Mecca

Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (c. 566-653 CE) was the Prophet Muhammad's uncle who protected him from within Mecca, facilitated the conquest, and became the ancestor of the Abbasid dynasty that ruled the Islamic world for five centuries.

Chief of the Quraysh and custodian of Zamzam. Born at Yathrib as Shayba, he redug the lost well, ransomed his son Abdullah with a hundred camels after a vow of sacrifice, faced Abraha before the Year of the Elephant, and raised his orphaned grandson Muhammad.

Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (624–692 CE) was the first child born to the Muhajirun in Medina, grandson of Abu Bakr and son of Zubayr ibn al-Awwam. He declared himself caliph in Mecca against the Umayyads, ruling much of the empire for a decade before his death in 692 CE.

The father of Prophet Muhammad and the youngest, best-loved son of Abd al-Muttalib. When his father's vow of sacrifice fell on him by lot he was ransomed with a hundred camels, raising the blood-price among the Arabs. He married Amina bint Wahb and died at Medina aged about twenty-five.

The Meccan chief who led Quraysh against the Muslims at Uhud and the Trench, whose caravan set off the Battle of Badr, and who was questioned about the Prophet by the emperor Heraclius at Jerusalem. He accepted Islam at the conquest of Mecca, when his house was declared a sanctuary.

Al-Zamakhshari (1075-1144) was an Arabic scholar of Khwarazm whose commentary Al-Kashshaf read the Qur'an through its grammar and rhetoric. Completed at Mecca, where he earned the name Jar Allah, it became a standard text of Islamic learning despite his Mu'tazilite theology.

Amina bint Wahb al-Zuhriyya was the mother of Prophet Muhammad. Married to Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib and widowed almost at once, she bore her son at Mecca, saw him fostered among the Banu Sa'd and returned to her, and died at al-Abwa when he was six, leaving him twice orphaned.

Ammar ibn Yasir (c. 567-657 CE) was among the earliest converts to Islam and the most severely persecuted, son of Sumayyah bint Khayyat, the first martyr of Islam. He governed Kufa under Umar and was killed at Siffin in 657 fighting for Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Asma bint Abu Bakr (595-692 CE), daughter of Abu Bakr and sister of Aisha, earned the title 'Woman of Two Belts' for her crucial role in the Prophet's migration to Medina, demonstrating extraordinary courage and faith throughout her 100-year life.

A paternal aunt of Prophet Muhammad and full sister of his father Abdullah. The sira names her among the daughters who elegised Abd al-Muttalib, as mother of Zuhayr ibn Abi Umayya, whose kinship to Banu Hashim helped break the Meccan boycott, and as the woman whose vision preceded Badr.

The Great Mosque of Mecca (Masjid al-Haram) is Islam's holiest site, housing the Kaaba and serving as the focal point for the Hajj pilgrimage and daily prayers for Muslims worldwide.

Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam, a sacred pilgrimage to Mecca that every capable Muslim must perform once in their lifetime. This spiritual journey retraces Prophet Abraham's footsteps, uniting millions of Muslims in worship and devotion to Allah.

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (d. 619 CE) was the first wife of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and the first person to believe in his prophethood. A woman of independent wealth in the Meccan caravan trade, she reassured him after the first revelation and took him to Waraqah ibn Nawfal.

Maymuna bint al-Harith was the last woman Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) married, during the compensatory pilgrimage of 7 AH. Sister of the wife of al-Abbas and maternal aunt of Abdullah ibn Abbas, she transmitted hadith on ritual purification and died at Sarif.

Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), known as Khalil Allah (the Friend of God), is the patriarch of monotheism, the builder of the Kaaba, and the ancestor of both the Israelite and Ishmaelite prophetic lines culminating in Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Known as Ismail in Arabic, Ishmael was the firstborn son of Abraham, a prophet who helped build the Kaaba, established the settlement of Mecca, and became the ancestor of the Arab peoples and Prophet Muhammad.

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (c. 570–632 CE) was the final prophet and messenger in Islam. Born in Mecca, he proclaimed the Qur'an, formed a community in Medina, and led it through the final decade of his life.

Qutham ibn Abbas was a son of the Prophet's uncle al-Abbas and served as governor of Mecca under Ali ibn Abi Talib. Little else about him is firmly established. The Shah-i-Zinda shrine at Samarkand grew around a tomb attributed to him, on the basis of a tradition scholarship treats as legendary.

A daughter of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and Khadijah. Released from a childhood betrothal to a son of Abu Lahab, she married Uthman ibn Affan and was the only one of the Prophet's daughters to migrate to Abyssinia. She died of smallpox as news of Badr reached Medina.

Sawda bint Zam'a was a wife of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and one of the Mothers of the Believers. An early Muslim who emigrated to Abyssinia, she married the Prophet after Khadijah's death. Sahih al-Bukhari records her giving her allotted day and night to Aisha.

The Farewell Pilgrimage (Hajjat al-Wada) of 632 CE was the only Hajj Prophet Muhammad performed after the Hijra. Its rites, recorded in detail by his companions, became the model for Hajj in Islamic law, and his addresses at Arafat and Mina set out enduring obligations.

The Kaaba is the most sacred site in Islam, a cubic stone structure in Mecca that serves as the qibla (direction of prayer) for Muslims worldwide. Built by Prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael, it represents the unity of the Muslim ummah and is the focal point of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The Meccan Period (610-622 CE) encompasses the first thirteen years of Prophet Muhammad's mission, from the first revelation to the Hijra. This period saw the establishment of Islamic monotheism and the formation of the early Muslim community.

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (628 CE / 6 AH) was a ten-year truce between the Muslims of Medina and the Quraysh of Mecca. Though its terms seemed to favor the Quraysh and many companions opposed it, within two years it fueled the community's rapid growth and the near-bloodless entry into Mecca.

A daughter of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and Khadijah. With Fatimah she cared for their parents through the boycott of Banu Hashim. After Ruqayyah's death she married Uthman ibn Affan, the source of his epithet Dhu al-Nurayn, and died at Medina in Sha'ban 9 AH.

Umrah is the lesser pilgrimage to Mecca, performable year-round unlike Hajj. It consists of ihram, tawaf, sa'i and the cutting of hair. The schools of law differ on whether it is obligatory once in a lifetime or strongly recommended.

Waraqah ibn Nawfal, a Christian scholar of Mecca and cousin of Khadijah, identified the first revelation to Prophet Muhammad as the same that had come to Moses, and the Prophet later said he had seen him in Paradise, wearing white.

Zamzam is the sacred well within the precincts of Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, believed to have been miraculously revealed by God to Hagar for her son Ishmael. Its water has been provided to pilgrims for millennia and holds profound spiritual significance in Islam.

The eldest daughter of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and Khadijah. Her husband Abu al-As refused Qurayshi pressure to divorce her, and she stayed in Mecca after her sisters migrated. Her mother's necklace ransomed him after Badr; she reached Medina only after being attacked on the road.

Zubaidah bint Ja'far (765/766-831 CE) was the wife of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid and one of the most powerful and celebrated women of the Islamic Golden Age, remembered above all for financing the wells and reservoirs of the Darb Zubaydah pilgrim route between Baghdad and Mecca.