Masjid al-Haram

The al -Haram Mosque, sacred mosque or sacred Mosque (Arabic: al - Masjid al المسجد الحرام - haram al - DMG masǧid al -Haram ) in Mecca (Saudi Arabia ) is the principal mosque of Islam - and at the same time largest in the world. Together with the Prophet's Mosque in Medina and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is the Holy Mosque in Mecca, the three holiest places of Islam.

The building

The Holy Mosque inside hosts the central sanctuary of Islam, the Kaaba. This is the place where Muslims around the world lean towards the daily congregational prayer. The current building dates from the 16th century in origin, has nine minarets and covers an area of ​​356,800 sq meters - the inner and outer surfaces including prayer. It can accommodate up to 820,000 worshipers during the Hajj. This is one of the largest annual gatherings of people in the world.

For several years, the mosque is extended. After completion, it will be 456,000 square meters and can accommodate 1.2 million believers. Furthermore, the number of minarets to increase to 11. The cost of the project amounted to 80 billion Saudi Riyals.

Apart from the Kaaba in the courtyard of the Holy Mosque in the drawing Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje of Orientalists following buildings:

History

To the original sanctuary in Mecca, the Kaaba, the well of Zamzam and the Maqam Ibrahim were already in pre-Islamic times. In 8 of the Muslim era (630 AD) Mohammed built a mosque. Soon, however, the room was too small, and under Caliph Umar and Caliph Uthman the neighboring houses were torn down and built a wall. Abdallah ibn az- Zubayr had built a simple roof over the wall and under the Umayyads and the Abbasids further enlargements and embellishments were attached. Your final shape was given the mosque from 1572 to 1577 under Sultan Selim II, who, among other things, the flat roof by a large number of small conical, white was replaced painted domes. In 1979, the Mosque of Islamic terrorists was occupied, where several hundred people were killed.