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النسخة العربية
  • Politics
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  • mecca

The US-Iran war has sent the cost of Hajj 2026 soaring Lina Jaradat

Hajj 2026 could be the costliest season on record

Pilgrims continue to stream into Mecca despite rising travel costs and regional tensions following war in the Gulf.

Amer Ziab Al-Tamimi 26 May 2026
Installation "The Black Arch" by Saudi sisters Raja and Shadia Alem is seen at the pavilion of Saudi Arabia taking part in the Venice Biennale for the first time on 2 June 2011, in Venice, Italy. Marco Secchi / Getty

Shadia Alem and the art of sacred continuity

From Mecca to the global stage, Saudi artist Shadia Alem's work unfolds as a continuous practice shaped by memory, spirituality, and place

Mimoza Al-Arrawi 18 March 2026
Lady Evelyn Cobbold, a Scottish aristocrat who converted to Islam and performed the Hajj in 1933, becoming the first British Muslim woman to do so. Getty Images

The Orientalists who entered Mecca in disguise

For centuries, Mecca was the pinnacle of exploration for Western travellers. Shrouded in mystery, it captured the imagination of a small but daring group of European Orientalists

Abdullah Al-Rashid 06 June 2025
Lina Jaradat

The world's first coffeehouse was in Mecca

In 1511, there were places in Mecca specifically designated for selling and drinking coffee, known as coffee houses. Decades later, the first café opened in Istanbul.

Abdullah Al-Rashid 15 November 2024
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Business & Economy

As the US and Iran spar over Hormuz deal, the world waits with bated breath

12 August 2026

Any agreement that restores traffic through the strait will bring immediate relief, but repairing the damage wrought by war—and restoring confidence—will take far longer

Abdel-Rahman Ayas
Al Majalla
Politics

Is multipolarity helping or hindering Iran?

12 August 2026

A bit of both. It enabled its rise as a regional power, then helped weaken it, and may now help prevent its complete defeat.

Christopher Phillips
Opinion

Mecca diplomacy and the New Middle East

12 August 2026

Riyadh has made clear its vision for the future of a "new Middle East"—and it is one based on mutual respect, unity, peace and prosperity

Zaid bin Ali al-Fadhil
Al Majalla
Science & Technology

How AI is rewriting the rules of war and peace

10 August 2026

As states race to embed algorithms in systems of reconnaissance, targeting, air defence, and military decision-making, a new layer of risk is taking shape

Mohammed Mansour
Nesma Moharam
Culture & Social Affairs

The art of Taqāsīm: dividing time and charging silence

11 August 2026

Al Majalla traces the evolution of the solo improvisation musical form indigenous to the Middle East region

Fadi El-Abdallah

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OPINIONS

Al Majalla's Film Watch

Wael Said
Wael Said

Trump's Gaza peace plan appears to be dead on arrival

Con Coughlin
Con Coughlin

Trump and Mojtaba: the Hormuz negotiations

Al Majalla - London
Al Majalla - London

Washington's war, Tehran's waiting game

Alex Vatanka
Alex Vatanka
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