ع
Sections
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Documents & Memoirs
Regions
  • Gulf
  • MENA
  • Europe
  • USA
  • Asia
  • World
More
  • Videos
  • Cartoons
  • World in photos
  • Infographics
  • Profiles
  • Newsletter

LATEST ISSUE

Latest Issue
Magazine Archive
النسخة العربية
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Tag
  • 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
  • Popular
  • Editor's Pick
Eduardo Ramon
Politics

Why siccing Syria's army on Hezbollah is so dangerous

28 June 2026

If Trump's idea is implemented, it would all but certainly further undermine regional stability and US interests in the Middle East

David Schenker
Neil Webb
Science & Technology

The G7 grapples with the politics of AI access

23 June 2026

As advanced AI models become strategic assets, the G7 is confronting difficult questions of access, dependence, and control

Marco Mossad
Massad Boulos, Trump's Middle East advisor, speaks at the Libya Energy and Economic Summit at the Tripoli International Conference Centre in Tripoli on 24 January, 2026. MAHMUD TURKIA / AFP
Politics

US plan for Libya: unification or management of division?

26 June 2026

A US envoy wants the institutions of western Libya to accommodate the son of an eastern warlord as Libyan president. Is this another doomed effort to unite the feuding factions, or could it work?

Areig Elhag
Grace Russell
Business & Economy

The World Cup is helping boost the Arab hospitality sector

26 June 2026

Owing to time-zone differences, the tournament is creating a new spending cycle for cafés and restaurants in Arab cities

Mohamed Sharki
Culture & Social Affairs

Umberto Eco's 'Inventing the Enemy' as relevant as ever

22 June 2026

A forgotten lecture by the renowned Italian writer at the University of Bologna in 2008 traced the history of hatred through language, myth, and imagination, all of which still apply today

Antoine Jockey

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter

Get the best of Al Majalla, straight to your inbox.

Your newsletter subscriptions are subject to Al Majalla privacy policy and terms and conditions.

OPINIONS

Libya and Sudan: power‑sharing, oil and gold

Ibrahim Hamidi
Ibrahim Hamidi

Why siccing Syria's army on Hezbollah is so dangerous

David Schenker
David Schenker

The World Cup is helping boost the Arab hospitality sector

Mohamed Sharki
Mohamed Sharki

Scorching heat waves sweep Europe

Fares Garabet
Fares Garabet
MORE FROM OPINIONS
logo
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Documents & Memoirs
  • Gulf
  • MENA
  • Europe
  • USA
  • Asia
  • World
  • Videos
  • Cartoons
  • World in photos
  • Infographics
  • Profiles
  • About Al Majalla
  • Al Majalla Team
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact us
logo

© Al Majalla Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

0:00:00
0:00:00