Jeddah, November 13: Makkah is the theological center of the Muslim world, the axis mundi. Yet many outside the faith do not fully grasp its spiritual sanctity, mistakenly using it as a metaphor, as in “Seattle is the Mecca of coffee.”
Today, millions of faithful Muslims from around the world are assembled in Saudi Arabia in the holy city of Makkah preparing to begin Hajj, which starts on Sunday. It’s been called the largest annual pilgrimage in the world.
Makkah is home to the holy Kaaba, which is positioned inside the sacred Mosque toward which all Muslims face in prayer five times each day. The cube-shaped Kaaba is believed by Muslims to be the first house built to worship one God.
God says in the Quran:
We have rendered the shrine [the Kaaba] a focal point for the people, and a safe sanctuary. You may use Abraham’s shrine as a prayer house. We commissioned Abraham and Ismail: “You shall purify My house for those who visit, those who live there, and those who bow and prostrate.” (2:125)
The ritual of Hajj is traced back to the time of Abraham around 2000 B.C. The six-day event in and around Makkah is regarded as one of the biggest mass movements of people on the entire planet.
Participating at least once in this annual pilgrimage is every Muslim’s lifelong ambition. My Hajj experience was unforgettable, and I yearn to be there again.
Each year, I reminisce about how I traveled many miles on foot around Makkah, praying shoulder to shoulder with millions of Muslims of every color, class and race, all dressed in plain white cloth, all who came in devotion to God.
In Makkah countless encounters shared of hospitality and felt an irresistible spirit of true brotherhood and sisterhood while participating in a spiritual cleansing that left me awe-struck.
So for some to use Makkah as a metaphor referring to absolute center of any old activity, as in “Las Vegas is a gambling Mecca,” is really a bit unkind to Muslims.
Not because gambling is against Islam, but purely because Makkah is exclusively a sacred religious symbol for all Muslims worldwide.
The recently released 2010 Pew Survey of U.S. Religious Knowledge found that large numbers of Americans are uninformed about the tenets, practices, history and leading figures of the world’s major faith traditions.
The Pew survey indicated the strongest factor in predicting a person’s religious knowledge was educational attainment.
America is a unique crossroads of religions and cultures. If we were to place more importance on teaching about various faiths and cultures, we would all better understand the world around us.
There are other sacred cities besides the Vatican and Bethlehem cities that are central to particular faiths and that hold great spiritual meaning. For Muslims, that city is Makkah, and the sacred place in that city is Kaaba, the center of holiness, devotion and spiritual love.
Perhaps one day, through education and interfaith dialogue, the sacred significance of Makkah will be better understood in our nation. Perhaps one day, a more informed and caring nation will use the name of the center of Islam only with care and in its correct context.
-Agencies