Makkah is a city in western Saudi Arabia, in the hills of the Hejaz. For Muslims it is the holiest city on earth: the Prophet Muhammad was born there, and the Kaaba — the black cube at the centre of the Great Mosque — is the point Muslims face when they pray. Every Muslim who is able is expected to make the Hajj, the great pilgrimage, to Makkah once in a lifetime; a shorter visit at other times is called umrah. People who are not Muslims are not allowed into the city itself, which is unusual among famous holy places and is taken very seriously. English used to write the name Mecca, and that older spelling is still what most English speakers say; Makkah is closer to the Arabic and is the form many Muslims and some news organisations prefer. People also stretch Mecca in English to mean any place that a certain kind of person rushes to — “a mecca for shoppers” — though that is a nickname, not the city, and some Muslims find it careless.