We freshened up and proceeded to the Masjid AlHaram eagerly anticipating seeing Al Ka'ba. We rounded the corner from the Hotel and there! Right in front of us! A sight that many dream of seeing - a most magnificent structure - massive, intimidating, beautiful, majestic - an outlying courtyard of lily white marble floor leading up to walls of grayish colored marble tiles with huge 30 ft tall doors of gold trim, each door bearing it's own name - the sanctuary of Makkah - Masjid AlHaram.
Masjid AlHaram was built around Al-Ka'ba during the days of 'Umar (RA) and was extended since to become the largest Masjid in the world.We entered from King Fahd's Gate - and we were welcomed by hugh pillars - 4ft in diameter, some round, some square, all of marble - hundreds of them within this Masjid that could easily accommodate some 2 million worshippers!!
The huge pillars rested on lily white marble floors and lead up to 30+ ft ceilings intricately designed with beautiful arches between the massive pillars. At the base of these pillars are air-conditioning vents which provides relief from the hot days.
The structure of Masjid AlHaram is that of a courtyard type structure, it surrounds Al Ka'ba and the actual structure of the Masjid is built around an inner courtyard which is roofless. The floor of the inner courtyard is also of white marble and it is in this inner courtyard, in the middle if it, where one will find Al-Ka'ba surrounded by the majestic structure of the Masjid which consists of 3 floors encircling Al-Ka'ba. 
Al Ka'ba is surrounded by 3 rows of domes numbering some 500 and which are supported by some 462 pillars of which some 218 are made of slender marble and 224 are carved from a stone called Hajjar-e-Shams of which some are hexagonal and others are octagonal and are yellow in color. Masjid al-Haram has an oblong form, its north wall is 164 meters long, south wall 146 meters long, east wall 106 meters long, and west wall 124 meters long. Saudis in 1955 extended these four walls, so that Safa and Marwa were included in the Masjid. Hence, the mosque became approximately 1,722,000 square feet!!
Masjid al-Haram has nineteen doors, of which four are on the east wall, three on the west wall, five on the north wall and seven on the south wall. It has seven minarets.
AlKaba is a cubical room built of stone in the middle of Masjid al-Haram, and is 38 feet tall. Its north wall is 30 feet long, south wall 28 feet long, the east and west wall each 44 feet long. On the corner of the east- south walls is the stone of Hajjar-i-aswad, which is over four feet above the ground. The Kaba has a door on the east wall 6 feet above the ground, the door is 5 feet wide and 7 feet high. The outer side of the Kaba is dressed with black silk tissue emblazoned with Qur'anic verses in golden thread.
Using the escalator one traverse to the roof of the Masjid from which one overlooks the inner courtyard and Al-Ka'ba with thousands of worshippers circumambulating seeking to get closer to their Creator. Powerful flood lights are all around that brings to life this city within a city.
The Zamzam well, also within Masjid al-Haram, is in a room opposite the corner of Hajjar-i-aswad and 48 feet away from the corner, and has a stone curb 6 feet high. Its diameter is 8 feet long, and its depth is 100 feet. The room, built by Sultan Abd-al Hamid Khan I, has a floor covered with marble, sloping near the walls, and ending in gutters at the feet of the walls. The gutters are of such competent work that they do not let any water ooze into the well. Even with hundreds of thousands of Hajjis drinking the Zamzam, washing themselves with it, and taking some of it back to their countries, the water in the well is never exhausted. Today the water is pumped out day and night with a machine and a large-hose pipe, but it still does not seem to be exhaustible.
We entered Masjid AlHaram from King Fahd's Gate and continue though the Masjid towards the inner courtyard - I was watching my wife and kids - I wanted to see their reaction upon seeing Al-Ka'ba. They had no idea where it was or where to look. We continued towards the center and then suddenly the roof disappeared and we were out in the open again - in the inner courtyard - and then there, in front of us, as bright as day - Al Kaba!! Quietly majestic, observing the thousands circumambulating it. Time stood still. My wife was in tears, my son was in tears, my daughter's mouth was hanging open, I smiled - Allah (swt) has graced me to bring my family to the His House.
