A quick warning before we start the show. There are several scenes depicting violent events in this episode.

The morning of November 20th, 1979, would have seemed like any other in Mecca.

It was warm, the sky was clear, and much of the city was preparing for Fudger Prayer, the first of five for the day.

The season of Hedge had just ended, and pilgrims from around the world gathered in Islam's holiest site, the Meschid al-Haram, or Grand Mosque, a massive compound surrounding the Kaba, an ancient black cubic building that sits in the middle of a vast courtyard.

Muslims call it the House of God, the earthly place they direct their prayers.

In the Islamic calendar, it was the first of Muharram in the year 1400, the first day of the new century, when the people of Mecca make their own pilgrimage to the shrine.

Around 100,000 pilgrims filled the courtyard, lined up in concentric circles, facing the Kaba for Fudger Prayer.

Just as the prayer ended, shots rang out.

This wasn't a sound any pilgrim expected to hear, violence is strictly forbidden in Mecca.

Before the pilgrims could figure out what was happening, a man followed by three gunmen, emerged from the crowd and began walking fiercely towards the Mosque Imam.

The crowd parted as the man charged the minbud or pulpit and snatched the mic from the terrified Imam.

The man began to speak Arabic in a thick, better way in accent. He was tall and thin with brown skin and long wavy hair.

His name was Jaheemah al-Otabah. The hundreds of armed men he commanded scattered across the grounds of the Mosque, yelling orders at the pilgrims in Arabic, English and Urdu.

Some of the men, snipers, climbed the seven minaret surrounding the main grounds and took up positions overlooking downtown Mecca. Jaheemah instructed them.

If you see a government soldier who wants to raise his hand against you, have no pity and shoot him because he wants to kill you.

The Saudi police protecting the Mosque were armed with little more than batons. Two guards were killed immediately. Many others ran for their lives.

Many of the pilgrims in the Mosque began chanting, Allahu Akbar, or God is the greatest, something Muslims often do in trying moments.

Soon the militants also joined in the chant and the chaos reached a climax just as Jaheemah announced that he and his men were now in control.

And with that it was clear. Islam's holiest site and 100,000 people had been taken hostage.

The siege of Mecca, an event that would forever change Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world had begun.

What was Saudi Arabia like before 1979?

We were living a very normal life like the rest of the Gulf countries. Women were driving cars, there were movie theaters in Saudi Arabia, women worked everywhere.

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