History of Makkah

Makkah is a city in the Hejaz in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and in it stands the Holy Kaaba, the history of whose door is linked to the age of Ibrahim, peace be upon him.[1]

The history of Makkah unfolds across successive eras: the Mamluk era saw endowment and scholarly activity, the Ottoman period brought political events and services for pilgrims, and the Saudi era then witnessed the founding of educational and official institutions that took the city as their seat.[4][6][11]

In the Mamluk era (648–923 AH/1250–1517 CE), Makkah witnessed charitable and endowment activity by scholars and jurists, including the building of mosques and schools and the dedication of endowments to sustain them.[4]

Two Hejazi travel accounts, the journey of Abu Salim al-Ayyashi and the journey of Evliya Celebi, draw a picture of the cultural, religious and scholarly conditions in the Hejaz in the eleventh century AH/seventeenth century CE.[8]

Coffee houses spread through the main cities of the Hejaz, among them Makkah, offering pilgrims the preparation of coffee, the supply of water and food, the care of their mounts, and protection from the glare of the sun and the bitter cold; this continued until the beginning of the fourteenth century AH/twentieth century CE.[5]

In the tenth century AH/sixteenth century CE, Makkah and Jeddah witnessed events connected with the Lawand group in 932 AH/1526 CE that affected political, social and economic conditions.[6]

Abdulrahman ibn Atiq assumed the ministry in the Hejaz in 1003 AH/1594 CE in the time of Sharif Hasan ibn Abi Numayy, and in his ministry he attended to security and the spread of justice.[7]

The history of the door of the Holy Kaaba is linked to the age of Ibrahim, peace be upon him: the Kaaba was given a door at ground level that was not closed, and Tubba As'ad al-Himyari then made for it a door that closed with a Persian latch.[1]

In the Ma'la cemetery in Makkah there is a group of tombstone inscriptions preserved in the Museum of Antiquities and Heritage in Makkah, dating to a period extending from the first to the fifth century AH (7th–11th CE).[2]

The tombstones of the Ma'la cemetery include inscriptions documenting the death of persons in the sixth century AH/twelfth century CE, preserved in the Makkah Museum of Antiquities and Heritage.[3]

The Saudi state made efforts to revive the Hejaz Railway extending from Damascus to Madinah, from the era of King Abdulaziz ibn Abdulrahman Al Saud until those attempts ceased in the era of King Khalid (1344–1402 AH/1925–1982 CE).[9]

The report of Farhan al-Rahmah documented a journey from Makkah to Bahrain by way of Riyadh in 1338 AH/1920 CE.[10]

King Abdulaziz ibn Abdulrahman Al Saud founded Umm Al-Qura newspaper, the official gazette of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; its first issue appeared on 15 Jumada al-Awwal 1343 AH, corresponding to 12 December 1924, and it takes the city of Makkah as its seat.[11]

In 1369 AH, King Abdulaziz ibn Abdulrahman Al Saud ordered the founding of the College of Sharia in Makkah to be the first university-level educational institution in the Kingdom, and in 1401 AH Umm Al-Qura University was established.[12]

The regulation for the development of unplanned areas in the city of Makkah and the Holy Sites was issued by a decision of the board of directors of the Royal Commission for the City of Makkah and the Holy Sites, No. (Q-41-4-1), dated 19/4/1441 AH.[13]

Q: Where is Makkah located? A: In the Hejaz in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and in it stands the Holy Kaaba.[1]

Q: How did the door of the Holy Kaaba develop through history? A: In the age of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, the Kaaba was given a door at ground level that was not closed, and Tubba As'ad al-Himyari then made for it a door that closed with a Persian latch.[1]

Q: What is the oldest university-level educational institution in the Kingdom? A: The College of Sharia in Makkah, whose founding King Abdulaziz ibn Abdulrahman Al Saud ordered in 1369 AH.[12]

Q: What is the official gazette of the Kingdom and where is its seat? A: Umm Al-Qura, whose first issue appeared on 15 Jumada al-Awwal 1343 AH, corresponding to 12 December 1924, and its seat is Makkah.[11]