Five times a day Muslim faithfuls around the world turn towards the holy city of Mecca in western Saudi Arabia to pray to God, known in Arabic as Allah.

Every year some two million people make a pilgrimage or hajj to Mecca to renew their faith. With privileged access to Islam's holiest city, Inside Mecca tells the story of an ancient, holy city that is like no other. It shows how today millions of pilgrims follow in the steps of Abraham and Muhammad in one of the world's great religions.

Part of the holy city's mystique stems from the fact that non-Muslims are not allowed to enter Mecca. To gain access, an all-Muslim production team, led by producer director Anisa Mehdi, herself a Muslim of Arabic descent, was put together.

At the heart of Mecca is the great mosque is the Kaaba, a 50-foot tall, black-draped shrine that is the most revered structure in the Muslim religion.

While there are many stories detailing its origins, according to Islamic teachings God commanded the Prophet Abraham to raise the foundations of the Kaaba as a place for worship. Thousands of years later, after the Kaaba had become a center of pagan worship, the Prophet Muhammad cleansed it of its many idols and rededicated it to the worship of the one God.

It's a chance reflect on one's life, to ask for forgiveness and to start anew. A purifying and unifying message resounds during hajj.

Just as Muhammad re-established and unified the faith, so today millions of pilgrims gather at the height of the hajj to re-establish their faith in God, through rites that challenge and uplift the physical and the spiritual self. Now you too can experience the miracle of the spiritual journey of a lifetime in INSIDE MECCA.

Program time: 60 minutes, produced in 2003, ISBN 0-7922-3359x