32 million
T e number of pilgrims the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah will cater for after expansion is complete in 2015
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TOP TIP
VISA APPLICATIONS Each year, the Saudi government allocates
the Hijri calendar. At the centre of Makkah’s Sacred Mosque is the Ka’aba – the focal point of the pilgrims who visit the city each year. Circling the Ka’aba is one of the prime rituals that the pilgrims perform. It is believed to symbolise unity in the worship of one God and is performed during both Hajj and Umrah. Millions more visit Makkah year
round for Umrah or the ‘minor pilgrimage’ that can be performed at any time. It is a recommended part of Islam, though, unlike Hajj, not a compulsory one. To cope with the thousands
of people who arrive every day during Hajj, the King Abdulaziz International Airport in the port city of Jeddah 73 kilometres away uses a separate, purpose-built Hajj terminal.
around two million visas for Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. Applications are submitted through authorised agencies, tourist
companies or certified charitable organisations in the visitor’s country of origin. All agents, tour companies or Hajj groups
have to be approved by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj as conforming to all requirements regarding pilgrims.
THE KA’ABA The imposing black structure of the Ka’aba (which means ‘cube’) is 43 feet high with sides measuring 36.2 feet and 42.2 feet. It is a marble-lined chamber made with black basalt from the surrounding mountains and is draped in the Kiswah, a black silk cloth with Qur’anic verses embroidered in gold. Inside, the Ka’aba’s fl oor and walls are of marble inlaid with Qur’anic inscriptions. In one corner is the Black Stone, which marks the starting point for the seven circumambulations that every Hajji or Umrah pilgrim must complete. Islamic tradition has it that the
Ka’aba was built by the Prophet Ibrahim and his son Isma’il under instruction from Allah.
SACRED MOSQUE The Ka’aba originally stood in the open during Prophet Mohammad’s (pbuh) time. By around 685CE, it had been fenced off and later, the immediate surroundings were cleared to make way for the mosque. The mosque is Al Masjid Al Haram (the Sacred Mosque) and its exact date of construction is unclear. In around 1570CE, the Ottoman Sultan Selim II commissioned its renovation, in which its original fl at roof was replaced with domes decorated with Islamic calligraphy and new support columns were erected. Under Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd, the largest extension to the mosque was carried out between 1989 and 2005, which included the addition of two new minarets, 14 additional side gates and the King Fahd Gate. The mosque’s total fl oor area
3
increased to 366,168 square metres as a result of these renovations. Another renovation was begun on its northern side in 2011 to add approximately 400,000 square metres of fl oor space and a new gate named after King Abdullah. Expected to be completed in 2020, it will add two more minarets to the mosque, bringing the total to 11.
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