Kaaba in the context of "Qibla"

Hajj (/hɑːdʒ/; Arabic: حَجّ, romanized: Ḥajj; also spelled Hadj or Haj) 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.

In Islamic terminology, Hajj is a pilgrimage made to the Kaaba, the "House of Allah", in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah (oath that one believes there is no god but Allah), salat (prayer), zakat (almsgiving), and sawm (fasting during Ramadan). The Hajj is an annual practice when Muslim brotherhood is on display and their solidarity with fellow Muslim people and submission to God (Allah) is fulfilled. The Hajj is taken by Muslims to cleanse their souls of all worldly sins, which connotes both the outward act of a journey after death and the inward act of good intentions. The rites of pilgrimage are performed over five to six days, extending from the 8th to the 12th or 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven-twelve days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. In 2024 AD (1445 AH), Dhu al-Hijjah extended from 7 June to 6 July and in 2025 AD (1446 AH), Dhu al-Hijjah was from 28 May to 25 June. In 2026 AD (1447 AH), Dhu al-Hijjah will extend from 18 May to 15 June; and in 2027 AD (1448 AH), Dhu al-Hijjah will extend from 24 May to 22 June.

The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionally synonymous with what is known as the Land of Israel (Zion) or the Promised Land in a biblical or religious context, or as Canaan or Palestine in a secular or geographic context—referring to a region that is mostly between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Today, it chiefly overlaps with the combined territory of the modern states of Israel and Palestine. Most notable among the religions that tie substantial spiritual value to the Holy Land are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

A considerable part of the Holy Land's importance derives from Jerusalem, which is regarded as extremely sacred in and of itself. It is the holiest city in Judaism and Christianity and the third-holiest city in Islam (behind Mecca and Medina in the Arabian Peninsula). The Temple in Jerusalem, referring to Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple, was the central place of worship for Israelites and Jews and serves as the namesake of the Temple Mount. According to the Bible, Jerusalem was made the capital city of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah under the House of David, thereafter being inherited by the Kingdom of Judah alone. Jesus of Nazareth, first brought to Jerusalem to be presented at the Second Temple shortly after his birth, was also highly active throughout the city during his life as a preacher. In Islamic belief, Isra' and Mi'raj refer to a night journey by Muhammad to the Holy Land, with the supernatural "Buraq" transporting him from Mecca's Masjid al-Haram to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, where he ascended to heaven and met God and past Islamic prophets and messengers; Jerusalem also served as the qibla (direction of Muslim prayers) prior to Mecca's Kaaba.

Umar ibn al-Khattab (Arabic: عُمَر بْن ٱلْخَطَّاب, romanized: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb; c. 584 – 644), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Initially, Umar opposed Muhammad, who was his distant Qurayshite kinsman. However, after converting to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. He participated in nearly all of Muhammad’s battles and expeditions, and Muhammad conferred upon him the title al-Fārūq ("the Distinguisher") for his sound judgement. After Muhammad’s death in June 632, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr as the first caliph and served as his chief adviser. In 634, shortly before his death, Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.

Abraham is a prophet and messenger of God according to Islam, and an ancestor to the Ishmaelite Arabs and Israelites. Abraham plays a prominent role as an example of faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Muslim belief, Abraham fulfilled all the commandments and trials wherein God nurtured him throughout his lifetime. As a result of his unwavering faith in God, Abraham was promised by God to be a leader to all the nations of the world. The Quran extols Abraham as a model, an exemplar, obedient and not an idolater. In this sense, Abraham has been described as representing "primordial man in universal surrender to the Divine Reality before its fragmentation into religions separated from each other by differences in form". Muslims believe that the Kaaba in Mecca was built by Abraham and his son Ishmael as the first house of worship on earth. The Islamic holy day 'Eid ul-Adha is celebrated in commemoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son on God's command, as well as the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to the Kaaba.

Muslims believe that Abraham became the leader of the righteous in his time and that it was through him that Adnanite-Arabs and Israelites came. Abraham, in the belief of Islam, was instrumental in cleansing the world of idolatry at the time. Paganism was cleared out by Abraham in both the Arabian peninsula and Canaan. He spiritually purified both places as well as physically sanctifying the houses of worship. Abraham and Isma'il (Ishmael) further established the rites of pilgrimage, or Ḥajj ('Pilgrimage'), which are still followed by Muslims today. Muslims maintain that Abraham further asked God to bless both the lines of his progeny, of Isma'il and Isḥaq (Isaac), and to keep all of his descendants in the protection of God.

Salah (Arabic: ٱلصَّلَاةُ, romanized: aṣ-Ṣalāh, also spelled Salat), also known as Namaz (Persian: نماز, romanized: namāz), is the practice of formal worship in Islam, consisting of a series of ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. These prayers, which consist of units known as rak'ah, include a specific set of physical postures, recitation from the Quran, and prayers from the Sunnah, and are performed while facing the direction towards the Kaaba in Mecca (qibla). The number of rak'ah varies depending on the specific prayer. Variations in practice are observed among adherents of different madhahib (schools of Islamic jurisprudence). The term salah may denote worship in general or specifically refer to the obligatory prayers performed by Muslims five times daily, or, in some traditions, three times daily.

