How Will Mecca Accommodate Muslims in the Future?

For Muslims this week is one of the holiest, it is the week of the Hajj. Millions will descend to the most holiest site in Islam and perform the Hajj - one of the Five Pillars of Islam. This post is not about the Hajj per se so I will not offer a thorough review. Wikipedia it.

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The images that will be beamed to the world are always stunning as one witnesses a human sea circling the Ka'aba. I personally cannot help but look at the images and wonder: This is how crowded Mecca is now, who will it accommodate future Muslims.

Current Hajj pilgrimages number are +2.5million. But in the coming decades this already high figure will raise due to several factors:

1) The number of world Muslims is increasing. Currently 25% of the world is Muslim.

2) And this will be the biggest source of increased Hajj numbers: the Islamic world is growing richer. The Hajj isn't cheap, especially as one is further and further away from Mecca. Flight costs, hotels, ect.... The Hajj is not an absolute in Islam. The Hajj is obligatory if possible; if poor health or limited financial means prevents one from performing it then they are excused. Currently, large (if not most) parts of the Arab and Muslim world can't afford the Hajj. But as the Arabs, the Turks, the Indonesians, ect... grow richer more and more people will be able to travel to Mecca.

Believe it or not the images of 2million in Mecca this week is just a fraction of the number of Muslims are would be there if they could.

How will the future Haram Mosque accommodate, say, 5million (if not more) Muslim? Expand, expand, expand. The Mosque has been expanded repeatedly in the past and if you visit it (and I haven't) you'll be able to see the added layers of architecture - each in its own period style - in the Mosque.

The immediate area around the Mosque is actually still pretty wide open and leaves penalty of room of expansion. And that is what is being planed:

>According to sources, the scheme for Islam’s holiest city could create a huge new structure around the central Haram mosque that will eventually be capable of holding three million people, making it the ‘highest occupancy’ building in the world.

The top-secret plans are being backed by King Abdullah ben Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia who has asked a hand-picked collection of starchitects to ‘establish a new architectural vision’ for the 356,800m2 mosque complex.

The AJ believes that the project is likely to be phased, with phase one transforming the mosque from having an official capacity of 900,000 to 1.5 million. This will then go up to three million with the completion of several phases over the following five to 10 years.

The two architects signed for the historic project are Iraqi-English female architect Zaha Hadid and fellow British (Christian) architect Norman Foster; both of whom are known for their modern designs (Foster will never be allowed to visit Mecca due to the fact that Islam prohibits non-Muslims from entering Islam's holiest ground; Medina as well).

Here is a first rendering of the future Haram Mosque:

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