Live webcam at Mecca for start of Ramadan 2010
Wednesday 11, August 2010
Ramadan is the holiest of months in the Islamic calendar. Fasting in the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam
The month is spent by Muslims fasting during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset. The name came from the time before the Islamic calendar, when the month of Ramadan fell in the summer.
The Holy Mosque in Mecca is a focal point for this period:
Live Webcam from the Holy Mosque in Mecca
Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām (Arabic "The Sacred Mosque") is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims worldwide turn towards while offering daily prayers and is Islam's holiest place. The mosque is also known as the Grand Mosque.
The current structure covers an area of 4,008,020 square metres (990.40 acres) including the outdoor and indoor praying spaces and can accommodate up to four million Muslim worshippers during the Hajj period, one of the largest annual gatherings of people in the world. The Haram is the focal point of the hajj and umrah pilgrimages that occur in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah in the Islamic calendar and at any time of the year, respectively. The Hajj pilgrimage is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, required of all able-bodied Muslims who can afford the trip. In recent times, about 3 million Muslims perform the hajj every year.
Some of the rituals performed by pilgrims are symbolic of historical incidents. For example, the episode of Hagar's search for water is emulated by Muslims as they run between the two hills of Safa and Marwah whenever they visit Mecca.
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