The Iyad ( Arabic : إياد , romanized : Iyād ) were an Arab tribe which dwelt in western lower and upper Mesopotamia and northern Syria during the 3rd–7th centuries CE. Parts of the tribe adopted Christianity in the mid-3rd century and came under the suzerainty of the Lakhmid kings of al-Hirah , vassals of the Sasanian Empire . From that time, parts of the tribe settled in towns and villages along the Euphrates , while other parts remained nomadic and dwelt in the neighboring desert steppes. The Iyad played a significant role among the Arab tribes in the Fertile Crescent before the advent of Islam, as allies and opponents of the Sasanians and later allies of the Byzantine Empire . As the early Muslim conquests were underway, parts of the tribe in lower Mesopotamia embraced Islam, while those established in northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia fled with the retreating Byzantine armies into Anatolia. They were expelled by Emperor Heraclius ( r. 610–641 ) to Muslim territory after pressure by Caliph Umar ( r. 634–644 ). Little is heard of the tribe afterward, though a number of Iyad tribesmen served as qadis (head judges) in different provinces of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9th century and a family of the Iyad, that of Ibn Zuhr (d. 1162), grew prominent in Muslim Spain .
88-548: Iyad may refer to: Iyad (tribe) , Arab tribe, 3rd–7th centuries Iyad Jamal Al-Din (born 1961), prominent Iraqi intellectual, politician and religious cleric Iyad Al-Khatib , Jordanian football player Abdallah Iyad Barghouti (born 1979), Palestinian leading commander in Hamas' armed wing in the West Bank Iyad Burnat (born 1973), leads Bil'in's non-violent struggle in
176-500: A great degree of local autonomy. In 1803 the city was captured by the First Saudi State , which held Mecca until 1813, destroying some of the historic tombs and domes in and around the city. The Ottomans assigned the task of bringing Mecca back under Ottoman control to their powerful Khedive (viceroy) and Wali of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha . Muhammad Ali Pasha successfully returned Mecca to Ottoman control in 1813 . In 1818,
264-543: A great quantity of alms for the support of those who were staying in Mecca and Medina". While in Mecca, prayers were made for (not to) the King of Iraq and also for Salaheddin al-Ayyubi , Sultan of Egypt and Syria at the Ka'bah. Battuta says the Ka'bah was large, but was destroyed and rebuilt smaller than the original. According to Ibn Battuta, the original Kaaba, prior to the conquest of Makkah by
352-605: A reference to Mecca, similar to the Quran at Surah 3:96 In the Sharḥ al-Asāṭīr , a commentary on the Samaritan midrashic chronology of the Patriarchs, of unknown date but probably composed in the 10th century CE, it is claimed that Mecca was built by the sons of Nebaioth , the eldest son of Ismāʿīl or Ishmael . Thamudic inscriptions Some Thamudic inscriptions which were discovered in
440-613: A state like that of eaten straw. Economy Camel caravans, said to have first been used by Muhammad's great-grandfather, were a major part of Mecca's bustling economy. Alliances were struck between the merchants in Mecca and the local nomadic tribes, who would bring goods – leather, livestock, and metals mined in the local mountains – to Mecca to be loaded on the caravans and carried to cities in Shaam and Iraq . Historical accounts also provide some indication that goods from other continents may also have flowed through Mecca. Goods from Africa and
528-518: A synonym for Makkah , it is said to be more specifically the early name for the valley located therein, while Muslim scholars generally use it to refer to the sacred area of the city that immediately surrounds and includes the Ka'bah . The Quran refers to the city as Bakkah in Surah Al Imran (3), verse 96: "Indeed the first House [of worship] , established for mankind was that at Bakkah". This
616-473: A threat to Mecca, as in 575 CE they protected it from a Yemeni invasion, led by its Christian leader Abraha . The tribes of southern Arabia asked the Persian king Khosrau I for aid, in response to which he came south to Arabia with foot-soldiers and a fleet of ships near Mecca. By the middle of the 6th century, there were three major settlements in northern Arabia , all along the south-western coast that borders
704-554: A year-round population of scholars, pious Muslims who wished to live close to the Kaaba, and local inhabitants who served the pilgrims. Due to the difficulty and expense of the Hajj, pilgrims arrived by boat at Jeddah, and came overland, or joined the annual caravans from Syria or Iraq. Mecca was never the capital of any of the Islamic states . Muslim rulers did contribute to its upkeep, such as during
792-473: Is an obligation upon all able Muslims. The Great Mosque of Mecca , known as the Masjid al-Haram , is home to the Ka'bah , believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and Ishmael . It is Islam's holiest site and the direction of prayer ( qibla ) for all Muslims worldwide. Muslim rulers from in and around the region long tried to take the city and keep it in their control, and thus, much like most of
