor Weegy: Euripides wrote plays that criticized the wrongs he saw in society and the mistreatment of women. (More) Question Asked 12/2/2013 5:19:52 PM 0 Answers/Comments Weegy: B. Islam is based on the monotheistic teachings of Muhammad (More) Question Asked 12/4/2013 9:00:05 AM 0 Answers/Comments Weegy: What do you call a person who submits to the will of Allah? The answer is C. Muslim. (More) Question Asked 12/4/2013 9:13:12 AM 0 Answers/Comments Weegy: A. Hijrah is the name for Muhammad's migration or flight. (More) Question Asked 12/4/2013 9:20:09 AM 0 Answers/Comments Weegy: D. Mecca is the name of the holiest city of Islam. (More) Question Islamic sacred places - ReligionFacts ReligionFacts Robinson, Francis (ed.) and Ira M.

Lapidus (foreword) Islamic sacred places Certain places are important in Islamic history, in large part because they were important in the life of Muhammad, and are also important to present-day Muslims. Most of Islam's sacred places are in the Middle East, specifically the Arabian Peninsula. The area of ancient Mesopotamia (mostly in modern Iraq) and northern Africa are important to in Islam as well, even though they are not as equally sacred as places like Mecca and Medina. The most sacred place in all of Islam is the Ka'ba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Ka'ba is a shrine, built by Abraham according to Muslim tradition, around a black stone. The Prophet Muhammad specifically designated Mecca as the holy city of Islam and the direction (qibla) in which all Muslims should offer their prayers. The second most important place in Islam is Medina (or Medinah), the "City of the Prophet," is in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. It was to Medina city that Muhammad fled when he was initially driven out of Mecca, and the place where he attracted his first followers.

The third most sacred city in Islam is Jerusalem, which was the original qibla (direction of prayer) before it was changed to Mecca. Jerusalem is revered because, in Muslim tradition, Muhammad miraculously traveled to Jerusalem by night and ascended from there into heaven. Karbala is a city in Iraq, located about 100 km southwest of Baghdad. Shia Muslims consider Karbala to be one of the holiest places in the world, second only to Mecca and Najaf. Najaf is one of the holiest cities in Shia Islam and is the center of Shia political power in Iraq.

Notable Mosques Al-Aqsa, in Jerusalem Al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt - the mosque university is the foremost school of Sunni Islam Al-Hakim Mosque - one of the largest Fatimid mosques in Cairo, Egypt Ar-Rifaye Mosque in Cairo, Egypt Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, India - now destroyed and a site of recent violence between Muslims and Hindus Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan Bajrakli Mosque in Belgrade, Serbia - burned in 2004 after ethnic violence Dome of the Rock (Masjid Al Sakhrah) in Jerusalem - technically a shrine, not a mosque Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, destroyed in 1993 Great Mosque of Djenné in Djenné, Mali Ground Zero Mosque, New York City Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey - was a mosque from 1453 until 1934; is now a museum Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, People's Republic of China Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq - the holiest Shi'ite mosque Isabey Mosque in near Izmir, Turkey

 Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia - the largest mosque in Southeast Asia.

Masjid al Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia - the "Great Mosque"; holiest in Islam Masjid al Nabawi in Medina, Saudi Arabia The Mezquita in Córdoba, Spain - now a Catholic cathedral Masjid al-Quba, just outside Medina, Saudi Arabia - foundation stone was laid by the Prophet Muhammad Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan, in Cairo, Egypt Mosque of Ibn Tulun, in Cairo, Egypt Mosque of Mohammed Ali at the Citadel, Cairo, Egypt Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Turkey Suleiman Mosque (Süleymaniye Mosque) in Istanbul, Turkey Sultan Ahmed Mosque ("the Blue Mosque") in Istanbul, Turkey Tsar's Mosque in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina How Have Holy Places in Islam Created Violence and Division? By Austin Cline Updated August 25, 2016. According to Hector Avalos, religions might preach peace, love, and harmony, but establishing a textual canon or sacred site which only some have privileged access to also establishes an illusory "scarcity" which causes people to fight.

