Medina; tomb of Mohammed

Mohammed, born in Mecca, was kicked out when he started preaching a new religion. He fled to Medina on a she camel, and where this camel kneeled down, god told him that this was the place to build the first mosque.
This building was rebuilt again and again as the importance of Medina grew. What never changed was the room in which he died which, later on had a sealed building of black stones built around it.
This is the tomb that approx 2 million pilgrims from around the world visit each year on the "Umra" not to be confused with the "Hadsch" to Mecca which 3 million per year.
For us, Medina was a glimpse at the multitude of nationalities and ethnicities of this world. I have never seen so many different faces and clothing styles in my life; Arabs, Africans, central Asians, Chinese, Indonesians to name just a few, all spending a fortune to do this journey and a "money printing machine" for Saudi Arabia.
Unlike Mecca, non-muslims are allowed into the city, but as Margot and I tried to enter the outer courtyard of the absolutly huge mosque (for 1 million worshippers) we were blocked by a security guard and very clearly told this is not for us. So we observed thousands and thousands rushing to the late afternoon prayer which was broadcast throughout the area, and then 30 min later rushing out again to their hotels or hundreds of busses with thousands of identical suit cases brought from the other side of the world.
Half an hour after sunset, they all streamed in again for evening prayer.
What a crazy world!Read more