If you are Muslim, one of the commandments is to visit Mecca and walk around the Kaaba 7 times if you are able. In the early days of the Muslim religion the aspect of if you are able meant most people did not go to Mecca, however with the rise of the middle income millions now go. Mecca was the birthplace of Muhammad and God’s words were first revealed to him in Mecca, but the city did not embrace him till much later. Before Muhammad, Mecca was a pagan worship city located on trade routes which made the city or town important for a month or two. After Muhammad, as the rules of praying is to face in the direction of Mecca, the city became more important and dependent on pilgrimage. The transformation of the city of Mecca is the book written by Ziauddin Sardar titled Mecca The Sacred City published by Bloomsbury, London, UK, 2014.

In and around 785, the Santuary or the Haram was changed to what we see of it today. The 484 columns were built and with the completion Mecca was changed from a “backyard” town to a rich, cosmopolitan city with all the good and negative aspects of city life. It was during this period, those who came to study, came and question and find answers. Once can easily imagine many different ideas of what Muhammad actually meant or did not mean. In addition people wanted to send precious goods to Mecca either as presents or to be sold to the travellers. This meant bandits threaten the travellers which the government would need to deal with.

As the city grew, it faced danger from other empires who were intent on taking Mecca, however when the city was at peace, the city would be prosperous for the wealthy would compete with each other to build mosques, fountains, schools, public baths, libraries and hospitals. Mecca had the kind of infrastructure that other Muslim cities had for centuries. One of the methods Mecca received funds was the surre of the Holy Cities. The word surre is from the Turkish word meaning precious gifts. The people established many foundations which were aimed at part of life in Mecca and distributed at the Hajj time.

Although many rulers wanted to do development work – the consulting time was months which meant projects took decades to finish. The city went through its ups and downs as cities and empires went up and down.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, you will likely pick one of more of your stocks as the jewels in the crown and expect to hold them for a number of years. That may turn out to be an excellent decision, but know that all companies similar to cities go up and down even though the importance of them remains. In the case of Mecca, as the city is very important to those who pray and because of the event everyone would have and does have an opinion about the city. Sometimes the leaders are not any good and add little value to the holdings, sometimes they were great. Cities like Mecca will bounce back and more about that in part 2

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.