This is the intent of religious leaders, but it's an inevitable outgrowth of their actions — and we can see this occurring in the context of Islam with its holy sites and cities: Mecca, Medina, the Dome of the Rock, Hebron, and so on. Each city is holy to Muslims, but while Muslims focus on what they regard as the positive aspects, they cannot pretend that the negative aspects don't exist. Moreover, even the positive aspects can be criticized as often inaccurate. The holiness of each site is associated with violence against other religions or against other Muslims and their importance has been as dependent on politics as religion, a sign of the degree to which political ideologies and parties make use of the religious concept of "holiness" to further their own agendas. Mecca Islam's holiest site, Mecca, is where Muhammad was born. During his exile in Medina, Muhammad had his followers pray in the direction of Mecca instead of Jerusalem which was the original orientation site. Going on a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a person's life is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Mecca is closed to non-Muslims because of a revelation Muhammad allegedly received from God, but some outsiders have entered while disguised as Muslims.

Even before Muhammad, Mecca was a pilgrimage site for pagan polytheists and some argue that the Muslim practice of pilgrimage was borrowed from those ancient rituals. Some scholars argue that because Jews and Christians rejected Muhammad's message, ancient pagan practices had to be incorporated into Islam in order to more easily capture the allegiance of local polytheists. Christianity did much the same throughout Europe in order to convert pagans there. Located in the courtyard of the Great Mosque in Mecca is a windowless cube known as the Kaaba , believed by Muslims to have been built by the prophet Abraham In the southeastern corner of the Kaaba is the " Black Stone ," an object which Muslims believe was given to Abraham by the angel Gabriel. Reports of local pagans worshiping gods in the form of stones go back centuries and Muhammad probably incorporated this practice through the Kabaa itself. Pagan rituals were thus re-told through the lives of biblical characters and so that local practices could continue under the guise of Muslim tradition. Medina Medina is where Muhammad was exiled after he found little support for his ideas in his home city of Mecca, making it the second holiest site in Islam.

There was a large Jewish community in Medina which Muhammad had hoped to convert, but his failure eventually led him to banish, enslave, or kill every Jew in the area. The presence of non-believers was at first an affront to Muhammad's claims that his religion superseded theirs; later, it was an affront to the holiness of the place. Medina was also the capital of the Muslim empire until 661 when it was moved to Damascus. Despite its religious status, this loss of political power caused the city to decline precipitously and it had little influence during the Middle Ages. Medina's modern rise to prominence was again due to politics, not religion: after Britain occupied Egypt, the Ottoman occupiers of the region funneled communications through Medina, transforming it into a major transportation and communication center. Thus the importance, decline, and growth of Medina was always dependent upon the political situation, not on religion or religious beliefs. Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is a Muslim shrine which stands where the first Jewish temple is believed to have stood, where Abraham tried to sacrifice his son to God, and where Muhammad ascended into heaven in order to receive God's commandments.

For Muslims this is the third holiest site for pilgrimage, after Mecca and Medina. It may be the oldest surviving example of early Islamic architecture and is modeled after the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located nearby. Control of the site is a hotly contested issue for Muslims and Jews. Many devout Jews would like to see the mosques torn down and the Temple reconstructed in their place, but this would destroy one of the holiest sites of Islam and lead to a religious war of unprecedented proportions. True Believers have gathered together in a variety of Third Temple societies in active preparation, even going so far as to prepare the precise clothing, coinage, and sacrificial implements needed for use in a rebuilt Temple. Stories have spread among Muslims that the creation of Israel was the first step in an apocalyptic process which will culminate in the total triumph of Islam over all the world. The Dome of the Rock is thus one of the best examples of Avalos' argument about how religions create false scarcities which encourage violence. There are no natural resources on this site which humans might be expected to fight over — no oil, water, gold, etc.

Instead, people are willing to launch an apocalyptic war simply because they all believe that the site is "holy" to them and, therefore, that only they should be allowed to control and build upon it. Hebron The city of Hebron is holy for both Muslims and Jews because it contains the "Cave of the Patriarchs," supposedly a tomb for Abraham and his family. During the Six Day War of June, 1967, Israel seized Hebron along with the rest of the West Bank. After this war, hundreds of Israelis settled in the area, creating conflict with thousands of Palestinian neighbors. Because of this, Hebron has become a symbol of Israeli-Palestinian hostilities — and thus of inter-religious strife, suspicion, and violence. It's not possible for both Jews and Muslims to have exclusive control of Hebron and neither group is willing to share control. It's only because of the insistence of both that the city is "holy" that they fight over it at all, though. Mashhad Mashhad, Iran, is the site for the burial places and shrines for all twelve of the imams revered by the Twelver Shia Muslims.