880-488: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Iyad (tribe) The Iyad was a branch of the northern Arabian tribal grouping of Ma'add . According to the traditional Arab genealogists, the Iyad's eponymous progenitor was a son of Nizar ibn Ma'add ibn Adnan and a brother of the latter's sons Mudar , Rabi'a and Anmar , all of whom were also progenitors of large Arab tribes. The original dwelling places of
968-579: Is just a few kilometers outside the main sites of the Hajj, Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat. Mecca is not served by any airport, due to concerns about the city's safety. It is instead served by the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah (approx. 70 km away) internationally and the Ta'if Regional Airport (approx. 120 km away) for domestic flights. The city today is at the junction of
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#17328515574821056-513: Is possible members of the tribe converted to Christianity in the preceding years. The 9th-century historian al-Baladhuri mentions that the Iyad possessed four monasteries in al-Hirah. A lone tradition in the Islamic-era sources mentions that the Iyad were the target of a punitive expedition by the Sasanian king Shapur II , but this may be a confusion with Khosrow I 's campaign against the Iyad in
1144-499: Is said to have been the name of the city at the time of Ibrahim and it is also transliterated as Baca, Baka, Bakah, Bakka, Becca and Bekka , among others. It was a name for the city in the ancient world. Makkah is the official transliteration used by the Saudi government and is closer to the Arabic pronunciation. The government adopted Makkah as the official spelling in
1232-551: Is synonymous with the Desert of Paran mentioned in the Old Testament at Genesis 21 :21. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah coastal plain and the site where Ishmael settled was Mecca. Yaqut al-Hamawi , the 12th-century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was "an arabized Hebrew word, one of the names of Mecca mentioned in
1320-666: The Banu Tamim . Other regional powers such as the Abyssinians , Ghassanids, and Lakhmids were in decline leaving Meccan trade to be the primary binding force in Arabia in the late 6th century. Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570 CE, and thus Islam has been inextricably linked with it ever since. He was born into the faction of Banu Hashim in the ruling tribe of Quraysh . It was in the nearby mountain cave of Hira on Jabal al-Nour that Muhammad began receiving divine revelations from God through
1408-617: The Battle of the Trench in 627 CE, the combined armies of Arabia were unable to defeat Muhammad's forces (as the trench surrounding Muhammad's forces protected them from harm and a storm was sent to breach the Quraysh tribe). In 628 CE, Muhammad and his followers wanted to enter Mecca for pilgrimage, but were blocked by the Quraysh. Subsequently, Muslims and Meccans entered into the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah , whereby
1496-468: The First World War . This plan was later carried out by the Saudi government, which connected the two holy cities of Medina and Mecca with the modern Haramain high-speed railway system which runs at 300 km/h (190 mph) and connects the two cities via Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport and King Abdullah Economic City near Rabigh within two hours. The haram area of Mecca, in which
1584-804: The Ghassanids and the Himyarites of the south supports the Arabic sources tradition that associates Quraysh as a branch of the Ma'add and Muhammad as a direct descendant of Ma'add ibn Adnan. Historian Patricia Crone has cast doubt on the claim that Mecca was a major historical trading outpost. However, other scholars such as Glen W. Bowersock disagree and assert that Mecca was a major trading outpost. Crone later on disregarded some of her theories. She argues that Meccan trade relied on skins, hides, manufactured leather goods, clarified butter, Hijazi woollens, and camels. She suggests that most of these goods were destined for
1672-659: The Hejaz region, the city has seen several regime changes . The city was most recently conquered in the Saudi conquest of Hejaz by Ibn Saud and his allies in 1925. Since then, Mecca has seen a tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure, with newer, modern buildings such as the Abraj Al Bait , the world's fourth-tallest building and third-largest by floor area , towering over the Great Mosque. The Saudi government has also carried out
1760-575: The Negus of Axum . It gained widespread fame, even gaining attention from the Byzantine Empire . Abraha attempted to divert the pilgrimage of the Arabs from the Ka'bah to al-Qullays, effectively converting them to Christianity. According to Islamic tradition, this was the year of Muhammad 's birth. Abraha allegedly sent a messenger named Muhammad ibn Khuza'i to Mecca and Tihamah with a message that al-Qullays
