The Kaaba in Mekkah:
Shown in the picture at the top of this page is the Kaaba in Mekkah, Saudi Arabia, surrounded by the millions of Muslims gathered for the annual Hajj, the pilgrimage. The Muslims turn towards the Kaaba during their five daily prayers from around the Globe. Originally, the black building called the Kaaba was a rectangular building that included the open space next to it in the picture. But when the structure collapsed during Prophet Muhammad (SAWS)'s time, the Mekkans did not have enough "pure" money to rebuild the entire structure, so they shortened it marking its original size with a shorter wall. Many kings of Saudi Arabia rebuilt it to its original shape over the years in the past, but finally it was decided to be kept the way it was rebuilt during Prophet Muhammad (SAWS)'s time.
Muslims do not worship the Kaaba, of course, it gives them a direction to turn to. Muslims worship God and acknowledge Him as the only Supreme God.
Medina:
250 miles North of Mekkah is the city called Medina, where Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) migrated in the year 623, thirteen years into his Prophet hood, when his own tribe Quraish of Mekkah turrnned against him and threatened to kill him. This immigration marked a milestone in the Islamic History known as the Hijra. The Islamic calendar began at that time.
The Arabian Peninsula:
Once we get to know the 7th Century Mekkah in Arabian Peninsula, how life was like then and how Islam changed their ways and how Islam has been shaping the civilization from that time on, it is then we understand and appreciate this religion. That pre-Islamic time was labeled as the time of Jahelia or ignorance, and Islam came and drastically changed their cultural practices of wrongdoings. Islam gave inheritance right to the women in the 7th Century! Yet many people think of this religion as backward! People carry on many of the Jaheli practices and misinform others about Islam.
A little about Prophet Muhammad (SAWS):
Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) was born in Mekkah in a prestigious tribe called the Quraish and in a very prestigious subtribe called Banu Hashim, in year 570. At the age of forty he became a Prophet, that is, he began receiving the revelations from God, which is now known as the Holy Quran. After receiving his Prophet hood, Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) lived the first thirteen years of his remaining life in the city of Mekkah and the final ten years of his life in the city called Medina, where he became a governing leader of the Muslims of Medina. So, the entire Holy Quran came in gradual revelations, which changed the way people behaved during those dark Jaheli days in a span of just these twenty three years!
Prophet Muhammad (SAWS)'s grandfather, Abdul Muttalib, was the chief of Banu Hashim in Mekkah. Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) became an orphan at the age of five and his life began in a struggle when his grandfather died too after only three years later. He was an unlettered Prophet, who grew up amongst his tribe's people, known as "Al Amin" or "the Trustworthy" by his tribe's people. He became a shepherd from the very young age while he lived under the care of his uncle, Abu Talib. As Mekkah was the Wall Street of trade of the 7th Century Arabian Peninsula at that time, Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) also travelled with his uncle with the camel caravans of the Quraish for business trips to Syria and Yemen and became a trust worthy and skilled tradesman at a very young age. However, later when he became a Prophet, surprisingly, his own people who would still trust him with their money but they would reject his message and not only that, they attempted to kill him. After his uncle Abu Talib's passing Prophet Muhammad (SAWS)'s tribal protection diminished and his life was in danger, he escaped in the midst of an assassination plot and migrated to nearby Medina, where the people of Medina welcomed him with their arms wide open.
The Holy Quran that we see today, is a living miracle, so it is believed by the Muslims.
