In the 20th century, few events had as much impact on the Muslim world as the 1979 Siege of Makkah (Mecca). The Grand Mosque in Islam’s holiest city was seized by armed insurgents, who caused a crisis that shook Saudi Arabia to its core and left a lasting impact on both the nation and the global Muslim community.
In 1979, the Middle East was already in a state of heightened tension. The overthrow of Iran’s liberal monarchy, replaced by a fundamentalist theocracy calling for a return to strict religious values, had many fearing that the entire region could be destabilized.
For the people of Saudi Arabia, though, an unimaginable event was about to unfold. On the morning of November 20, 1979, nearly 50,000 devout Muslims from around the world assembled in the courtyard of the Kaaba in Mecca to join in the dawn prayers at Islam’s holiest site.
The crowd included a group of 200 men led by a 40-year-old preacher named Juhayman Al-Otaybi. Juhayman Al-Otaybi was a former soldier in the Saudi Arabian National Guard, an elite military corps traditionally composed of Bedouin fighters who were loyal to the Saudi royal family.
However, Al-Otaybi believed the royal family had become corrupt and indulgent, growing too close to the United States. His disillusionment with the monarchy and his strong religious convictions led him to take drastic action in 1979.
As the imam finished the morning congregational prayers, Juhayman and his followers pushed him aside and took control of the microphone. This was not just a disruption but the beginning of something far more dangerous.
The group had placed closed coffins in the center of the courtyard, a customary gesture to seek blessings for the recently deceased. But when the coffins were opened, they revealed handguns and rifles hidden inside to arm the group. The weapons were quickly distributed among the insurgents.
The panic spread quickly, leaving the pilgrims scared, shocked, and confused. Guards who tried to resist were shot, while the mosque gates were chained and guarded to prevent both the pilgrims from escaping and reinforcements from entering. Snipers took position in the seven minarets, and the armed men seized complete control of the Grand Mosque.
One of the insurgents began reading a prepared speech over the public address system: “Fellow Muslims, we announce today the coming of the Mahdi… The one who shall reign with justice and fairness on earth after it has been filled with injustice and oppression… Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah are now in our hands.”
Juhayman stepped forward and led his armed followers toward the Kaaba. His brother-in-law, Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani, was declared to be the Mahdi—the long-awaited redeemer prophesied to appear before the Day of Judgment.
According to Islamic belief, the Mahdi is a leader destined to restore justice and guide humanity back to the true teachings of Islam.
Juhayman was the first to bow before the Mahdi, and soon after, others began to follow his lead. Shouts of “God is great!” echoed throughout the mosque.
However, confusion quickly spread. Abdel Moneim Sultan, an Egyptian religious student who had befriended some of Juhayman’s followers, recalled that the Grand Mosque was crowded with foreign visitors who spoke little Arabic and were completely unaware of what was unfolding.
Nonetheless, in just an hour, the bold takeover was complete. The armed group had seized full control of the Grand Mosque and presented a direct challenge to the authority of the Saudi royal family.
The men who seized the Grand Mosque were members of an organization called al-Jamaa al-Salafiya al-Muhtasiba (JSM), which condemned what it saw as the moral and religious decay in Saudi society.
The rebels made their demands explicit: sever ties with the West, halt oil exports, expel all foreigners, and remove the House of Saud (the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia) and its clerics for failing to maintain the purity of Islam.
Sluggish Response From Saudi Leadership
The Saudi leadership’s response to the seizure of the Grand Mosque was sluggish due to several factors.
One of the main reasons was that Crown Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz al-Saud was in Tunisia attending the Arab League summit, while Prince Abdullah, the head of the National Guard—an elite security force responsible for protecting the royal family—was in Morocco.
As a result, the responsibility for coordinating a response fell to the ailing King Khaled and Defence Minister Prince Sultan.
Initially, the Saudi police didn’t fully grasp how serious the situation was and sent just a couple of patrol cars to check things out. But as they reached close to the Grand Mosque, they were greeted with a barrage of gunfire.
Once it became clear just how grave the situation was, the National Guard rushed to act and launched an attempt to regain control of the mosque.
It soon became evident that the insurgents had meticulously planned their attack and would not be easily dislodged. A security cordon was quickly set up around the Grand Mosque, and special forces, paratroopers, and armored units were summoned to respond.
However, the massive structure, consisting of vast galleries and corridors surrounding the Kaaba’s courtyard and spanning two floors, presented a unique challenge.