1848-493: The Old South Arabian root M-K-R-B which means "temple". Another name used for Mecca in the Quran is at 6:92 where it is called Umm al-Qurā ( أُمّ ٱلْقُرَى , meaning "Mother of all Settlements"). The city has been called several other names in both the Quran and ahadith . Another name used historically for Mecca is Tihāmah . According to an Islamic suggestion, another name for Mecca, Fārān ,
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#17328515574821936-763: The Red Sea , but piracy had been increasing. Another previous route that ran through the Persian Gulf via the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was also being threatened by exploitations from the Sassanid Empire , and was being disrupted by the Lakhmids , the Ghassanids , and the Roman–Persian Wars . Mecca's prominence as a trading center also surpassed the cities of Petra and Palmyra . The Sassanids however did not always pose
2024-701: The Siege of Kut . The British intelligence agent T.E. Lawrence conspired with the Ottoman governor, Hussain bin Ali , the Sharif of Mecca to revolt against the Ottoman Empire and it was the first city captured by his forces in the 1916 Battle of Mecca . Sharif's revolt proved a turning point of the war on the eastern front. Hussein declared a new state, the Kingdom of Hejaz , declaring himself
2112-616: The archangel Jibreel in 610 CE, according to Islamic tradition. Advocating his form of Abrahamic monotheism against Meccan paganism, and after enduring persecution from the pagan tribes for 13 years, Muhammad emigrated ( hijrah ) in 622 CE with his companions, the Muhajirun , to Yathrib (later renamed Medina ). The conflict between the Quraysh and the Muslims is accepted to have begun at this point. Overall, Meccan efforts to annihilate Islam failed and proved to be costly and unsuccessful. During
2200-652: The destruction of several historical structures and archaeological sites , such as the Ajyad Fortress . However, many of the demolitions have officially been part of the continued expansion of the Masjid al-Haram at Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina and their auxiliary service facilities in order to accommodate the ever-increasing number of Muslims performing the pilgrimage ( hajj ). Non-Muslims are prohibited from entering
2288-421: The local tribes , but once a year they would declare a truce and converge upon Mecca in an annual pilgrimage. Up to the 7th century, this journey was intended for religious reasons by the pagan Arabs to pay homage to their shrine, and to drink Zamzam . However, it was also the time each year that disputes would be arbitrated, debts would be resolved, and trading would occur at Meccan fairs. These annual events gave
2376-619: The 1980s, but it is not universally known or used worldwide. The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah ( Arabic : مكة المكرمة , lit. 'Makkah the Honored';). Makkah is used to refer to the city in the Quran in Surah Al-Fath (48), verse 24. The word Mecca in English has come to be used to refer to any place that draws large numbers of people, and because of this some English-speaking Muslims have come to regard
2464-416: The 1st century BCE in his work Bibliotheca historica , describing a holy shrine: "And a temple has been set up there, which is very holy and exceedingly revered by all Arabians". Claims have been made this could be a reference to the Ka'bah in Mecca. However, the geographic location Diodorus describes is located in northwest Arabia, around the area of Leuke Kome , within the former Nabataean Kingdom and
2552-482: The 6th century (see below), according to J. Schleifer. The historian Irfan Shahid supports the view that the Iyad were assaulted by the Sasanians either by Shapur II in the 4th century or by Khosrow (possibly confused by the Arabic sources for the more well-known, 6th-century Khosrow I) in the early 5th century, possibly c. 420 . Shahid assumes the Iyad's adoption of Christianity may have caused tensions with
2640-561: The Arab tribes of Quraysh, Kinanah, Khuza'a and Hudhayl united in the defense of the Ka'bah and the city. A man from the Himyarite Kingdom was sent by Abraha to advise them that Abraha only wished to demolish the Ka'bah and if they resisted, they would be crushed. Abdul Muttalib told the Meccans to seek refuge in the hills while he and some members of the Quraysh remained within the precincts of
2728-591: The Byzantine force into Cilicia where they were pursued and nearly eliminated by the Muslims. The Muslim general Iyad ibn Ghanm subjected much of northern Syria and upper Mesopotamia in the following year and the Arab tribes who dwelt in these territories embraced Islam with the exception of the Iyad. The Iyad relocated to Byzantine-held Cappadocia in Anatolia , "with bag and baggage" according to al-Tabari . Caliph Umar ( r. 634–644 ) sought their return to
