Vast crowds of robed Muslim faithful walked solemn circles around the Kaaba, the black cube at Mecca's Grand Mosque on Sunday to begin the biggest hajj pilgrimage in several years, in the heat of the ...

Muslim worshippers make their way towards the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque complex in in the holy city of Mecca to take part in morning prayers on the first day of Eid Al-Adha, ...

Al-Azraqi wrote in his book 'Akhbar Makkah', citing Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, 'King Tubba was the first to cover the Kaaba. He ordered the chieftains of the Jurhum tribe to make the door of the Kaaba.

While in Mina, they will visit Mecca to perform their "tawaf," or circumambulation, which is circling the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque counterclockwise seven times.

Muslim pilgrims pray in front of the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 25, 2023.

In Surah 2, verses 149-150, the Quran says, “turn thy face toward the Sacred Mosque [the Kaaba in Mecca] … wheresoever you may be, turn your faces toward it.” ...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia — Billboards line the Umm Al Qura highway leading to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, displaying manicured public spaces, glass-fronted stores and sleek towers. It’s part of a ...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Billboards line the Umm Al Qura highway leading to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, displaying manicured public spaces, glass-fronted stores and sleek towers. It’s part of ...

Muslims regard the site as the third holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina. Al-Aqsa is the name given to the whole compound and is home to two Muslim holy places: the Dome of the Rock and the ...

Vast crowds of robed pilgrims made solemn circles around the Kaaba, the black cube at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, on Sunday as the biggest hajj pilgrimage in years began in the heat of the Saudi ...