Posted on 06/10/2026 4:55:39 AM PDT by Cronos
WHEN Malcolm X visited Mecca in 1964, he was enchanted. He found the city “as ancient as time itself,” and wrote that the partly constructed extension to the Sacred Mosque “will surpass the architectural beauty of India’s Taj Mahal.”
Fifty years on, no one could possibly describe Mecca as ancient, or associate beauty with Islam’s holiest city.
The dominant architectural site is the obnoxious Makkah Royal Clock Tower hotel. The skyline is no longer dominated by the rugged outline of encircling peaks. Ancient mountains have been flattened. The city is now surrounded by the brutalism of rectangular steel and concrete structures — an amalgam of Disneyland and Las Vegas.
The “guardians” of the Holy City, the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the clerics, have a deep hatred of history.
The initial phase of Mecca’s destruction began in the mid-1970s. Innumerable ancient buildings, including the Bilal mosque, dating from the time of the Prophet Muhammad, were bulldozed. The old Ottoman houses, with their elegant mashrabiyas — latticework windows — and elaborately carved doors, were replaced with hideous modern ones.
The few remaining buildings and sites of religious and cultural significance were erased more recently. The Makkah Royal Clock Tower, completed in 2012, was built on the graves of an estimated 400 sites of cultural and historical significance, including the city’s few remaining millennium-old buildings. Bulldozers arrived in the middle of the night, displacing families that had lived there for centuries. The complex stands on top of Ajyad Fortress, built around 1780, to protect Mecca from bandits and invaders. The house of Khadijah, the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad, has been turned into a block of toilets. The Makkah Hilton is built over the house of Abu Bakr, the closest companion of the prophet and the first caliph.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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Mecca in 1920 vs
Mecca today
Interesting. I might want to visit Mecca and see this for myself.
Oh, wait. Muslims can visit Rome, and even live there. But Christians cannot visit Mecca. There are penalties for even trying.
Funny how that is.
> I’ve toyed with the idea of pretending to be a moslem… <
You had better do a good job prepping. Because you will be asked to recite verses from the Koran to prove that you’re a Muslim. Fail the test and you’ll be turned away. Or even jailed.
But no worries. If you are jailed, I’ll start a GoFundMe for you here on Free Republic. We’ll get you out in no time. Hopefully.
🙂
We should have dropped a nuke on that years ago!
in 1853, linguist and explorer Richard Francis Burton disguised himself as a Muslim and made the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca which is required of all Muslims. He later wrote a book about his experiences.
The book is quite good!
GSc = legally change your name to something like Abdullah Bismillah and get a passport in that name.
Remember the Shahada by heart and you should be able to waltz in :)
The belief that Mecca is divinely protected is deeply rooted in Islamic theology and tradition, primarily derived from the Quran and the Hadith. Within Islamic eschatology, there is a widespread belief that Mecca and Medina are protected by God from the entry of the Antichrist (Al-Masih ad-Dajjal) and that the city will remain a sanctuary until the end of time.
A nuked Mecca would be a challenge to Islam theology.
quotes:
Bilal was born in Western Arabian Mecca. His mother was kidnapped when she was young and sold into slavery. Bilal was renowned for his diligence and fidelity to Umayyah ibn Khalaf, a figurehead in Mecca and one of Islam’s fiercest foes. Bilal had the chance to hear the leaders of the Quraish (a tribe from Mecca) speak about Prophet Muhammad because he was living in Umayyah’s home. These remarks were a confession of Muhammad’s honesty and integrity, mixed with enmity and animosity.
Bilal declared to convert to Islam once he had finally come to believe what he had heard about the prophet Muhammad’s teachings. His status as the first slave to convert to Islam was well-known. This process in and of itself was not simple; Muslims experienced mockery, harassment, and occasionally even persecution as soon as their commitment to Islam was recognized.
Bilal too endured excruciating pain as a result of his acceptance. He endured savage beatings, was carried through Mecca’s hills, and went for protracted periods without water or food. To get Bilal to change his views, his master, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, tortured him in various ways.
https://sft-nationaltours.com/st_location/asia/saudi-arabia/mecca/bilal-masjid/
One can’t picture the Kaaba being any other color because one is so used to seeing it coated with the distinctive black Kiswah with gold striping. However, this custom appears to have begun during the Abbasid era (whose home color was black), as the Kaaba was previously decorated with a variety of colors, including red, green, and even white.
The upper walls of the Kaaba are now covered in green fabric, while the inside is lined with marble. Plaques that each commemorate the restoration or reconstruction of the House of Allah by the ruling authority of the time have been fixed on the walls.
https://sft-nationaltours.com/st_location/asia/saudi-arabia/mecca/kaaba/
The Black Stone, also known as Kaaba or Hajar al-Awad, is positioned in the eastern corner of the House of God. Tawaf, the required Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages ritual begins and ends at this holy stone. Numerous individuals, including Prophet Muhammad and other well-known Prophets, the Sahabah, and millions of pilgrims and devout figures, have completed the holy trips of Hajj and Umrah throughout history, praying to Allah and receiving His blessings. A significant aspect of these spiritual trips involves paying homage to the Black Stone.
