Overview

Since the earliest times of Islam, Muslims have made an annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city of the Islamic religion, and would have benefited from a travel agency, such as the imaginary one described here. By the 1100's, Islam had spread from Arabia throughout the Middle East, across northern Africa, into Spain, and into India and other parts of Asia. The pilgrimage from these distant lands was long and tiring.

Today, Islam is the major religion of nearly all countries in northern Africa and the Middle East. It is also the chief religion in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan. More than 2 million pilgrims crowd into Mecca in Saudi Arabia each year for the Hajj. About half of them come from other countries. Caring for the pilgrims has become a major concern for the Saudi government, which spends almost $50 million yearly to provide health care, security, and other services for pilgrims.