Makkah 2

Mecca – 2
“And Mecca Changed”

One day came, and amidst the silence, a voice rose from the heart of Hira: "READ!"
The stones trembled. The night turned dark, the stars fell silent—
But a single word spoke, and a new era began.
The Divine Word descended to the earth—from the mountain to the city, from the heavens to the hearts.
Mecca was no longer the same…

The idols that had wandered for centuries in the stone courtyards of Quraysh,
Statues deified in the glittering eyes of commerce,
Self-interests revolving around one another—
All were shaken to their core.

Because now there was one among them who exalted humanity not through lineage, nor fame, nor wealth—
But through piety.

And Bilal’s voice rose to the sky: "Ahad! Ahad!"
It shattered not only the chains of slavery,
But the silence of an entire society.

Words no longer belonged to the poets,
But bore the weight of the Word of the heavens.
The Qur’an was descending—like a law, a calling, a rebellion:

• Do not deceive!

• Do not glorify oppression!

• Do not bury your daughter alive!

• Know your provision is from Allah!

And each verse struck the veins of society like a revolution against centuries of idolatry.

The Kaaba had once been a center of ritual circumambulation—
But the hearts of those who circled it were empty.
Now, hearts were turning toward the Kaaba…

Idols were once objects of spectacle,
But now there were foreheads bowing in submission.
That stone structure ceased to be a marketplace of sanctity—
It became the center of monotheism.

Women, once silent flowers,
Now became speaking heavens.
Slaves were no longer burdens,
But reminders of freedom.
Orphans, once scorned,
Were now entrusted as symbols of divine mercy.

A city opened its eyes—
Yet some eyes, so accustomed to darkness, began to flee from the light.

Mecca was weeping—
Because everything it had known was crumbling:
Tribal honor,
Idol-based economy,
Ancestral customs,
The superiority of lineage…

What replaced it was simple—but powerful:

"La ilaha illallah"
One God.
One Lord.
One Qibla.
And equal people.

The resistance began—boycotts, torture, exile, and loss.
But the truth did not die in any attack.
Because this was not a war of words—
It was a war of hearts.

And those who conquered the heart would change not just a city,
But entire eras.

And Mecca slowly changed through the luminous words of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)...

Poetry was now written facing the sky.
Trade was bound by ethics.
Governance was led by justice.
Hearts were filled with Allah.

Mecca changed…
But the real change was in the people of Mecca.

Özer Akpınar
Researcher – Historian