A Sinner in Mecca he can finally secure his place within this religion that condemns him. "A Sinner in Mecca" is co-produced with Arte and ZDF in Europe. The film is set in Saudi Arabia, India, and the United States. A Sinner in Mecca continues to play at many film festivals around the world. Its European premiere was at the UK's Sheffield Doc/Fest where it was nominated for a Grand Jury Award. Additional security was provided. The film won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at Outfest in Los Angeles. where additional security was provided as well. A Sinner in Mecca premiered at
Black mecca of Harlem" was also the title of a 2010 book by Temple University professor Zain Abdullah about Muslim West African immigrants in New York City, using "Mecca" not only in the generic sense of "a place that people are drawn to" but also playing on the original meaning of Mecca as the Muslim holy city. Rarely are places other than Atlanta and Harlem mentioned as black meccas, though in questioning the status of Atlanta as a black mecca, comparisons are often made to other cities with large black populations with cities over 200,000 people, such as Birmingham, Detroit, St. Louis,