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2816-611: The Far East passed through en route to Syria including spices, leather, medicine, cloth, and slaves; in return Mecca received money, weapons, cereals and wine, which in turn were distributed throughout Arabia. The Meccans signed treaties with both the Byzantines and the Bedouins , and negotiated safe passages for caravans, giving them water and pasture rights. Mecca became the center of a loose confederation of client tribes, which included those of
2904-511: The Iyad secretly cooperated the Banu Bakr and fled the field mid-battle, causing disorder in the Sasanian lines and contributing to the nomadic Arabs' first major battle victory against a Sasanian army. The Iyad of Mesopotamia continued under Sasanian suzerainty along with most of the other Arab tribes of the region during the Muslim conquests in the 630s. In the Battle of Ayn al-Tamr in 633 or 634,
2992-513: The Iyad was ousted from Mecca during hostilities with the Khuza'a tribe. The poetic verse that associated the Iyad with the Ka'aba emanated from a member of a tribe called Bashir, and this has rendered the Iyad's involvement with the sanctuary as a suspected fabrication produced to glorify the tribe. The Iyad played a significant role among the Arabs in Mesopotamia and Syria in the pre-Islamic era. In
3080-543: The Iyad were in the Tihama coastal area of western Arabia down to the environs of Najran . The tribe, in alliance with the Mudar, forced out the Jurhum from Mecca and consequently became the masters of Mecca's Ka'aba , a major idol sanctuary for the polytheistic Arabs in the pre-Islamic period (pre-630s). Disputes ensued between the Iyad and the Mudar over control of the Ka'aba, and
3168-424: The Kaaba. Abraha sent a dispatch inviting Abdul-Muttalib to meet with Abraha and discuss matters. When Abdul-Muttalib left the meeting he was heard saying: "The Owner of this House is its Defender, and I am sure he will save it from the attack of the adversaries and will not dishonor the servants of His House." Abraha eventually attacked Mecca. However, the lead elephant, known as Mahmud, is said to have stopped at
3256-519: The Kinana tribe and destroy the Ka'bah. Ibn Ishaq further states that one of the men of the Quraysh tribe was angered by this, and going to Sana'a, entering the church at night and defiling it; widely assumed to have done so by defecating in it. Abraha marched upon the Ka'bah with a large army, which included one or more war elephants , intending to demolish it. When news of the advance of his army came,
3344-541: The Muslims' newly conquered territories and threatened to attack the Christians in his domains should Heraclius not extradite the Iyad. Four thousand Iyad tribesmen consequently reentered Syria and Mesopotamia and submitted to Muslim rule. Little is heard of the tribe in the historical record, thereafter. Most of the few Iyad tribesmen who survived in the post-Islamic historical record settled in Kufa , near al-Hira. A member of
3432-920: The Palestine Liberation Organization Qadi Iyad (1083–1149), a Sunni polymath, theologian, historian, poet, and genealogist İyad el-Baghdadi (born 1977), writer, entrepreneur, and human rights activist, gained international prominence during the Arab Spring Iyad bin Amin Madani (born 1946), Saudi public figure who served in different cabinet posts Iyad Mando (born 1978), Syrian footballer Iyad Rahwan , Syrian-Australian scientist Iyad Sughayer (born 1993), Jordanian-Palestinian classical pianist Iyad Khalil Zaki , Iraqi Army General See also [ edit ] Eyad Ibn Iyad (disambiguation) [REDACTED] Name list This page or section lists people that share
3520-422: The Persian cavalry subsequently dispatched against them in a battle at Dayr al-Jamajim. The tribe ignored warnings by Laqit of the repercussions of challenging the Sasanians and were soon after ambushed and driven from their abodes by a Sasanian force. During the Sasanians' pursuit of the Iyad, they routed the tribe at the village of al-Hurajiya. The surviving tribesmen reestablished themselves in three main areas:
3608-501: The Prophet, contained images of angels and prophets including Jesus (Isa in Islamic tradition), his mother Mary (Maryam in Islamic tradition), and many others - Ibn Battuta however states these were all destroyed by the Prophet in the year of victory. Battuta describes the Ka'bah in his time as an important part of Mecca due to the fact that many people make the pilgrimage to it. Battuta describes
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3696-622: The Quraysh and their allies promised to cease fighting Muslims and their allies and promised that Muslims would be allowed into the city to perform the pilgrimage the following year. It was meant to be a ceasefire for 10 years; however, just two years later, the Banu Bakr , allies of the Quraish, violated the truce by slaughtering a group of the Banu Khuza'ah, allies of the Muslims. Muhammad and his companions, now 10,000 strong, marched into Mecca and conquered
