Into The Unknown

In the ensuing paragraphs, I will be documenting my trip to Saudi Arabia, where I will be visiting the two most holy places in Islam.

Our journey to Mecca involved taking a flight to Bahrain, getting a connecting flight to the historic port city of Jeddah and then a taxi to Mecca itself.

Bahrain’s existence as an independent entity is an interesting phenomenon in the first place. In another age, a tiny island with such wealth would be a ripe target for foreign powers. Being sandwiched between two major regional powers would multiply this effect substantially. Yet, despite this Bahrain has not only survived but thrived.

It was definitely up there as one of the nicest airports I’ve ever had the pleasure of being in. It was immediately apparent that I’d entered a world of unfathomable luxury. There was a demonstrable opulence in the form of designer everything and yet sheer prevalence of obesity. It struck me as a poignant contradiction — the visible signs of wealth and indulgence seemed at odds with the religious emphasis on resisting worldly distractions.

The flight from Bahrain to Jeddah took us over the various deserts of Arabia. It was an interesting journey in the sense that it really emphasised how barren these lands really are. That a force powerful enough to conquer the Persians and (eventually) the Romans emerged from these wastelands really emphasised how little we (and clearly these empires) understood about late antiquity. What revulsions are just around the corner that may upend our understanding of the present?

Umrah is meant to represent spiritual rebirth with the white cloth representing purity and equality and the shaving of the head as a new beginning. In a sense it is similar symbolically to a Christian baptism.

In practise, some of these metaphors were overshadowed by the fact that many people doing the Umrah were not adorned in white cloth, and much of the walk involved pushing and shoving as some wished to get ahead of others. We walked on the first floor and getting run over by aggressive wheelchair pushers was a constant threat.

Personally, I found much of the religious experience disappointing. It never really felt like you were part of this great Ummah. All the pushing just made me feel like it was every man for themselves. I did think the Great Mosque was very nice, and the marble tiles on the exterior front wall were especially spectacular.

The House of God was also something to behold; it’s a particularly interesting example of religious syncretism. Seeing it did make me wonder why pre-Islamic Arabs had such a fondness for cubes, (Kaa’ba literally translates to cube) and what other Kaa’ba - like the one in Yemen or Najran - would have looked like.

It did also make me wonder how Muslims who lived on other planets would pray towards it.

In any case, it is clear that the Masjid al-Haram is well kept and well maintained given how many people pass through its doors daily.

During a visit to Jabal Al-Rahmah, I got to do a VR experience where you were delved into 7th century Arabia and given an overview of the impact of Mohammad on Mecca. Some of the content was definitely not historically accurate and exaggerated for effect but the quality of the experience was very high.

As someone who owns a VR headset and experienced many virtual reality experiences, it really stood out as being relatively high definition with good story-telling and appropriate music. It was fairly short, maybe 5-10 minutes but it did demonstrate what was possible even now.

Driving around Mecca, it was really apparent how mountainous and barren this region really is. Yet, the contrast between the opulence within the city itself and the region around it was as stark as I can imagine. It seems impossible that a city this populated could be supported by so barren a surrounding region.

Jabal al-Noor was very interesting. It seemed less impacted by the opulence that is so prevalent in Mecca and its immediate surroundings. There were several shops at the base, but the mountain itself and the difficult walk to get to the top was mostly untouched. In that sense, the experience felt more genuine.

In a way it highlighted something I’d felt about the trip that I hadn’t been able to articulate until this point. There is something about the wealth that is everywhere in Mecca that has changed the authenticity of the experience. Whilst the accessibility of the experience is great in the sense that it makes the experience more universal, it also makes the completion of it feel less spiritually rewarding.

Jabal al-Noor, as a specific Islamic example of the concept of a difficult walk to a spiritually significant destination, and seemed to hit on something that is universal in human culture.

Jeddah was incredibly different to Mecca. You could see a sense of normal life for its inhabitants and the almost abandonment of certain areas like the Al Balad district. It was also obvious how new the opening up of the country to tourism was. There were many places in which museums had started to be set up, but we saw very few other tourists.

There was a strange sense of beauty on the drive over looking at the uncultivated grasslands leading to mountains in the distance. It was the first time I’ve related to that meme that men will literally build a cabin in the woods and raise chickens instead of going to therapy.

In Jeddah, we visited a restaurant in which the entire layout was structured entirely around the conservatism inherent in arabian culture. The restaurant had two entrances. The entrance at the front lead to the first floor which was restricted to males only. Here there were cubicles of carpet in which men could sit on the floor and eat.

The back entrance was for families. This lead to a lift to the second floor in which there were rooms for people to sit on the floor and eat.

The layout of the restaurant was designed so that women would never see men they were not related to. Also, the design was such that women would be able to take off their niqaab to be able to eat in public.

To someone who’s lived their entire life in the west, it was jarring. Once I’d put together all the pieces, I could see how it made sense. Until this moment, there was no public place I’d been in which a women would not have been allowed.

In Medina, that was to be significantly different.

The vibe of Medina was so different to Mecca. Mecca seemed much more obviously holy. It almost screamed it at you. Medina was much more subtle.

The Prophets Mosque in Medina is this massive semi open courtyard with these gigantic umbrella’s that look like they belong in Horizon Zero Dawn. There’s no doubt as to its beauty, yet after having been in Mecca, it felt subdued.

In Medina, the opulence that was so inescapable in Mecca was not so keenly felt. You did not have to venture far from the Prophets Mosque to see poverty and hardship. There was no shortage of beautiful buildings (mostly hotels) and construction sites. Yet, much of this seemed hollow.

There did not seem to be much to do beyond visiting the various mosques around the city. Although, undoubtably, each were beautiful in their own way.

The difference between Mount Uhud and Jabal al-Noor almost perfectly encapsulates the difference between Medina and Mecca. Where Jabal al-Noor is the quintessential pilgrim’s difficult journey to spiritual enlightenment, at Mount Uhud there is no remnant of the battle that took place there. The Saudi authorities do not allow any archaelogical activities to occur on the mountain, not even non-invasive forms of archaeology.

All in all, the journey was one of intense contrasts — between ancient and modern, sacred and commercial. I don’t think there is any place on Earth that holds such irreverence to so many.