Mosque Project Since pre-Islamic times, Mecca has always been known as a sacred place, however, due to mass construction and modernization, the sacredness of this holy city may be slowly dying. Mecca contains the Holy Mosque and the Kaaba. The Kaaba is a tall box-shaped structure that stands in a courtyard in the center of the Holy Mosque and has established itself as the main object of pilgrimages to Mecca (Dictionary of Islamic Architecture). Mecca is the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and contains many important historical sites such as the place where Muhammad was born, the house of the Prophet's wife Khadijah and the house of Abu Bakr, as well as the house of Muhammad's grandson which was razed to the ground from the king's palace. All these historic sites have been demolished and replaced with hotels or even public toilets (The Guardian). The main building overlooking the Holy Mosque is Abraj al-Bait, which houses a number of luxury apartments and hotels. This building is the second tallest building in the world. Sami Angawi, architect and founder of the Hajj Research Centre, states that "They are turning the sacred shrine into a machine, a city without identity, without heritage, without culture and without natural environment (The Guardian)". Many sites important not only to Islam but also to the history of the prophet have been demolished and replaced with new buildings. Eventually the Sacred Mosque will be surrounded by tall buildings and hotels. Residents were evicted with only a week's notice and many of them have yet to receive compensation from the government. Irfan al-Alawi, executive director of the UK-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, said that "locals who have lived here for generations are being forced... middle of paper... to build around the mosque takes away the seriousness, sanctity and sacredness of the mosque which I think will influence subsequent generations making the pilgrimage not seem so serious and spiritual, and ultimately may even damage the meaning of the Hajj. Ashley Fleetwood Word Count: 1,236 Bibliography Ankara as imprisoned with construction: Turkey's top religious official". Hurry daily news. October 18, 2013. Web. November 26, 2013. http://archnet.org/library/dictionary/entry.jsp?entry_id=DIA0463&mode=fullButt, Riazat. “Mecca's mega architecture casts the shadow of the Hajj.” architecture-hajj1ArchNet Digital library. “Mecca”. Dictionary of Islamic architecture. Network. 26 November 2013. http://archnet.org/library/dictionary/entry.jsp?entry_id=DIA0463&mode=full