3784-557: The Red Sea, in a habitable region between the sea and the Hejaz mountains to the east. Although the area around Mecca was completely barren, it was the wealthiest of the three settlements with abundant water from the renowned Zamzam Well and a position at the crossroads of major caravan routes. The harsh conditions and terrain of the Arabian peninsula meant a near-constant state of conflict between
3872-424: The Roman army, which is known to have required colossal quantities of leather and hides for its equipment. Mecca is mentioned in the following early Quranic manuscripts: The earliest Muslim inscriptions are from the Mecca- Ta'if area. Islamic narrative In the Islamic view, the beginnings of Mecca are attributed to the Biblical figures , Adam , Abraham , Hagar and Ishmael . It was Adam himself who built
3960-409: The Roman province of Arabia Petraea . Ptolemy lists the names of 50 cities in Arabia, one going by the name of Macoraba. There has been speculation since 1646 that this could be a reference to Mecca. Historically, there has been a general consensus in scholarship that Macoraba mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE is indeed Mecca, but more recently, this has been questioned. Bowersock favors
4048-401: The Sasanians, particularly following the persecutions of Yazdegerd I ( r. 399–420 ), and that Sasanian expeditions precipitated the emigration of part of the tribe to Byzantine Oriens (e.g. the Levant ). A testament to an Iyadi presence in Oriens is that the poet of the Salihid chieftain, Dawud al-Laqit, who served as the Byzantines' phylarch of the Arab tribes in its territory,
4136-422: The Saud were defeated again but survived and founded the Second Saudi State that lasted until 1891 and led on to the present country of Saudi Arabia. In 1853, Sir Richard Francis Burton undertook the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina disguised as a Muslim. Although Burton was certainly not the first non-Muslim European to make the Hajj ( Ludovico di Varthema did this in 1503), his pilgrimage remains one of
4224-409: The Sharif of Mecca was overthrown by the Saud family, and Mecca was incorporated into Saudi Arabia. Under Saudi rule, much of the historic city has been demolished as a result of the Saudi government fearing these sites might become sites of association in worship besides Allah ( shirk ). The city has been expanded to include several towns previously considered to be separate from the holy city and now
4312-415: The Sharif of the state and Mecca his capital. News reports in November 1916 via contact in Cairo with returning Hajj pilgrims, stated that with the Ottoman Turkish authorities gone, the Hajj of 1916 was free of the previous massive extortion and monetary demands made by the Turks who were agents of the Ottoman government. Saudi Arabian conquest and modern history Following the 1924 Battle of Mecca ,
4400-483: The Torah." In 2010, Mecca and the surrounding area became an important site for paleontology with respect to primate evolution, with the discovery of a Saadanius fossil. Saadanius is considered to be a primate closely related to the common ancestor of the Old World monkeys and apes . The fossil habitat, near what is now the Red Sea in western Saudi Arabia, was a damp forest area between 28 million and 29 million years ago. Paleontologists involved in
4488-466: The West Bank Iyad Ag Ghaly , Tuareg militant from Mali's Kidal Region Iyad ibn Ghanm (died 641), Arab general important in the Muslim conquests of al-Jazira and northern Syria Iyad Abu Gharqoud (born 1988), Palestinian professional footballer Abu Ali Iyad (8206–1971), senior Palestinian field commander based in Syria and Jordan during the 1960s and early 1970s Abu Iyad (Salah Khalaf) (1933–1991), deputy chief and head of intelligence for
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#17328515574824576-438: The boundary around Mecca and refused to enter. It has been theorized that an epidemic such as by smallpox could have caused such a failed invasion of Mecca. The reference to the story in Quran is rather short. According to the 105th Surah of the Quran, Al-Fil , the next day, a dark cloud of small birds sent by Allah appeared. The birds carried small rocks in their beaks, and bombarded the Ethiopian forces, and smashed them to
4664-401: The capital to Damascus in Syria and the Abbasid Caliphate to Baghdad , in modern-day Iraq, which remained the center of the Islamic Empire for nearly 500 years. Mecca re-entered Islamic political history during the Second Fitna , when it was held by Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr and the Zubayrids. The city was twice besieged by the Umayyads in 683 CE and 692 CE, and for some time thereafter,
4752-407: The city . Under the Saudi government, Mecca is governed by the Mecca Regional Municipality, a municipal council of 14 locally elected members headed by the mayor (called Amin in Arabic) appointed by the Saudi government . In 2015, the mayor of the city was Osama bin Fadhel Al-Barr; as of January 2022 , the mayor is Saleh Al-Turki. The City of Mecca amanah , which constitutes Mecca and
