As we know, Mecca has been possessing exceptional historical significance for the whole world, not only for the Muslims, as from ancient times it played a substantial role within all the Arabian states. The informative movie "Inside Mecca" tells us the three pilgrims' personal stories regarding their experience of the holy city's visit in order to do the Hajj, the rituals' series taking place in and around Mecca executed between the eighth and thirteenth days of the Islamic calendar's last month, which must end up with the most important act of the circling around the religion's essential center or as Eliade says, axis mundi, universal pillar connecting and supporting heaven and earth, named Kaaba, which is supposed to be initially built by Adam and then reconstructed by Ibrahim and Ismail. The film introduces us to the various aspects of Islam through such a five-day-long quest testing the pilgrims' body and soul for redemption. In this essay, we are going to analyze what religious tradition the above-mentioned cinema highlights, criticizes, and explains as well as whether it does do effectively or rather not.
First of all, the movie shows us the interviewers' lives with different social classes, jobs, interests, and overall mentality, originating from the distinct countries that nevertheless realized the religion's truth to such a degree that they decided to perform the fifth of the main Islamic pillars along with the creed Shahada, fasting Siyam, alms Zakah and mandatory prayers Namaz. The divorced mother of two and at the same time neuroscience's professor Fidelma O'Leary from America, diligent and successful Malaysian businessman Ismail Mahbob, South African preacher and radio host Khalil Mandhlazi will trace the Prophet's footsteps in the place called the celestial house of God Himself revealing the faith's depths and facing other convinced believers as they are. Moreover, it reveals to the watchers the history of both the Hajj and the location where it is always carried out, including even the pre-Islamic period. Besides that, the emphasis is made on the difficulties with logistics part for the foreigners, comprising of the specifics of the flight, bus travel and eventual long walking under uneasy circumstances of heat, constant prayers, sleep's deprivation so that the extreme patience, solid moral principles, and persistence are needed to accomplish the rite.
Kaaba itself is represented as a large building with a cube's shape and where all the Muslim prayers should be directed to. Obviously, its value for the worshippers is inexpressible, because it symbolizes the region where Islam emerged. Furthermore, since attending Mecca and Kaaba, in particular, to pray thoroughly is the third best thing after the strong belief in Allah and His Prophet and constant fight on His way a believer could do as a Fard, referring to the obligations sent by God, it is not a surprise that a lot of Muslims tend to get to there at least once in their lifetime to perform a pilgrimage of either Hajj, characterized by the visit at a certain date during the holy period of Ramadan according to the Islamic lunar calendar Hijri, or Umrah, which in turn means the journey there undertaken anytime, thus, of course, the former is more valuable than the latter due to both the greater requirement's amount and the general conditions' distinction. Nonetheless, Tawaf, the rounding about Kaaba in a counterclockwise direction seven times in a row thereby showing the Muslim supporters' oneness must be made in both cases. Additionally, this stone's cleaning ceremony is also quite considerable, as even the high-ranking individuals participate and look at the large-scale process.
Talking of the ritual, it starts with Tawaf, followed by the walk between the Safa and Marwah hills and drinking from the holy Zamzam Well, proceeding to the mountain of the utmost significance, Arafat, which Prophet Muhammed described as the Hajj's embodiment, believed to be the place where Adam and Eva met each other and where the so-called Judgement Day's rehearsal or reminder takes place. After spending a night in Muzdalifa, the symbolical devil's stoning at the columns, designed to serve as a demonstration of the evil Shaitans' exile, occurs. Throughout the pilgrimage's final stage, the animals' sacrifice, mostly including sheep, cows, or camels, accompanied by the heads' shave of the pilgrims for their sins to be forgiven before the sacred space's final leave.
To sum up, the film involves almost all Islamic aspects, although some of them implicitly, owing to Kaaba and Mecca being the whole faith's crucial part, since the region is deeply connected to the two primary Prophets Muhammed and Ibrahim who experienced God's hierophany. Due to the movie's shortness, it was impossible for it to tell us every ritual's technique and meaning, but I think that the task of letting the world know what exactly happens inside the Arabian center has been done very well. After watching, the audience should understand that despite being surrounded by the tens of thousands of people in there, everyone stays face to face with God, as a result of becoming more emotional than usually via seeking for forgiveness or asking for something private.
Review of Inside Mecca
