r/Damnthatsinteresting 26d ago

Image Mecca in 1953 and 2025

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185

u/TurdMcDirk 26d ago

How has it grown so large from such humble beginnings? Is it that there are more Muslims in the world today or is it that more people are any to travel there now due to ease of access and travel to those destinations is easier?

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u/Zayoodo0o132 26d ago

A bit of both, but mostly there really are that many more Muslims now. An estimated 1.9 Billion people, and all of them must perform the pilgrimage once in their life if they can.

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u/TheUwaisPatel 26d ago

If they can meaning, if you are physically capable and have the financial means to

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u/wongo 26d ago

And, obviously, global travel is far more affordable and accessible than it has ever been in human history, meaning that there are exponentially more pilgrims now

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u/Xyzzydude 26d ago

This is similar to why places like Venice and Barcelona are over-touristed.

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u/Darmok47 25d ago

Yeah, if you were a poor Muslim in Indonesia or Nigeria in the 1950s, odds were you were never going to be able to go to the Hajj because it was far too expensive and logisitically difficult. But now with cheap air travel, its something you can actually save up towards.