These holy men, believed to be a source of sanctity, are all martyrs because they were murdered, poisoned, or otherwise persecuted. It wasn't Christians or Jews who did this, though, but other Muslims. These shrines to the early imams are treated by Shia Muslims today as religious symbols, but if anything they are symbols for the ability of religion, including Islam, to encourage violence, brutality, and division among believers. Qom Qom, Iran, is an important pilgrimage site for the Shi'a because of the burial sites of numerous shahs. The Borujerdi mosque is opened and closed each day by government guards who praise Iran's Islamic government. It is also the site of Shia theology training — and thus also of Shia political activism. When the Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran from exile, his first stop was Qom. The city is thus as much a political shrine as it is a religious one, a monument to authoritarian politics and the authoritarian religion which provides politics with existential justification. The Two Holy Cities The Two Holy Cities The Two Holy Cities Mekka Al Mukarama Within Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Muslim world, Mekka and Madina hold special religious significance.

Mekka , the home of Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) and also the birth place of Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) is the focal point to which all Muslims turn in prayer. The center of Mekka is the Kabba, the first house of worship originally built by Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ishmael. The largest Masjid in the world is Masjid al Haram which surrounds the Kabba. The Masjid has a large outdoor terrace which is continually cleaned leaving its white marble floors reflecting the bright light during the day and the floodlights at night. The large space allows for the influx of people in Hajj season, during which up to 4 million Muslims congregate. It is a place that never sleeps as people travel from all over the world to spend their days and nights in worship and remembrance of Prophet Ibrahim’s near sacrifice of Ishmael, as well as Hajar’s search for water to care of Ishmael when they first arrived in Mekka. It is this struggle to find water which resulted in the discovery of the Zam Zam (زمزم) well. Today this amazing well delivers most water to the area as well as the thousands of pilgrims who flock to the Masjid throughout the year.

This water is renowned for its curative and nutritional benefits which makes it a desired drink for the Muslim. The culture of Mekka is in continues growth due to the many nationalities traveling to the city in preparation for Hajj. It is common to find food and clothing booths offering residents a variety of products from places like Sudan, Yemen, Syria and other locals such as Indonesia, Ukraine and Russia. This influx of people has also influenced the local cuisine which includes the Najdi Kabsa or Yemani Haneeth Madina Originally called Yathrib, Madina is the second holiest city in Islam. This is the city to which the Prophet Mohammed migrated when he left his hometown of Mekka and is where he was buried. The city is also known as Al-Madīnat(u) 'l-Munawwarah which means enlightened city as it was the location of the first Muslim community. Interesting facts about the city include the old wall surrounding parts of the city, sometimes 12 meters high as well as watchtowers and an old castle higher up on a rocky area. Additionally, there are four gates to the city; the Egyptian gate or the “door of peace” is well-known for its unique beauty.

Muslim visitors who go to Madina usually visit Qubba’a Masjid, the hill where the battle of Uhud took place and the nearby Al Baqi cemetery where the companions of the Prophet are buried. Those who visit Madina also notice the unique architecture of the surrounding buildings with their intricate enclosed balconies and latticed shutters which provide not only beauty but also relief from the heat of the sun. What makes Jerusalem so holy? - BBC News BBC News What makes Jerusalem so holy? 30 October 2014 Read more about sharing. Close share panel There are increasing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem, the fate of which is one of the most contentious issues in the Israel-Arab conflict. The BBC's Erica Chernofsky takes a closer look at why this city is so important to Christianity, Islam and Judaism, the three religions which trace their shared origins back to the biblical figure of Abraham. Jerusalem - its name resonates in the hearts of Christians, Jews and Muslims alike and echoes through centuries of shared and disputed history. Known in Hebrew as Yerushalayim and in Arabic as al-Quds, it is one of the oldest cities in the world.

