Seventeenth (Mecca And Medina)

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim... Assalamualaikum wbt,

Mecca or also transliterated as Makkah or Makkah al-Mukarramah, is a city in the Hejaz and the capital of Makkah Province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located 70 km from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of  277 m above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million. The visitors that come to Mecca are more than triple this number every year during Hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah or Zulhijjah.

This place is the birthplace of Prophet Muhamad S.A.W and the place where the first revelation of Quran. Mecca is the holiest city in the religion of Islam and a pilgrimage to it known as the Hajj is obligatory for all able Muslims. Mecca also is the home of Kaabah, as well as being the direction of Muslim Prayer. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca Anually, including several million during the few days of Hajj. As a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan and diverse cities in the Muslim World, despite the fact that the non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city.

Medina or also transliterated as Madinah or al-Madinah al-Munawwarah, is a modern city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia and the capital of al-Madinah Province. An alternative name for Madina is The City of The Prophet and also The Radiant City. It is the second holiest city after Mecca. Medina is the home to the three oldest mosques in Islam, namely al-Masjid an-Nabawi; The Prophet Mosque, Quba Mosque; the first mosque is Islam's history, and Masjid al-Qiblatain; the mosque of the two Qiblahs, the mosque where the direction of Muslim Prayer, or Qiblah, was switched from Jerusalem to Mecca.

Similarly to Mecca, entrance to the sacred core of Medina is restricted to Muslim only but not the entire city. Medina was the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. Medina also was critically significant in Islamic History for being where Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. final religious base was established after the Hijrah. Year 1 of the Islamic calendar is based on the year of the emigration of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W and Muhajirun from Mecca to the city of Medina.

I hope in the future I will be able to set foot on this two holy places, Insya-Allah.

 I AM TOURISM AMBASSADOR  :)