Mecca

               The sun rises on the eastern hemisphere, and hundreds of people watch its path through the sky from the holiest city of Islam…So many people cannot be wrong… or they may be… Who knows? Who cares if their faith is so strong? If they believe it, so do I. After all, who am I to judge; who am I to say who is right or wrong? The sun keeps moving, and when it gets to the center of the sky, some people live and some others arrive to Mecca… Mecca… Mecca… the city that all Muslims want to visit.

                Mecca is the place of birth of Mohamed, author of the Quran, the Holy book of Islam. It was in Mecca where Mohammed received the first revelations from God. It was in Mecca where he wrote the Quran… Mecca… Mecca…for the Muslim world, always Mecca… Thousands of people make their obligatory pilgrimage to this city each year. Their religion requires this pilgrimage once in a lifetime; however, many of them will come back because this place represents who they are.

                Our cultures, religions, and believes shape our personalities and define at a great extent who we are. I grew up reading the “Little Prince,” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Any time I need to go back to my roots, I read it again. Any time I need to remind myself that “what is essential is invisible to the eye,” I come back to the bedroom where my aunt used to read for me. This is part of my story. Mecca is part of the story of every Muslim the same way my bedroom is part of mine. All of them have a compromise with themselves to visit Mecca, and they may be back to it a few times physically and a million mentally, because they need to remind themselves of what they have learned. They also go back to the Quran as I go back to my “Little Prince,” and as you, my dear reader may go back to the Bible, the Torah, or any other religious or secular book you happen to believe in.   

Mecca

Mecca