The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1521 page)

see
DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN
.

 
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Mecca
(Makka)
.

The birthplace of the Prophet
Mu
ammad
. Mu
ammad's initial preaching made little impression, and indeed evoked increasing opposition, esp. from the ruling clan, the Quraish. He therefore made the
hijra
to
Mad
na
, only recapturing Mecca near the end of his life. He immediately established the
ajj
practices, thus ensuring the centrality of Mecca to Muslim life, even when the centres of political power under different
dynasties
of caliphs (
khal
fa
) moved far away. The
mosque
at Mecca is al-
Masjid
al-
ar
m; and the two towns, Mecca and Mad
na, are known as
al-Haramain
(Arab. dual, ‘the two holy places’). Muslims turn toward Mecca in prayer (
al
t
,
qibla
), and make the obligatory pilgrimage (
ajj) to it.

 
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