While the Millerites experienced great disappointment at not seeing the return of Christ in October, 1844, the Bab and one of his apostles, Quddus, were making their way to the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Arabia to announce that the time of the fulfillment of Islam had arrived.
They crossed the sea from Persia to Arabia and then went by foot and camel to Mecca; located on major trade routes between the near East and East Africa, this city had for centuries been criss-crossed by a great diversity of human beings.
In the heart of the city stood the Kaba’a, the holiest shrine in Islam This ancient, pre-Islamic shrine had stood since the 2nd millennium BCE and was where the Prophet Muhammad destroyed the pagan idols and asserted the truth of Allah, the One God.
There the Bab proclaimed his message. Quddus gave a text revealed by the Bab to the ruler of Mecca who, busy with the management of pilgrims, only realized later the importance of its contents.
From Mecca, they went north to Medina, the city of the Prophet, where the first Islamic community and mosque were established. The Bab prayed intensely to the Prophet of Islam and his saints.
Click below for 1) a video walk through of Mecca during pilgrimage, one of the largest gatherings of human beings to take place in the world and 2) A look inside the Mosque of the Prophet in Mecca where Muhammad is buried.