Al Ka'ba is surrounded by 3 rows of domes numbering some 500 and which are supported by some 462 pillars of which some 218 are made of slender marble and 224 are carved from a stone called Hajjar-e-Shams of which some are hexagonal and others are octagonal and are yellow in color. Masjid al-Haram has an oblong form, its north wall is 164 meters long, south wall 146 meters long, east wall 106 meters long, and west wall 124 meters long. Saudis in 1955 extended these four walls, so that Safa and Marwa were included in the Masjid. Hence, the mosque became approximately 1,722,000 square feet!!
Masjid al-Haram has nineteen doors, of which four are on the east wall, three on the west wall, five on the north wall and seven on the south wall. It has seven minarets.
AlKaba is a cubical room built of stone in the middle of Masjid al-Haram, and is 38 feet tall. Its north wall is 30 feet long, south wall 28 feet long, the east and west wall each 44 feet long. On the corner of the east- south walls is the stone of Hajjar-i-aswad, which is over four feet above the ground. The Kaba has a door on the east wall 6 feet above the ground, the door is 5 feet wide and 7 feet high. The outer side of the Kaba is dressed with black silk tissue emblazoned with Qur'anic verses in golden thread.
Using the escalator one traverse to the roof of the Masjid from which one overlooks the inner courtyard and Al-Ka'ba with thousands of worshippers circumambulating seeking to get closer to their Creator. Powerful flood lights are all around that brings to life this city within a city.
The Zamzam well, also within Masjid al-Haram, is in a room opposite the corner of Hajjar-i-aswad and 48 feet away from the corner, and has a stone curb 6 feet high. Its diameter is 8 feet long, and its depth is 100 feet. The room, built by Sultan Abd-al Hamid Khan I, has a floor covered with marble, sloping near the walls, and ending in gutters at the feet of the walls. The gutters are of such competent work that they do not let any water ooze into the well. Even with hundreds of thousands of Hajjis drinking the Zamzam, washing themselves with it, and taking some of it back to their countries, the water in the well is never exhausted. Today the water is pumped out day and night with a machine and a large-hose pipe, but it still does not seem to be exhaustible.
We entered Masjid AlHaram from King Fahd's Gate and continue though the Masjid towards the inner courtyard - I was watching my wife and kids - I wanted to see their reaction upon seeing Al-Ka'ba. They had no idea where it was or where to look. We continued towards the center and then suddenly the roof disappeared and we were out in the open again - in the inner courtyard - and then there, in front of us, as bright as day - Al Kaba!! Quietly majestic, observing the thousands circumambulating it. Time stood still. My wife was in tears, my son was in tears, my daughter's mouth was hanging open, I smiled - Allah (swt) has graced me to bring my family to the His House.
There were literally thousands of worshippers making tawaaf (circumambulating) - We wanted to get as close as possible. We proceeded to make 7 tawaaf as is prescribed, reciting verses from The Qur'an and making supplications, every so often glancing over our shoulders at Al-Kaba to remind ourselves that it was really there.It was surreal to know that our Prophet himself (saw) walked right here, maybe in the same spot that I was in. We completed the rites of tawaf and proceed to do the Sa'i. The S'ai is walking between the hills of Safa and Marwah (which is approx. 1500 ft apart). This is to re-enact the incident that happened to Hajjar, the mother of Ismail, when she was left by her husband, Ibrahim in the desert as per the command of Allah (swt).
We completed all the rituals in about 2.5 hours and I proceeded to get my local 5 Riyal hair cut. To end the ritual, the men have to cut their hair and the women needs to remove a third of a finger's length also.
We went back to the hotel and slept.
Later on after the afternoon prayers, we bought lunch - chicken and chips and went walking the streets of Makkah - bought a tea kettle, orange juice, mango juice and a few other items, drop them off at the hotel and went back to the Haram for Maghrib and stayed until 'Isha'.
We then returned to the hotel and slept till 2:30 am and went back to the Haram.
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