4840-405: The city figured little in politics, remaining a city of devotion and scholarship governed by various other factions. In 930 CE, Mecca was attacked and sacked by Qarmatians , a millenarian Shi'a Isma'ili Muslim sect led by Abū-Tāhir Al-Jannābī and centered in eastern Arabia. The Black Death pandemic hit Mecca in 1349 CE. One of the most famous travelers to Mecca in the 14th century
4928-424: The city. The pagan imagery was destroyed by Muhammad's followers and the location Islamized and rededicated to the worship of Allah alone. Mecca was declared the holiest site in Islam ordaining it as the center of Muslim pilgrimage ( Hajj ), one of the Islamic faith's Five Pillars . Muhammad then returned to Medina, after assigning ' Attab ibn Asid as governor of the city. His other activities in Arabia led to
5016-405: The desert west of Mesopotamia; northern Syria up to the town of Ancyra (ancient Ankara) where some members of the tribe had already settled; and the different parts of Mesopotamia, including the Jazira (upper Mesopotamia), the area around al-Hirah and Tikrit . The Sasanians ousted them from Takrit, but they returned at some point before the Muslim conquest of the city in 637, where members of
5104-420: The first God's house in Mecca according to a heavenly prototype but this building was destroyed in the Noahic Flood . The civilization of Mecca is believed to have started after Ibrāhīm (Abraham) left his son Ismāʿīl (Ishmael) and wife Hājar (Hagar) in the valley at Allah 's command. Some people from the Yemeni tribe of Jurhum settled with them, and Isma'il reportedly married two women, one after divorcing
5192-480: The first half of the 3rd century CE, large groups of Iyad tribesmen migrated to Bahrayn (eastern Arabia) and formed with other Arab tribes the Tanukh confederation. From Bahrayn the tribe moved into the Sawad (fertile region of lower Mesopotamia ) where they grazed their animals and utilized the Ayn Ubagh spring near Anbar as their water source. Ayn Ubagh was their main area of concentration, though they also dwelt in scattered places south of al-Hirah . About
5280-403: The first, on Ibrahim's advice. At least one man of the Jurhum helped Ismāʿīl and his father to construct or according to Islamic narratives, reconstruct, the Ka'bah ('Cube'), which would have social, religious, political and historical implications for the site and region. Muslims see the mention of a pilgrimage at the Valley of the Bakha in the Old Testament chapter Psalm 84 :3–6 as
5368-404: The horses of the Lakhmid king al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man ( r. 505–554 ). Other components of the Iyad remained nomadic and often harried the peasants of lower Mesopotamia. In the early 6th century, the tribe made incursions into Sasanian territory east of the Euphrates river, prompting a punitive expedition by Khosrow I. The Iyad nomads took captive an elite Persian woman, and bested
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#17328515574825456-412: The identity of the former, with his theory being that "Macoraba" is the word " Makkah" followed by the aggrandizing Aramaic adjective rabb (great). The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus also enumerated many cities of Western Arabia, most of which can be identified. According to Bowersock, he did mention Mecca as "Geapolis" or "Hierapolis", the latter one meaning "holy city" potentially referring to
5544-415: The middle of the 3rd century the Iyad battled Jadhima ibn Malik , the Arab ruler of al-Hirah who was expanding his rule to encompass all the Arab tribes of lower Mesopotamia. Jadhima forced the Iyad to surrender their tribesman Adi ibn Rabi'a, who then married Jadhima's sister Riqash. A number of Iyad tribesmen thereafter settled in al-Hirah and adopted an urban way of life and the Christian faith, though it
5632-411: The most famous and documented of modern times. Mecca was regularly hit by cholera outbreaks . Between 1830 and 1930, cholera broke out among pilgrims at Mecca 27 times. Hashemite Revolt and subsequent control by the Sharifate of Mecca In World War I , the Ottoman Empire was at war with the Allies . It had successfully repulsed an attack on Istanbul in the Gallipoli campaign and on Baghdad in
5720-403: The people of the city as being humble and kind, and also willing to give a part of everything they had to someone who had nothing. The inhabitants of Mecca and the village itself, he says, were very clean. There was also a sense of elegance to the village. Under the Ottomans In 1517, the then Sharif of Mecca, Barakat bin Muhammad, acknowledged the supremacy of the Ottoman Caliph but retained
5808-446: The population was closer to 10,000 individuals, a figure extrapolated from data taken from historical records about the Battle of Badr and other military expeditions , emigrants to both Abyssinia and Madinah , and Muhammad’s own household. Al-Ateeqi, a researcher from Kuwait who has written extensively about the early history of Mecca, also makes deductions about the numbers of women, children, servants, and slaves living in Mecca at
