What is it like living in Mecca? For residents, Islam's holiest sites are simply home

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — For Zainab Abdu, the holiest sites in Islam were the backdrop for her weekends growing up.

Raised in Mecca, Abdu remembers roller-skating with friends near the Grand Mosque where the Kaaba is located. The desert plains and valleys that throng with pilgrims every year are where, in the off season, she and family and friends had picnics, rode horses and played soccer.

“The Haram (Grand Mosque) is my home,” said the 29-year-old pharmacist. “It’s my childhood. But people can’t imagine how normal life is for us. We do things that everyone else does.”

Mecca is Islam’s holiest city and a focal point for followers of the faith. It’s the birthplace of Prophet Muhammad, where Muslims believe he first received God’s revelations of the Quran. It’s the location of the Kaaba, the black, cube-shaped structure that Muslims around the world turn to five times a day when praying.