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 (883) Ibn Tulun again endeavored to assert his authority in Mecca, and he dispatched the officers Muhammad ibn al-Sarraj and al-Ghanawi to the city with a force of four hundred and seventy cavalry and two thousand infantry. The Tulunid army reached Mecca on June 8 (two days before the beginning of the pilgrimage month of Dhu al-Hijjah) and found the governor Harun ibn Muhammad absent from the city, being at that time at Bustan ibn 'Amir. Upon their arrival they began distributing money among the populace in order to garner support, giving two dinars each to the Jazzarin and Hannatin and