5896-471: The reigns of ' Umar (r. 634–644 CE) and ' Uthman ibn Affan (r. 644–656 CE) when concerns of flooding caused the caliphs to bring in Christian engineers to build barrages in the low-lying quarters and construct dykes and embankments to protect the area around the Kaaba. Muhammad's return to Medina shifted the focus away from Mecca and later even further away when ' Ali , the fourth caliph, took power and chose Kufa as his capital. The Umayyad Caliphate moved
5984-655: The research hope to find further fossils in the area. The early history of Mecca is still largely shrouded by a lack of clear sources. The city lies in the hinterland of the middle part of western Arabia of which there are sparse textual or archaeological sources available. This lack of knowledge is in contrast to both the northern and southern areas of western Arabia, specifically the Syro-Palestinian frontier and Yemen, where historians have various sources available such as physical remains of shrines, inscriptions, observations by Greco-Roman authors, and information collected by church historians. The area of Hejaz that surrounds Mecca
6072-422: The same given name . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Iyad&oldid=1247994830 " Categories : Given names Arabic-language masculine given names Masculine given names Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
6160-403: The sanctuary of the Kaaba . Patricia Crone , from the Revisionist school of Islamic studies on the other hand, writes that "the plain truth is that the name Macoraba has nothing to do with that of Mecca [...] if Ptolemy mentions Mecca at all, he calls it Moka, a town in Arabia Petraea ". Procopius ' 6th century statement that the Ma'add tribe possessed the coast of western Arabia between
6248-409: The south Jordan contained names of some individuals such as ʿAbd Mekkat ( عَبْد مَكَّة , "Servant of Mecca"). There were also some other inscriptions which contained personal names such as Makki ( مَكِّي , "Makkan, of Makkah"), but Jawwad Ali from the University of Baghdad suggested that there's also a probability of a tribe named "Makkah". Sometime in the 5th century, the Ka'bah
6336-533: The surrounding region, is the capital of the Mecca Province, which includes the neighbouring cities of Jeddah and Ta'if , even though Jeddah is considerably larger in population than Mecca. Prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud has been the provincial governor of the province since 16 May 2007. Mecca has been referred to by many names. As with many Arabic words, its etymology is obscure. Widely believed to be
6424-519: The time, pointing out that some wealthy individuals, such as Abdullah ibn Jud’an , had as many as 100 slaves. The first clear reference to Mecca in non-Islamic literature appears in 741 CE, long after the death of Muhammad, in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, though here the author places the region in Mesopotamia rather than the Hejaz. Possible earlier mentions are not unambiguous. The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus writes about Arabia in
6512-587: The tribe fought under the Sasanian commander Mihran Bahram-i Chobin against the Muslim Arabs led by Khalid ibn al-Walid and again in nearby Sandawda . Members of the Iyad in Tikrit defected to the Muslims and embraced Islam during the assault on Tikrit in 637. Iyad tribesmen under Byzantine authority were sent by Emperor Heraclius with the Byzantine army to besiege the Muslims in Homs in 638, but ultimately withdrew with
6600-518: The tribe secretly aided the city's Sasanian garrison. Indeed, those who remained in the parts of Mesopotamia controlled by the Sasanians were obligated to serve as auxiliaries of its army. In the first decade of the 7th century, Iyad contingents were dispatched alongside the Quda'a Arab contingents led by Khalid ibn Yazid of the Bahra' tribe to confront the Banu Bakr nomads at the Battle of Dhi Qar . A part of
6688-503: The tribe, Adi ibn Wattad, who most likely came from Kufa, was appointed lieutenant governor of Rayy by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf in 696. Among the Iyad who are mentioned in Islamic history are the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun 's qadi (head judge) Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad (d. 854), the qadi of Egypt Ibn Abi'l-Layth (d. 864) and the qadi of Sistan Zafir ibn Sulayman. Members of the Iyad were also present in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), including
6776-493: The tribes a sense of common identity and made Mecca an important focus for the peninsula. The Year of the Elephant (570 CE) The " Year of the Elephant " is the name in Islamic history for the year approximately equating to 570–572 CE , when, according to Islamic sources such as Ibn Ishaq , Abraha descended upon Mecca, riding an elephant, with a large army after building a cathedral at San'aa , named al-Qullays in honor of
