MECCA, Saudi Arabia (RNS) — Mariam is sipping on a juice box while sitting on the front steps outside a hotel not far from the Grand Mosque in this holiest of cities for Muslims. Mariam first says she ...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia — For Zainab Abdu, the holiest sites in Islam were the backdrop for her weekends growing up. Raised in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, Abdu remembers roller skating with friends near the ...

In 1961, a year before designing the World Trade Center towers, American architect Minoru Yamasaki completed a much smaller project that would influence the look of his new creation in New York City.

The Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, a sacred journey to Mecca that every Muslim is called to complete at least once. But what exactly happens on this pilgrimage?

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — For Zainab Abdu, the holiest sites in Islam were the backdrop for her weekends growing up. Raised in Mecca, Abdu remembers roller-skating with friends near the Grand Mosque ...

At least 1,300 people died because of scorching heat during the Hajj pilgrimage in June 2024. It’s not the first time that such a tragic incident hit the pilgrimage. More than a thousand were killed ...

Saudi Arabia’s status as home to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina means grand mufti’s pronouncements closely watched.

The annual Islamic pilgrimage known as Hajj will gather a million and a half people or more from around the globe in the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia this year. While praying at the Grand Mosque, all ...

Massachusetts high school students pretended to be Muslims in the "Islamic" city of Jerusalem as part of a class assignment used in Newton Public Schools to teach about the Israeli-Palestinian ...

Senior Writer, Foreign Policy & Deputy Editor, National Security and Foreign Policy Every year, the Islamic calendar dictates the dates of a global pilgrimage known as Hajj, which draws millions of ...

At least 717 people were killed and more than 850 injured in a stampede Thursday outside Mecca during the annual hajj pilgrimage, Saudi officials said. It was the deadliest incident to strike the ...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — For Zainab Abdu, the holiest sites in Islam were the backdrop for her weekends growing up. Raised in Mecca, Abdu remembers roller-skating with friends near the Grand Mosque ...