The obligatory prayers play an integral role in the Islamic faith, and are regarded as the second and most important, after shahadah, of the Five Pillars of Islam for Sunnis, and one of the Ancillaries of the Faith for Shiites. In addition, supererogatory salah, such as Sunnah prayer and Nafl prayer, may be performed at any time, subject to certain restrictions. Wudu, an act of ritual purification, is required prior to performing salah. Prayers may be conducted individually or in congregation, with certain prayers, such as the Friday and Eid prayers, requiring a collective setting and a khutbah (sermon). Some concessions are made for Muslims who are physically unable to perform the salah in its original form, or are travelling.

Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the holiest city in Islam. It is located in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia and is the capital of Mecca Province. Mecca is considered the birthplace of Islam and the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

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. The Cave of Hira atop the Jabal al-Nour, just outside the city, is where Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to Muhammad. Visiting Mecca for the Ḥajj is an obligation upon all able Muslims. The Great Mosque of Mecca, known as the Masjid al-Haram, is home to the Kaaba, believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and Ishmael. It is Islam's holiest site and the direction of prayer (qibla) for all Muslims worldwide. 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.

The holiest sites in Islam are located in the Middle East. While the significance of most places typically varies depending on the Islamic sect, there is a consensus across all mainstream branches of the religion that affirms three cities as having the highest degree of holiness, in descending order: Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. Mecca's Al-Masjid al-Haram (including the Kaaba), Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, and Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque are all revered by Muslims as sites of great importance.

After the consensus on the first three sites as well as further sites associated with the family of Muhammad, there is a divergence between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims on the designation of additional holy sites. Even within each sect, there are disputes as to whether any uniquely holy cities exist apart from the aforementioned three. For Sunnis that argue that there are, sites associated with the Rashidun, other Companions of Muhammad, and Biblical prophets often hold a high level of significance (see holiest sites in Sunni Islam). In particular, the Umayyad Mosque in the city of Damascus and the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron have held interchangeable significance as the fourth and fifth-holiest Islamic sites, respectively, for many Sunni Muslims. For Shias, sites associated with the Imamah hold a high level of significance (see holiest sites in Shia Islam).

Masjid al-Haram (Arabic: المسجد الحرام, romanized: al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, lit. 'The Sacred Mosque'), 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 western region 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 contains other important sites, such as the Black Stone, the Zamzam Well, Maqam Ibrahim, and the hills of Safa and Marwa.

As of 2025, the Great Mosque is both the largest mosque in the world, and the most expensive building in the world. It has undergone major renovations and expansions through the years. It has passed through the control of various caliphs, sultans and kings, and is now under the control of the King of Saudi Arabia who is titled the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

The first millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era was a millennium spanning the years 1 to 1000 (1st to 10th centuries; in astronomy: JD 1721425.5 – 2086667.5). The world population rose more slowly than during the preceding millennium, from about 200 million in the year 1 to about 300 million in the year 1000.

In Western Eurasia (Europe and Near East), the first millennium was a time of great transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages. The 1st century saw the peak of the Roman Empire, followed by its gradual decline during the period of Late Antiquity, the rise of Christianity and the Great Migrations. The second half of the millennium is characterized as the Early Middle Ages in Europe, and marked by the Viking expansion in the west, and the continuation of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) in the east.

Al-Marwani (Arabic: ُٱلْمَرْوَنِي, romanized: al-Marwānī) or Banu Marwan (Arabic: بَنِوُ مَرْوَانَ, lit. 'Sons of Marwan'), also referred to as the Marwanids (Arabic: ٱلْمَرْوَنِيُون, romanized: al-Marwāniyūn), is a prominent Arab clan belonging to the Banu Umayya branch of the Quraysh tribe. They are the descendants of Marwan ibn al-Hakam, fourth Umayyad caliph and paternal first cousin of the Rashidun caliph Uthman ibn Affan. Their roots lie in the holy city of Mecca in the Hejaz, the ancestral homeland of the Quraysh tribe, while their historical establishment was in Damascus, Syria. They are considered first cousins of the Banu Hashim, the clan of the Prophet Muhammad, since Umayya ibn Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf was the paternal nephew of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf. They are also cousins of the Banu Shayba clan of Quraysh, the hereditary custodians of the Kaaba, through Marwan's maternal grandmother al-Sa'ba bint Abi Talha Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Uzza al-Abdariyya, the paternal aunt of Uthman ibn Talha ibn Abd Allah al-Abdari upon whom the Prophet Muhammad entrusted the guardianship of the keys of the Kaaba after the Conquest of Mecca.

The clan arrived in Damascus in the second half of the 7th century CE when Marwan I, the family's progenitor, moved from the Hejaz to Syria. His accession at the tribal conclave of Marj Rahit (684) marked the transfer of the caliphate within the Banu Umayya clan from the family of Abu Sufyan to his family. The family constitutes one of the two principal cadet branches of the Umayyad dynasty, the other being the Sufyanids, descended from Muʿawiya I ibn Abi Sufyan. At their height, the Marwanis represented the dominant branch of the Umayyad family, producing most of its ruling members and remaining the most numerous line of Umayyad descendants in later generations. The family supplied caliphs, princes, governors and commanders in the 7th–11th centuries and continued as a recognizable lineage in the central Islamic lands and in al-Andalus after 750.