Snapchat Gives Users a Look at Muslim Holy Site Mecca During Ramadan as Live Story

Snapchat allowed people around the world to see Mecca, the holiest place on earth for Muslims, by featuring it as a live story. Nearly 30,000 people tweeted #Mecca_live to convince Snapchat to show the city as millions made a pilgrimage during Ramadan and Snapchat responded with the live story on Monday.

Muslims are supposed to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once, if they are physically and financially able to, at a time of year called the Hajj. However, they can also take a "lesser pilgrimage," an Umrah, at any other time of the year. The Umrah is especially popular during the holy month of Ramadan, which began on June 17th this year. During the first 16 days of Ramadan, a record 14 million people visited Mecca.

The Snapchat story, which debuted on Monday, showed visitors completing the pilgrimage around Mecca. Non-Muslims are not allowed in Mecca, so it was an especially interesting story for many. Snapchat viewers were able to see people praying, drinking water from the Zamzam Well and circling the Kaaba -- a square building at the center of Mecca's mosque that Muslims face when they pray from anywhere in the world.

The story was put together on Laylat ul Qadr, the holiest day of Ramadan, and users could watch prayers throughout the day. During Ramadan, Muslims fast during the day and break it at sunset with the iftar meal. The Snapchat story showed volunteers putting together free meals for the pilgrims and people eating dates after dark.

Snapchat stories are made by selections from videos and pictures that users submit. Stories usually show a day in the life in a city or major events like sports games and festivals.

Last week, Snapchat faced backlash when they premiered a story about Tel Aviv, Israel, as users said it did not show the full story of the land and asked for coverage of the West Bank. Two days later, Snapchat featured a story on the West Bank.