Source: gulf-times.com

An aerial view of the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Makkah.

Honourable Makkah, the Secure City; Allah has distinguished it from among all places and made it sacred from the day He created the heavens and the earth.

Allah commanded Prophet Ibraaheem, may Allah exalt his mention, to build the first House on earth for Allah to be worshipped in at this spot and sent down the Black Stone from Paradise as a manifest sign of the sanctity of His Sacred House.

In Makkah springs the finest water on the surface of the earth, the water of Zamzam, which is food that suffices the hungry and a cure for the sick. It is the water with which the chest and heart of the chosen Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) was cleansed in order to prepare him for his mission.

Allah has made Makkah eternally sacred and secure; He says (what means): “Have they not seen that We made [Makkah] a safe sanctuary, while people are being taken away (i.e. killed and taken captive) all around them?” [Qur’an 29:67]
Allah has sent down blessings and mercy upon Makkah, the likes of which have not been bestowed upon any other place or person on earth.
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