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
Sharifate of Mecca he chose one of the sharifs of Hejaz, Jaafar al-Musawi, and installed him as emir of Mecca in about 964. When the Ismaili Shia Fatimids conquered Egypt in 973, they began to appoint the sharifs of Mecca from the descendants of Jaafar al-Musawi. In 1012, the Emir of Mecca Abdul-Futuh declared himself caliph, but he was persuaded to give up his title in the same year. The first Sulayhid ruler conquered the whole of Yemen in 1062, and proceeded northwards to occupy the Hejaz. For a time, they appointed the Emirs of Mecca. As Sunni power began to revive after