The Black Stone most likely originates from the Arabs’ pre-Islamic faith. It currently consists of three sizable chunks with some fragments, is encircled by a stone ring, and is connected by a silver band. It was given to Adam when he left paradise, and according to Islamic mythology, it was initially white in color but turned black after absorbing the sins of the pilgrims who kissed and touched it.
The stone was once entire, but due to the passage of time and other historical occurrences, it has been divided into eight pieces of varied sizes and is now fastened to a larger stone in a silver frame.
The most revered stone in the entire globe is the centerpiece of the Kaaba. The Prophet Muhammad kissed and touched it, and Muslims want to do the same. Kissing it is a gesture of love, not of duty, and is something to be honored and proud of.
https://sft-nationaltours.com/st_location/asia/saudi-arabia/mecca/black-stone/
Mecca:
“With NO WATER, there’s NO FOOD, PEOPLE, or HISTORY!”
https://youtu.be/XdxrkUeYhxk?si=wGuyLRZMVBUh53t0
This is a YouTube video by Jay Smith, a veteran missionary to Muslims.
That’s a good video and he is correct:
- Makkah is NOT on any trade route
- it has no local source of water
- cities to the north (Madina - originally called Yathrib) and south were mentioned on maps before and during the alleged time of this “Mohammed”
- the first time it is mentioned is nearly a century and a half later.
net-net - it did not exist until the 8th century
net-net - Mo did not exist (this ties in to the fact that he is not mentioned until the 700s, his “biography” is written in the 800s and the first mentions of him are over 100 years after his death, despite his “followers” conquering two highlight literate empires.
If Christians cannot visit Mecca, then I suppose it’s because they might accidentally unearth some “truths” about it. Not sure just what that would consist of, but it’s one of the last places I’d ever want to visit anyway. High altitude photos of it will suffice for now.
I hold that the Black stone of the Ka’aba is the Black stone of Emesa - the ‘meteorite god’ of the 3rd century emperor Elgabalus
I saw the headline and hoped it was nuked. Disappointed.
WIKI
Bilal ibn Rabah (Arabic: بِلَال بْن رَبَاح, romanized: Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ; 5 March 580 - 2 March 640 CE), also known as Bilāl al-Ḥabashī or simply Bilal, was a close companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born in Mecca, he was formerly enslaved. He is considered the first muʾazzin (caller to prayer) in Islam, personally chosen by Muhammad for his deep and melodious voice. He is often regarded as the first African or Black Muslim.
When Bilal’s master, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, found out about his faith, he began to torture Bilal. He put a big rock with iron on top on his chest. The iron was so that the sun’s heat reaches him. But he did not give up on his new religion. He had great faith. At the instigation of Abu Jahl, Umayyah bound Bilal and had him dragged around Mecca as children mocked him. Bilal refused to renounce Islam, instead repeating “ahad, ahad” meaning one, one, i.e., one God. Incensed at Bilal’s refusal, Umayyah ordered that Bilal be whipped and beaten while spread-eagled upon the Arabian sands under the desert sun, his limbs bound to stakes. When Bilal still refused to recant, Umayyah ordered that a hot boulder be placed on Bilal’s chest. However, Bilal remained firm in belief and continued to say “ahad, ahad”.
News of the persecution of Bilal reached some of Muhammad’s companions, who informed him. Muhammad sent Abu Bakr to negotiate for the emancipation of Bilal, who manumitted him after either purchasing him or exchanging him for coins.
Bilal rose to prominence in the Islamic community of Medina, as Muhammad appointed him minister of the Bayt al-Mal (treasury). In this capacity, Bilal distributed funds to widows, orphans, wayfarers, and others who could not support themselves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilal_ibn_Rabah
Bilal ibn Rabah
There is NO contemporary record of this person (or indeed of mo)
The earliest mention is Ibn Ishaq (d. 767 CE): In his Sirat Rasul Allah (The Life of the Messenger of God), which is the oldest surviving biography of Muhammad, Bilal’s story—particularly his conversion, his persecution by his master Umayyah ibn Khalaf, and his subsequent manumission by Abu Bakr—is narrated in detail.
Note - this was written in the 750s — 150 years AFTER Bilal allegedly lived - he supposedly lived from 5 March 580 - 2 March 640
> If Christians cannot visit Mecca, then I suppose it’s because they might accidentally unearth some “truths” about it. <
More likely it’s because Muslims have a sense of superiority. Infidels are all filthy trash. They must convert or die.
Many Westerners just don’t get that. And it’s because most Muslims are patient. They know that the West is getting weaker and weaker. Softer and softer.
Time is on the side of Islam.
☹️
Target rich environment!
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