Al-Haram mosque in Saudi Arabia

The full name of the Masjid al-Haram Mosque. "Masjid" in translation from Arabic - "mosque", that is the place where worship is performed, "al-Haram" means "forbidden". In the Russian translation it sounds like "Forbidden Mosque".

The Holy Kaaba

In the center of the mosque is the famous Kaaba - a place for the worship of believers in the form of a cubic structure, fully covered with a black cloth, quite large in size: 15 meters in height, 10 in length and 12 in width. The building is made of granite and has a room inside. It was built by the envoy Ibrahim with the purpose of worshiping humanity to the one Creator of the universe - Allah. Since then, all the faithful Muslims, wherever they are, turn to the Kaaba when they perform the prayer. The temple of al-Haram with the Ka'ba are connected with one of the most important rites - hajj.

According to the Arab legend, for the first time the sanctuary on the site of modern Kaaba was established by Adam. When the punishment for the World Flood was sent to the earth , Ibrahim again restored the shrine. Before Allah sent people to Islam, there was a pagan sanctuary of Quraysh. After the coming of the prophet Mohammad, s.a.v. Kaaba became the place of worship of Muslims - Kibla. Each mosque in the world has a niche, or mihrab, which indicates the location of Qibla for the worshipers.

One of the pillars of Islam is namaz

The devout is convinced that he came to this world for the sole purpose of worshiping the Almighty. All actions and thoughts of a person should be connected with the name of Allah. For any gesture and word, the slave of Allah will answer on the Day of Judgment. One of the main duties of every Muslim is five times prayer. This is a prayer performed in a state of ablution (ritual purity) in the allotted time five times a day.

In any city where Muslims live and there is a mosque, the muezzin from the minaret encourages the faithful to perform prayer. At this time, it seems that life has stopped, everything fills the voice pronouncing adhan. Any Muslim city at this moment stops its usual course, and people are preparing to perform the prayer. No earthly affairs can be more important than prayer. Because in the holy Qur'an it is said that one rak'aat of prayer is the most expensive on earth.

The role of the mosque in the life of a believer

The mosque is the place where you can rest from the worldly and seclude yourself with thoughts of the eternal. It is more preferable to perform prayer with other brothers and sisters in the mosque's premises. This is called collective namaz.

Since the time when Islam firmly took its place in history, the mosque became the main element of any city where the followers of the Prophet Mohammad SAV lived.

Etymologically, a mosque is a place where people perform sujud - an earthly bow. It is only for Allah to perform worship. Islam forbids to bow before anyone else. This, according to faith, is a great sin and it is called "Giving to God associates."

The mosque always combined spiritual, cultural and socio-political functions. Since the very beginning of religion, mosques have not just defended prayer. But they preached faith, helped the poor, and solved major social and political issues.

The mosque has always been and is the focus of purity both spiritual and physical. It is not allowed to enter the house of the Creator on earth without observing the ritual ablution. Any work on keeping cleanliness in the mosque is also welcomed, for which a person will necessarily receive a reward after death.

The Four Pillars of Faith

In addition to prayer, the Muslim must perform four more duties: to pronounce shahada - the testimony of monotheism, to make a pilgrimage - the hajj to Mecca, to observe the fast every year at a certain time, to give zakat - alms to the indigent.

Forbidden Mosque

Currently, the quota for pilgrims from Russia is more than 20,000 people.

Every year more than 2 million adherents of Islam come to the al-Haram mosque. Many Muslims dream of one day coming to pray at the al-Haram mosque (Mecca, Saudi Arabia). This mosque is designated exactly 15 times in the Koran. She has a very rich history. This mosque is older than the Palestinian mosque Beit al-Mukaddas.

For the first time, al-Haram was erected in 1570 and today has 4 main entrances and another 44 additional ones. At the same time 700,000 people can pray at the mosque today. Nine minarets 89 meters high decorate the main mosque of three floors. There are also indoor galleries under the ground, open to pilgrims on weekends. Two huge power stations illuminate the complex. Everything is built in accordance with the latest technologies and the latest trends: radio and television broadcasting, air conditioners. This is done solely in order to ensure a comfortable stay for the pilgrims. The greatness of al-Haram and the Ka'ba is not in rich furniture, but in its simplicity and holiness.

The main shrine of the Muslim world

Masjid al-Haram differs from other mosques in the world by the fact that Muslims from all over the world flock here every year to fall prostrate before Allah and fulfill one of the pillars of Islam. Thousands of people of different countries and nationalities, different skin color and social status gather together to glorify the Creator of the Earth and Heaven, learn something new or share their experience and knowledge, their problems.

After the last prophet Mohammad died, and his body was moved to Medina, the al-Haram mosque (Saudi Arabia) became the unified kiblah of all Muslims.

First, following the example of Mohammad, Muslims prayed in the direction of the Beit al-Mukaddas mosque in Jerusalem, like the Jews. However, the Jews in every way resisted this, which grieved the great prophet. And then the Almighty sent him a revelation in the form of 144 verses of surah "Bakar", in which he indicated to the prophet a uniform for Muslims, a kiblah - the al-Haram mosque. Since then, five times every day, millions of people professing Islam turn to this side and pray with the Creator. Entrance to Mecca is open only to faithful Muslims who come here in the 12th month of the Muslim calendar.

Reconstruction of the complex

Constantly for the expansion and improvement of the mosque, large funds are being spent. The contribution is made not only by Saudi Arabia, in whose possessions the mosques of Mecca and Medina develop, but also Egypt, Iran, and Turkey.

One of the serious problems - the overcrowding of the mosque's squares and traffic jams - was planned to be solved during the reconstruction by increasing the area areas. To facilitate the stay of those praying in Mecca, one metro line was built, uniting two places of worship.

The last time the mosque underwent a large-scale reconstruction in the early 21st century, from 2007 to 2012, as a result of which the area increased to 400,000 km. The King of Saudi Arabia laid a stone-symbol for an increase in area. The main mosque of al-Haram Saudi Arabia has changed beyond recognition. Anyone who can decide to visit it can see it. You can also use the numerous images to appreciate the beauty of the al-Haram mosque (photo below). In the entire history of the mosque, this reconstruction is the most grandiose. Upon completion of the construction the complex became more than half as large. And now more than 1.12 million believers can perform prayer at the same time, and if we take into account all adjacent buildings, then the number of participants increases to 2.5 million.

The capture of the mosque in 1979

It was not always so good. In 1979, pilgrims had to survive the monstrous capture of hostages by terrorists right during the Hajj. About five hundred armed people barricaded themselves in the building of the mosque and from the height of the minaret, from which they call for entreaty, stated the demands of the leader, Juhayman al-Utaybi. The essence of their actions was that they were the ideologists of the long-ago prediction, according to which, before the Day of Judgment, Mahdi had to come to the earth and purify Islam. Directly invaders opposed the fact that the ruling circles acquired luxury, that people began to make images of people, Saudi Arabia is doing business with America and selling oil to it, against television, excessive permissiveness in behavior. The invaders called for the worship of a new mission - the Mahdi at the walls of the Kaaba. The fact that they decided to shed blood on the Holy Land, the militants attributed the impossibility of tolerating the oppression of religion.

The struggle against the invaders lasted more than two weeks, until the Masjid al-Haram mosque was completely freed from the bandits. The Saudi government was unable to cope on their own and was forced to seek help from the French. Three specialists flew from France, whose role was reduced to consulting assistance. They did not have to take part in the liberation, because they were not Muslims. When the assault was over, the terrorists were beheaded in the square. For 50 years it was the most terrible execution in Saudi Arabia.