The Origins

To be clear from the beginning I'm not the kind of guy who writes journals and diaries. The last time I tried, I ended up with something like this: "Sunday the 7th of july 2008, I woke up in the morning at 6:30 am, went to the shower, came out of the shower, went outside, started the car, drove to school... etc.". Therefore, as it appears from the title of this blog, I'm only going to post some thoughts and comments about some experiences and situations that I, or someone else, have come across and found interesting and worth mentioning.

First of all, Before I talk about where I have been, I think it is better to start with where I come from which is my beloved hometown Makkah (Mecca) which I love the most not because of its religious status but because I enjoy being surrounded by its amazing and lovely people with their distinct accent and their big hearts. Although I was born in Jeddah, I grew up and lived in Makkah for my whole life and I plan for living there for the rest of my life. Today, I'll give some background so when I post about the places I've been, you will know where I came from. Let's see where it's located. It is on the west coast of Saudi Arabia.

Current Saudi Arabia

It is an ancient city and holds the holiest shrine for muslims who believe that it was built By Abraham and his son Ishmael millenniums ago.

The city's population is estimated by 2,110,293 (2010) from many different origins but the majority are Arabs. Therefore the society of Makkah is a very rich society not only because of the of this but also because of millions of visitors who come to visit every year to perform their Islamic pilgrimage (Hajj), It is interesting to note that prior to the age of the European world explorations, the pilgrimage to Makkah was the single largest expression of human mobility, visitors who come for business interests as it is one of the economically active cities in the Middle East.

Today, the city is governed by Prince Khalid Alfaisal (I wanted to put my picture shaking hands with him but unfortunately I don't have it with me but I promise I'll put it in a later post) who started a grand project, as soon as he became the prince of the Makkah (Including Jeddah and the

surrounding cities and areas) on 16 May 2007, which makes Makkah the leading city in the Middle East by 2020. It is clear for the visitor to the old city today that a magnificent change is taking place where the old central Makkah is becoming day by day a place that can serve, overwhelm and please millions of visitors each year efficiently even though it is at the expense of demolishing the ancient city and its castle. This might appear violating for many people but without it, it will be impossible to handle the massive increasing number of people coming in every year.

Most people when they talk about Makkah they start by talking about the Grand Mosque (AKA. The Haram) and the fact that it is the the birthplace and home town of Mohammed the messenger of Islam because it is the most important thing in Makkah. I totally agree with that but this kind of information is very common and can be found almost everywhere. But that doesn't mean that I will skip it. In fact I'll try my best to present it in a new and pleasant way.

The Grand Mosque

Called The Haram by the people in Makkah, as a short for Almasjid Alharam, located at the heart of Makkah on a 4,008,020 square metres peace of land, with a capacity of more than 750,000 person, it is considered the first and the largest mosque in world. In the middle of it stands The Kaaba which was built by Abraham and his son covered by Black silk curtains with verses of Koran written on it with gold strings, and muslims all around the world face its direction every time they pray. Next to it there is the shrine of Abraham and under it there is the well than never runs dry the well of Zamzam the blessed water which God bestowed to Ishmael and his mother in the lifeless valley of Becca (which became Makkah), because of its high nutritious value. Now here is some photos I took myself on my last visit during christmas holiday 2009:

One of the gates

From Inside

A thousand year old pillar with

carving that indicates that

some Caliph renovated the structure

The tallest concrete building in

the world unfinished with

Mövenpick Hotel and

the shopping mall under it

Makkah and Western Saudi Arabia in General has its own unique culture, features, and language which make it special and different than the rest of Saudi Arabia Here is some photos of its past and present:

People of Makkah have

a special relationship with pigeons

old pigeon tower

Old Makkah

Old Market

Old Makkah 2

Old Makkah 3

The Solti School

An Important school

Started 1792

An old park outside the city

Traditional Hejazi House

modern house with

traditional design

Mövenpick Hotel

from inside the Haram

The door to the Kaaba

The shrine of Abraham

The gate to Makkah

The Intercontinental Hotel (lift)

That's not all what I've got about Makkah but I hope it's enough to give a clear picture about my background. Next time, I promise to make it more fun. It is probably going to be about my first journey to Turkey or maybe something else, hopefully something more fun, so please stay around for more...later.