Over the next two days, Saudi forces launched repeated frontal assaults in an attempt to breach the mosque. Despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned, the rebels repelled each wave of attacks.
The insurgents used carpets and rubber tires to start fires and created thick clouds of smoke that masked their movements. They hid behind columns and, in the cover of smoke and darkness, ambushed the advancing Saudi troops.
The Grand Mosque quickly became a deadly battleground, with the insurgents using the building’s complex layout to their advantage. The fighting was intense, and the casualties mounted rapidly and reached into the hundreds as the Saudi forces struggled to regain control of the mosque.
A fatwa issued by the Kingdom’s top clerics, convened by King Khaled, authorized the Saudi military to use any means necessary to expel the rebels.
With this approval, the forces escalated their efforts. They deployed anti-tank guided missiles and heavy artillery to dislodge the insurgents from the minarets, while armored personnel carriers were used to breach the mosque’s gates.
As the conflict intensified, the city of Mecca was evacuated, and power to the Holy Mosque was cut off to hinder the rebels’ movements. Finally, the Saudi forces began to make some progress after a week of fierce combat.
On the other hand, the self-proclaimed “Mahdi,” Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani, was killed in the first week of the siege. His death dealt a heavy blow to the insurgents, but their determination remained strong, with their leader, Juhayman al-Utaybi, continuing to rally them to fight on.
Although the Saudi military managed to gain control of the mosque’s courtyard and surrounding buildings, the remaining rebels retreated into a labyrinth of rooms and cells hidden beneath the mosque.
This underground stronghold allowed the insurgents to continue their resistance, thereby prolonging the siege and the intense conflict.
French Commandos Play A Key Role
It became clear that the Saudi government needed external assistance to capture the insurgent leaders alive and bring the standoff to an end. In response, they turned to French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing for support.
In an interview with the BBC, Giscard d’Estaing later revealed that the Saudi forces were disorganized and struggling to respond effectively to the situation.
In a discreet move, the French president sent a team of advisers from the newly formed counter-terror unit, GIGN, to assist in the operation. The operation had to remain confidential to avoid any backlash from Western intervention in the birthplace of Islam.
The French team set up headquarters in a hotel in the nearby town of Taif and quickly devised a plan to flush the rebels out. They decided to pump gas into the mosque’s basements and make the air unbreathable for the insurgents.
Captain Paul Barril, who oversaw the operation, explained that holes were drilled every 50 meters to reach the basement. Gas was injected through these holes, and grenade explosions were used to disperse the gas throughout the area where the rebels were hiding.
For one anonymous witness, trapped in the basement with the remaining insurgents, the situation felt apocalyptic. The constant noise of digging and the uncertainty of what awaited them created an overwhelming sense of fear.
The French plan ultimately succeeded. Nasser al-Hozeimi, one of Juhayman al-Utaybi’s followers, recalled that in the final days, the rebels ran out of ammunition and food. Huddled in a small room, they were subjected to smoke bombs thrown in through holes in the ceiling.
However, the arrival of French assistance raised suspicions about the prospect of non-Muslims entering the Grand Mosque
However, the GIGN commander later clarified that while GIGN operatives had trained the Saudi forces and helped devise the attack plan, they did not participate directly in the operation or enter the mosque itself.
Meanwhile, the rebels, unable to bear the mounting pressure any longer, surrendered, with Juhayman leading them out of their hiding place. After two weeks of intense fighting, the siege finally ended on December 4.
The armed rebels were apprehended, and the hostages were freed. The official toll reported 153 dead and 560 wounded.
A defeated Juhayman was paraded before the cameras, and just over a month later, 63 of his followers were publicly executed in eight cities across Saudi Arabia. Juhayman himself was the first to be executed.
The 1979 siege had a lasting impact on many, including Osama bin Laden. In one of his pamphlets critiquing the Saudi ruling family, bin Laden accused them of “desecrating the Haram,” referring to the Grand Mosque, and suggested that the crisis could have been resolved peacefully.
Bin Laden continued: “I still remember to this day the traces of their tracks on the Haram’s floor tiles.”
Juhayman’s actions had lasting repercussions on Saudi society. Nasser al-Huzaimi, a former follower of Juhayman, noted that one of the demands made by the insurgents was the removal of female presenters from Saudi television. “After the Haram incident, no female presenter appeared on TV again,” Nasser al-Huzaimi said.
This ultra-conservative shift shaped Saudi Arabia’s trajectory for decades. Only in recent years, signs of change and a thaw in the country’s rigid policies began to emerge.
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