😂 I don’t really know much about the finances of Hajj, but I’d be surprised if the government isn’t making a profit here. The Haram (the main complex in this picture) is of course free to access, as well as all of its facilities, and it’s generally well maintained and secure, but there is also an insane tourism industry in Makkah and the nearby Jeddah by virtue of needing to accommodate millions of pilgrims every year. There’s got to be hotels, flights, public transport, restaurants, tour guides, grocery shops, souvenir shops etc., and all of this means millions of jobs and taxable revenue for the government.
Thats what it was originally for IIRC. Before Muhammad took the spot over, this area was like the Wall Street of what is now modern day Arabia, thats why the spot was seized from the pagans who had this temple-ish area with other gods decorating it. If you believe it's from the angels or built by Abraham , that's one thing but historically it was a strategic territory takeover.
The center - the mosque itself - is a religious place and its quite large; if you were to walk a circle on the rooftop it would take about 40 minutes. Right outside the vicinity of the mosque are hotels that have huge gateways that gives access directly into the mosque (no vehicle there, only pedestrian. the only vehicle allowed are for maintenance/cleaning purpose). You go one layer out you start getting all sort of restaurant and fast food, crazy amount of choice. In McDonald term, there's one McDonald in the same 'layer' as the hotel then there's about 6 McDonalds beyond the hotel layer.
There's also a lot of places to do shopping for whatever your heart desire, a lot of large markets and also lots of small places that I'd call mini museum where you can learn about Mecca, the mosque around it (Masjid al-Haram), the region, the history, etc.
For Muslims that goes there for a pilgrimage, there's a LOT of interesting things to do but also lots of different type of food to try. It's a very happy place where people from everywhere comes from and enjoying a sense of wonder. People would randomly strike up conversation with each other, talk about where they're from. It's a surreal place and atmosphere. In a sense, I get why the other person called it "Disneyland for Muslims".
There's also a McDonalds within throwing distance of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India... as far as I know one of only 2 that are completely vegetarian McDonalds restaurants. But then, if you're in Amritsar there are 10,000 better places to eat.
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u/TotallyFarhan 14d ago
Funny you should say that there's a mackies right outside the centre like 5 min away from it