Great Mosque of Mecca Great Mosque of Mecca The Great Mosque of Mecca, also called "Al-Haram Mosque" (, "the Forbidden Mosque", "the Holy Mosque" or "the Sacred Mosque") or "Grand Mosque of Makkah", is the largest mosque in the world, and surrounds the Islamic "Qiblah", that is the "Ka‘bah" in the Hejazi city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Muslims face the Kaaba while praying. One of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every Muslim to perform the "Ḥajj", one of the largest annual gatherings of people in the world, at least once in their lifetime when able to do so, including circumambulating the Kaaba. It
Battle of Mecca (1916) 1916 most of the Ottoman army had gone to Taif, a hill station in Arabia accompanying Ghalib Pasha, the governor of Hijaz. Only 1,000 men were left to defend Mecca. Many of them were asleep in barracks in the valley on June 10 when the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali fired a shot into the air from the window of the Hashemite palace signaling the beginning of the Arab Revolt. Hearing this his 5000 supporters started firing on Turkish troops in three fortresses overlooking the holy city, and at the Jirwall barracks on Jeddah road. The attack upon the