Mecca is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia and the holiest city according to Islam. It is 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its metropolitan population in 2022 was 2.4 million, making it the third-most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. Around 44.5% of the population are Saudi citizens and around 55.5% are Muslim foreigners from other countries. Pilgrims more than triple the population number every year during the Ḥajj pilgrimage, observed in the twelfth Hijri month of Dhūl-Ḥijjah. With over 10.8 million international visitors in 2023, Mecca was one of the ten most visited cities in the world.
Medina, officially Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah, is the capital of Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. It is one of the oldest and most important places in Islamic history. One of the most sacred cities in Islam, the population as of 2022 is 1,411,599, making it the fourth-most populous city in the country. Around 58.5% of the population are Saudi citizens and 41.5% are foreigners. Located at the core of the Medina Province in the western reaches of the country, the city is distributed over 589 km2 (227 sq mi), of which 293 km2 (113 sq mi) constitutes the city's urban area, while the rest is occupied by the Hejaz Mountains, empty valleys, agricultural spaces and older dormant volcanoes.
The Prophet's Mosque is the second mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Medina, after that of Quba, as well as the second largest mosque and holiest site in Islam, after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, in the Saudi region of the Hejaz. The mosque is located at the heart of Medina, and is a major site of pilgrimage that falls under the purview of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
Ihram is a sacred state which a Muslim must enter to perform the Ḥajj or ʿUmrah in Islam. A pilgrim must enter into this state before crossing the pilgrimage boundary known as the Miqat by performing the cleansing rituals and wearing the prescribed Ihram clothing.
Safa and Marwa are two small hills, connected to the larger Abu Qubais and Qaiqan mountains, respectively, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, now made part of Al-Masjid al-Haram. Muslims travel back and forth between them seven times in what is known as saʿī ritual pilgrimages of Ḥajj and Umrah.
The Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims, located in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia. It can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to the Ḥajj, which has specific dates according to the Islamic lunar calendar.
The Mīqāt Dhu al-Ḥulayfah, also known as Masjid ash-Shajarah or Masjid Dhu al-Hulayfah, is a miqat and mosque in Abyār ʿAlī, Medina, west of Wadi al-'Aqiq, where the final Islamic prophet, Muhammad, entered the state of ihram before performing 'Umrah, after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. The mosque is located 7 km SW of the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi and was defined by Muhammad as the miqat for those willing to perform the Hajj or Umrah pilgrimages from Medina. It is the second-largest miqat mosque after the Miqat Qarn al-Manazil in As-Sayl al-Kabir.
The miqat is a principal boundary at which Muslim pilgrims intending to perform the Ḥajj or ʿUmrah must enter the state of iḥrām, a state of consecration in which certain permitted activities are made prohibited.
The Farewell Pilgrimage refers to the one Hajj pilgrimage that Muhammad performed in the Islamic year 10 AH, following the Conquest of Mecca. Muslims believe that verse 22:27 of the Quran brought about the intent to perform Hajj in Muhammad that year. When Muhammad announced this intent, approximately 100,000 of his Sahaba gathered in Medina to perform the annual pilgrimage with him. Muhammad performed Hajj al-Qiran, a type of Hajj in which Umrah and Hajj are performed together. On the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah, the Day of Arafah, Muhammad delivered the Farewell Sermon atop the Mount Arafat outside Mecca.
The Kaaba, sometimes referred to as al-Ka'ba al-Musharrafa, is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is considered by Muslims to be the Baytullah and is the qibla for Muslims around the world. The current structure was built after the original building was damaged by fire during the siege of Mecca by Umayyads in 683 CE.
Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and of supporting their family during their absence from home.
At-Tanʿīm is a neighbourhood of Makkah in western Saudi Arabia. In this district is Masjid A'ishah, a boundary of the Ḥaram, where pilgrims of Ḥajj and ʿUmrah can put on Iḥram.
Abu Qubays is a sacred mountain which resides on the eastern frontier of Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Mecca, in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia.
Masjid al-Haram, also known as the Sacred Mosque or the Great Mosque of Mecca, is considered to be the most significant mosque in Islam. It encloses the vicinity of the Kaaba in Mecca, in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia. It is among the pilgrimage sites associated with the Hajj, which every Muslim must perform at least once in their lives if able. It is also the main site for the performance of ʿUmrah, the lesser pilgrimage that can be undertaken any time of the year. The rites of both pilgrimages include circumambulating the Kaaba within the mosque. The Great Mosque includes other important significant sites, such as the Black Stone, the Zamzam Well, Maqam Ibrahim, and the hills of Safa and Marwa.
Manasik is the whole of rites and ceremonies that have to be performed by Islamic pilgrims in and around Mecca. The Qur'an differentiates between two manasiks: The Manasik of Hajj, has to be done in the month Dhu al-Hijjah and The Manasik of ʿUmra, which can be performed any time of the year. The knowledge of manasik is an independent part of Fiqh.
Abla al-Kahlawi was an Egyptian scholar and teacher of Islamic jurisprudence, as well as a religious leader, preacher, and television presenter. She taught at Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, where she was the Dean of the Faculty of Islamic and Arabic Studies at the Women's College. She was listed on the inaugural edition of The 500 Most Influential Muslims for her work on religion and women, in 2009, and has published widely on women and Islamic jurisprudence. She preached in Egypt, in person and on television, as well as in Saudi Arabia, and notably preached every day for two years at the Masjid al-Ḥaram, Islam's most important mosque in Saudi Arabia, between 1987 and 1989.
Masjid an-Namirah or Masjid Nimrah is a mosque in Wadi Uranah near Mecca in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia. It is believed to be where the Islamic prophet Muhammad stayed before delivering his last sermon in 'Arafat. It is one of the most important landmarks during the Hajj, as it is where the khutbahs are delivered to pilgrims during the Day of Arafah during the Dhuhr and Asr prayers. It is located near Mount Arafat.
Al-Qantara Mosque, also known as Al-Madhoun Mosque or Qabil Mosque, is an abandoned historical mosque from the Ottoman era in the neighbourhood of Al-Mathnah in the city of At-Ta’if, Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia 
