LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Mecca: Islam
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The most famous account of a foreigner's journey to Mecca is A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, written by Sir Richard Francis Burton. Burton traveled as a Qadiri Sufi from Afghanistan; his name, as he signed it in Arabic below his front piece portrait for "The Jew, The Gypsy and al-Islam," was al-Hajj 'Abdullah.
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Once a believer has made the pilgrimage to Mecca men may add the title al-Hajji to their name, hajjiyah for females. In different Islamic countries returning pilgrims will use a variety of signs to indicate they have made the Hajj; these include painting pictures of the Ka’ba (and the pilgrim’s means of transportation to the shrine) upon the walls of their homes, painting the entrance doorway of the house bright green, and wearing hats or scarves of green color. A so-called Minor Pilgrimage, known as the Umra, contains some but not all of the rites of the Hajj and may be performed at any time of the year.
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The Holy Koran dictates that all Muslims in good health with adequate finances must make a pilgrimage (called the Hajj) to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes. About two million Muslims (from some 100 countries) make this religious journey each year. The visits are concentrated in the last month of the Islamic calendar. Mecca bursts at the seams during this peak period.
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Nearly all scholars trace the sanctity of Mecca to the Ka’ba edifice later rebuilt at God’s express command by Abraham and Ishmael. Mention must be made... of the Zamzan spring and the nearby holy hills of Safa and Marwa (these hills have since disappeared under the leveling topography of modern Mecca). These geographical formations certainly predated the mythical construction of the Ka’ba and could therefore have given birth to the original sanctity of the place. According to Islamic legend, Abraham had left Mecca on God’s command, leaving Hagar and Ishmael with only some water and dates. Hagar nursed her son and they drank the remaining water. Soon thereafter, faced with great thirst, Ishmael started to cry and Hagar began to run between the hills of Safa and Marwa looking for water.
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After spending the night at Muzdalifa, pilgrims return to Mecca, perform a Tawaf (circling around Ka’ba), then gather for the Eid (feast) prayer. During that prayer the Imam (high priest) preaches a sermon to seal the Hajj and declare it ended. Then he slaughters a sheep in commemoration of Abraham’s sacrifice. Afterward, pilgrims return to their residences and slaughter sheep of their own. During one year's Hajj sermon, the Imam called Muslims to make a Jihad against Israel and the Western (Christian) world and ‘liberate’ AlQods (Jerusalem) from the hands of the 'infidels' - the Jews. The sacrifices of Islam have a totally different meaning from Old Testament sacrifices.
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At the time of Mohammed's birth, the Koreish tribe controlled Mecca and the area around it, including the Kaba. Since they gained income both from trade that passed through their territories and from pilgrimage to the Kaba, they opposed Mohammed's message of monotheistic worship of Allah. After the Moslems left for Medina, the Koreish tribe led armies out to defeat the Medinans. After their own defeat in 630, the Koreish tribe converted to Islam.
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