It has been conquered, destroyed and rebuilt time and again, and every layer of its earth reveals a different piece of the past. Media captionTour guide Shraga Ben Yosef gives us a quick trip around the holy sites While it has often been the focus of stories of division and conflict among people of different religions, they are united in their reverence for this holy ground. At its core is the Old City, a maze of narrow alleyways and historic architecture that characterises its four quarters - Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Armenian. It is surrounded by a fortress-like stone wall and home to some of the holiest sites in the world. Image copyright AFP Jerusalem: Communities up close Each quarter represents its own population. The Christians have two, because Armenians are also Christians, and their quarter, the smallest of the four, is one of the oldest Armenian centres in the world. It is unique in that their community has preserved its own particular culture and civilisation inside the St James Church and monastery, which comprises most of their section. The church Inside the Christian Quarter is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a significant focus for Christians all over the world.

It is located on a site which is central to the story of Jesus, his death, crucifixion and resurrection. According to most Christian traditions, Jesus was crucified there, on Golgotha, or the hill of Calvary, his tomb is located inside the sepulchre and this was also the site of his resurrection. The church is managed jointly by representatives of different Christian denominations, mainly the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Franciscan friars from the Roman Catholic Church and the Armenian Patriarchate, but also by the Ethiopians, Coptics and Syrian Orthodox Church. It is one of the main pilgrimage destinations for millions of Christians worldwide who visit the empty tomb of Jesus and seek solace and redemption in prayer at the site. Media captionGreek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III explains why Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the holiest place in Christianity The mosque The Muslim Quarter is the largest of the four and contains the shrine of the Dome of Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque on a plateau known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. The mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and is under the administration of an Islamic trust called the Waqf.

Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad travelled here from Mecca during his night journey and prayed with the souls of all the prophets. A few steps away, the shrine of the Dome of the Rock holds the foundation stone, where Muslims believe Muhammad then ascended to heaven. Muslims visit the holy site all year round, but every Friday during the holy month of Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of Muslims come to pray at the mosque. Media captionSheikh Azzam al-Khatib al-Tamimi explains the importance of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque to Islam The wall The Jewish Quarter is home to the Kotel, or the Western Wall, a remnant of the retaining wall of the mount on which the Holy Temple once stood. Inside the temple was the Holy of Holies, the most sacred site in Judaism. Jews believe that this was the location of the foundation stone from which the world was created, and where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. Many Jews believe the Dome of the Rock is the site of the Holy of Holies. Today, the Western Wall is the closest place Jews can pray to the Holy of Holies. It is managed by the Rabbi of the Western Wall and every year hosts millions of visitors.

Jewish people from all over the world visit this place to pray and connect to their heritage, especially during the High Holidays. Media captionRabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz explains why Jerusalem's Western Wall is so important to the Jewish faith Video and production by Avi Halfon and Alon Farago What is the name of the holiest city of Islam? A. Hijrah B. Medina C. Muslim D. Mecca E. Kaaba You have new items in your feed. Click to view. Question and answer What is the name of the holiest city of Islam? A. Hijrah B. Medina C. Muslim D. Mecca E. Kaaba What is the name of the holiest city of Islam? ( D. Mecca E. Kaaba ) Expert answered| wootz2006 |Points 0| What is the name of the holiest city of Islam? A. Hijrah B. Medina C. Muslim D. Mecca E. Kaaba New answers There are no new answers. Comments Log in or sign up first.

Questions asked by the same visitor Weegy: Euripides wrote plays that criticized the wrongs he saw in society and the mistreatment of women. (More) Question Asked 12/2/2013 5:19:52 PM 0 Answers/Comments Weegy: B. Islam is based on the monotheistic teachings of Muhammad (More) Question Asked 12/4/2013 9:00:05 AM 0 Answers/Comments Weegy: What do you call a person who submits to the will of Allah? The answer is C. Muslim. (More) Question Asked 12/4/2013 9:13:12 AM 0 Answers/Comments Weegy: A. Hijrah is the name for Muhammad's migration or flight. (More) Question Asked 12/4/2013 9:20:09 AM 0 Answers/Comments Weegy: What is the name of the holiest city of Islam? The answer is D. Mecca. (More) Question

Question: What is the holiest city of Islam?
Answer: Mecca