user-15-505045 Inside Mecca tells the story of 3 Muslims making their pilgrimage to Mecca, called Hajj, and is one of the 5 pillars of Islam. The movie is shot in documentary style and shows how traveling to Mecca is not as easy as you may have expected. The movie follows 3 people on their journey to Mecca, Ismail Mahbob, Khalil Mandhlazi and Fidelma O'Leary. Because there are over 1.7 billion Muslims in the world and all of them have to make this journey to mecca there needs to be a lot of planning involved in making the trip happen. You must book a time to go weeks or even months in advance. Something I found interesting with the film is that the American women, Fidelma O'Leary, was going by herself on the trip she would need permission from her husband. But because she was divorced, she needed permission from her only son to travel to Mecca. I was surprised that they weren't asked to stop recording more because I thought the administrators would not have wanted them to film there. I think this film does an excellent job of showing the difficulties of making the pilgrimage but also how important it is to make it.

Ian Lenk It's one thing to promise, at some distant point in one's life, to make a long and arduous journey through the desert to a holy city. It's quite another thing to actually do it. In the National Geographic documentary Inside Mecca, the camera follows three Muslims from three very different countries: a professor of neuroscience from Texas, a radio host from South Africa, and a corporate executive from Malaysia, on their pilgrimage to the most sacred site in Islam. Throughout their journey, they experienced numerous tests to their faith, as well as saw the true scale of Islam as a religion. The documentary also provides the viewer with the details of the Hajj, and tells the story of how it came to be and the difficulty in organizing it today. For me, this documentary was a whole new look at a religious tradition I was only vaguely aware of. I knew that Muslims had to visit Mecca at least once in their lives, and I knew that had something to do with standing around this big black box, but I never knew what any of it meant or what else was required. The documentary provided lots of helpful back-story, so I learned all about the Hajj and the religious history behind it. Normally in these types of documentaries, the religious story is told through reenactments - some aspiring B-list actor in nativity clothes tries to act like Abraham while the narrator talks. But I liked that in Inside Mecca, they told the stories through just voice and landscape shots. It kept the documentary from feeling forced or artificial. Really, its primary focus wasn't the history of the Hajj. The documentary was about the Hajj today, and how an ancient pilgrimage exists in a 21st century world. In this the documentary excelled, as following three specific characters helped give me a sense of what it would be like to actually journey to Mecca. They describe a lot of the modern inconveniences of travel - the bureaucracy of getting a visa, long bus rides, crowds, and getting strange looks in a foreign country. I particularly empathized with the woman from Texas, who was white and so got a lot of flak about being a "real Muslim". I could understand her frustration, as I feel the same every time I go to Korea and get treated like a tourist. I also enjoyed learning about the organizational leviathan that is running the city of Mecca. Iyad Masani, the Minister of Hajj, said "If you can imagine having 20 Super Bowls, in one stadium, where two million people will come… and if you add to that that these two million people will actually be taking part in playing the game, it may give you a glimpse of the preparations needed for Hajj." Especially when they showed the tent city at Mina, or the hordes of people walking towards Arafat, I really got a sense of how big an event this was. If there's one thing this documentary accomplished, it was showing me what going to Mecca would actually be like. Mundane scenes, like one of the people packing their luggage or trying to put on their ihram taught me more about the Hajj than many of the facts. I didn't just learn about the traditions behind the Hajj, I learned about what it meant for Muslims today. Even as an atheist, I quite enjoyed Inside Mecca, as they were impressively non-biased throughout the documentary. I would highly recommend it for anyone who wants to learn about the Hajj, or anyone who just wants an interesting look into Islam today.

Avery Cheng "Inside Mecca" documents the pilgrimage to Mecca, or hajj, through three very different perspectives. As I was watching this film, I was amazed to see how communal but personally challenging the hajj is. Each person would have a different experience with separate mental, spiritual and physical challenges. I really liked how National Geographic did this. They personally followed an American, South African and Malaysian through their own walk. They were all non-traditional Muslims, so the discrimination the South African felt because he wasn't white, or the looks the American got when she wore her covering was all very real. Also, the film juxtaposed the masses of Mecca against the personal experiences and lessons of each person which was very thoughtful. Another thing I found to be very interesting was how informative the video was. Before watching this film, I never knew how complicated or strenuous the experience of the pilgrimage could be. I thought what Fidelma, the woman NatGeo had followed, said before her journey was quite profound. "I don't know why anyone would want to spend a week with three million sweaty people and even eat in the desert unless they were really doing this for the love of god." All of these Muslims chose to be there because they have a longing to do so, not because their religion requires them to do it. This documentary also informed me of what each stage of the pilgrimage was for and what it symbolized. Furthermore, the concept of Ihram was so inspiring to see because once the rich, poor, illiterate, literate put on the same robe, you wouldn't see a difference. This way they were able to focus on the soul and not just outer appearances. Overall, I think this documentary was extremely well done and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested or just wants to learn more about Islam and the pilgrimage to Mecca.

160813 Hajj, the ideal journey that every Muslim hopes to make to Mecca. The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and last month of the Islamic Calendar. This journey is not only physically, but also mentally demanding. Each action reflecting something symbolic to the Muslim faith. Such as: circling the KA'ABA seven times, attending the Plain of Arafat, or throwing stones at the three pillars, etc... All of them have significant meaning to them. It is a life changing experience, it is said that you are a different person after Hajj. It gives you the experience of Ihram, a patient state of mind. It allows you to feel in the presence of God and Muhammad. But in order for the Saudi government to pull this off they must be the model of efficiency, the King of Saudi even said that it is like having five supper bowls simultaneously. It is estimated that 2 million people attend each year during Dhu al-Hijjah. But in the year of the movie filmed it was estimated to be at 3.5 million people embarking on Hajj. The overall concept and in depth personal experiences of non-traditional Muslims was quite entertaining. None of them being your stereotypical Muslim, yet you could feel a sense of pride in their religion. Each of the story lines providing different situations of Hajj. It was definitely a detailed incite of the Journey of Hajj in Mecca and worth watching.