Mecca: Entering 'the most forbidden spot on Earth'
Mecca served as an important religious sanctuary even before Islam. Indeed, Muhammad initially met opposition from Meccans who feared that the new religion would damage their livelihood by calling pagan Arabian beliefs into question. To make his new faith less disruptive, Muhammad allowed Mecca to remain a holy city and the geographic center of man’s religious history. Thus, Muslims face Mecca when they pray. Then, to add the pedigree of Judeo-Christian monotheism, the Koran relocated biblical events from Jerusalem to Mecca. For these reasons, many of the once-pagan hajj ceremonies are now connected to Abraham, his concubine Hagar, and his son Ishmael. Muslims believe, for example, that Abraham lived in Mecca, that he built the Kaaba, and that he came close to sacrificing his son Ishmael where the Kaaba stands.
We entered Mecca at dusk, chanting hundreds of times the prayer every pilgrim has on his...