6864-504: The two most important highways in all of the Saudi Arabian highway system, Highway 40, which connects the city to Jeddah in the west and the capital, Riyadh and Dammam in the east and Highway 15, which connects it to Medina , Tabuk and onward to Jordan in the north and Abha and Jizan in the south. The Ottomans had planned to extend their railway network to the holy city, but were forced to abandon this plan due to their entry into
6952-519: The unification of the Arabian Peninsula under the banner of Islam. Muhammad died in 632 CE. Within the next few hundred years, the area under the banner of Islam stretched from North Africa into Asia and parts of Europe. As the Islamic realm grew, Mecca continued to attract pilgrims from all across the Muslim world and beyond, as Muslims came to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Mecca also attracted
7040-414: The use of this spelling for the city as offensive. Nonetheless, Mecca is the familiar form of the English transliteration for the Arabic name of the city. Macoraba, another ancient city name mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy Felix' Arabia Felix , was also claimed to be Mecca. Some studies have questioned this association. Many etymologies have been proposed: the traditional one is that it is derived from
7128-466: The well-known family of Ibn Zuhr (d. 1162). Mecca Mecca ( / ˈ m ɛ k ə / ; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah , commonly shortened to Makkah ) is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia ; it is the holiest city according to Islam . It is 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea , in a narrow valley 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its metropolitan population in 2022
7216-498: Was 2.4 million, making it the third-most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. Around 44.5% of the population are Saudi citizens and around 55.5% are Muslim foreigners from other countries. Pilgrims more than triple the population number every year during the Ḥajj pilgrimage , observed in the twelfth Hijri month of Dhūl-Ḥijjah . With over 10.8 million international visitors in 2023, Mecca
7304-588: Was Abd al-As, a member of the Iyad. The Iyad which remained in lower Mesopotamia may have come under the suzerainty of the Lakhmid rulers of al-Hirah, vassals of the Sasanian Empire . Members of the Iyad were concurrently recruited by the Sasanians. The Iyad tribesman Laqit ibn Ya'mur served as a secretary in the Sasanians' government department for Arab affairs in Ctesiphon and the Iyad poet Abu Duwad supervised
7392-429: Was a Moroccan scholar and traveler, Ibn Battuta . In his rihla (account), he provides a vast description of the city. Around the year 1327 CE or 729 AH, Ibn Battuta arrived at the holy city. Immediately, he says, it felt like a holy sanctuary, and thus he started the rites of the pilgrimage. He remained in Mecca for three years and left in 1330 CE. During his second year in the holy city, he says his caravan arrived "with
7480-607: Was a place of worship for the deities of Arabia's pagan tribes . Mecca's most important pagan deity was Hubal , which had been placed there by the ruling Quraish tribe. and remained until the Conquest of Mecca by Muhammad . In the 5th century, the Quraish took control of Mecca, and became skilled merchants and traders. In the 6th century, they joined the lucrative spice trade , since battles elsewhere were diverting trade routes from dangerous sea routes to more secure overland routes. The Byzantine Empire had previously controlled
7568-506: Was both much better than other houses of worship and purer, having not been defiled by the housing of idols. When Muhammad ibn Khuza'i got as far as the land of Kinana , the people of the lowland, knowing what he had come for, sent a man of Hudhayl called ʿUrwa bin Hayyad al-Milasi, who shot him with an arrow, killing him. His brother Qays who was with him, fled to Abraha and told him the news, which increased his rage and fury and he swore to raid
7656-450: Was characterized by its remote, rocky, and inhospitable nature, supporting only meagre settled populations in scattered oases and occasional stretches of fertile land. The Red Sea coast offered no easily accessible ports and the oasis dwellers and bedouins in the region were illiterate. While one individual has suggested that Mecca’s population at the time of Muhammad was around 550, research published by Binimad Al-Ateeqi in 2020 shows that
7744-543: Was one of the ten most visited cities in the world. Mecca is generally considered "the fountainhead and cradle of Islam ". Mecca is revered in Islam as the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . The Hira cave atop the Jabal al-Nur ("Mountain of Light"), just outside the city, is where Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to Muhammad. Visiting Mecca for the Ḥajj
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