Mecca Property Ad: Room with a View?
This a very interesting property ad that recently appeared in one of our local papers. You may know that Mecca (or Makkah as spelled in the ad) is the most holy city for Islam. It is located in Saudi Arabia and it is the city to which Muslims take the Hajj, or pilgrimage, which is a Koranic requirement for all Muslims who can afford it.
Another fascinating fact about Mecca is that only Muslims are allowed to enter the city. Non-Muslims may never enter.
The large background picture in the ad is of the center of the Grand Mosque. In it stands the Kaaba which is the place of worship that Abraham is supposed to have built. When Muslims pray they orient themselves so that they are praying toward the Kaaba. You may have heard that they pray facing Mecca but more specifically it is toward the Kaaba.
To state the obvious, this ad is a fascinating example of "East meets West". Luxury property marketing with a deeply religious context.
2 comments:
Hi Brian,
I have personally seen some hotel apartments with room views facing towards the Kaaba. These five star hotels are closest in proximity to the mosque, while the older hotels are shifted back. The company I worked for in Saudi built a hotel close to the mosque to.
I personally don't like this idea of giving the super rich people the closest proximity to the mosque while the poorer people are shifted further away from the mosque. This increasing trend is worrying.
And they say within 10-15 years, all the developments around the mosque will be demolished to increase the capacity of the worshippers.
Mansur
Hey Brian,
I was curious where you worked in Dubai, I have several friends in consulting in Dubai..
RvN
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