Once a year, Muslims of every ethnic group, color, social status, and culture

gather together in Mecca and stand before the Kaaba praising Allah together.

It is a ritual that is designed to promote the bonds of Islamic brotherhood and sisterhood by showing that everyone is equal in the eyes of Allah. Pilgrims wear simple white clothes called Ihram and perform acts of worship to renew their sense of purpose in the world. For Muslims it is final pillar of Islam; it is the journey that ever adult Muslim must undertake at least once in their lives ...

-passage taken from the BBC's History of Islam

1) Identify and describe the historical context of the events being described in the excerpt above