Mecca and Medina are the primary holy cities for Islam. They are both in Saudi Arabia.

There is also the occupied Palestine. Masjid Al Aqsa (different from the dome of the rock) This used to be the initial direction Muslims used to face when doing the daily five prayers at their appropriate times.

There are a few. I'll try to explain why each is significant, as well as where it is located: 1. Mecca (Saudi Arabia) is by far the most important, and the site of the annual Hajj (pilgrimage), which all Muslims are expcted to undertake once if they are physically/financially capable of making the trip. Muhammad (pbuh) came from there, as did all of the first Muslims who heard the message of Islam from him. The Kaaba, which Muslims face during prayer, is located in Mecca. We believe that it was a shrine built by Abraham, which later fell into disuse and was filled with pagan idols. When the Muslims took control of Mecca they removed the idols and restored its original status as a holy site for Abrahamic monotheism. 2. Medina (Saudi Arabia) is the second most important, and people often take a detour to visit it after their pilgrimage to Mecca. The first Muslims were persecuted in Mecca and had to flee. Medina (originally a Jewish settlement called Yathreb) was the only place where they could find refuge. About a decade later, they returned to Mecca and it is from this point on that the Muslim community became a political entity as well as a religious group. 3. Jerusalem (Israel/Palestine) is the third major holy city. As I said before, the first Muslims lived alongside Jews. One of the first things that God told Muhammad (pbuh) is that Jews, Christians, and Muslims share the same God. So in the early years, when Mecca was a pagan stronghold instead of a Muslim one, Muslims prayed facing Jerusalem, alongside the Jews. They did not face Mecca until the Kaaba was purged of its pagan idols. Muslims also believe that Muhammad (pbuh) ascended to heaven for one night and was given a glimpse of it during his lifetime. Jerusalem was the point from which he ascended. This is why Jerusalem is so heavily disputed in the Palestine/Israel conflict. It is an important site for both Jews and Muslims, so both groups want control of it, or at the very least unrestricted access to their major shrines. Pro-Israel groups will claim that the Muslim claim is invalid because the Qur'an does not specifically mention Jerusalem. But I have explained that Jerusalem is important to us because it is the site of a major event in Muhammad's (pbuh) life. The Qur'an is our guide on how to live. It is not a history text or a biography of Muhammad (pbuh). So no matter what an extremist on any side tries to say, both Muslims and Jews have valid reasons to consider Jerusalem a holy site and demand the right to be there, although it is the #1 site for Jews and only the #3 site for Muslims. 4. There are also some cities in Iran and Iraq that are considered holy pilgrimage sites for Shi'ite Muslims, but not Sunnis. I cannot treat them adequately, because I am Sunni and not Shi'ite, so perhaps someone else can add more info. One example is Karbala, Iraq, where Hussein ibn Ali (a very important Shi'ite figure) was killed in the 7th century. (See the answers to questions about the Sunni/Shi'ite split and the holiday of Ashura if you would like more information about him. His head resides in the Umayyad mosque of Damascus, Syria, and I have seen Shi'ites making pilgrimages there to see it, but I would not necessarily consider Damascus a "holy site" just because of that). The city of Qom in Iran is also important to Shi'ites, but I am not sure why. I do know that when many Shi'ites prostrate themselves for prayer, they will lay a small mound of earth on their prayer rug and touch it with their foreheads. I believe this is because the rug is made from wool, and some Shi'ites feel that touching the wool during prayer could be misconstrued as worshiping a sheep. Unfortunately, some bigoted Sunnis think (wrongly!) that it means that Shi'ites worship dirt. But that's a digression... the point I wanted to make is that I believe most Shi'ites specifically use soil from Qom for this practice, whatever their reason may be.

The three holy cities in Islam in order are Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem.

In the Quran and the Hadith, only Mecca was the Holy City, with Medina a close second. Jerusalem was a much later addition, dating from the Middle ages. Before that, it was only the Umayyad rulers of Syria who decided to use Jerusalem as their focal point, constructing the Al-Aqsa on the Temple Mount. That this was a political move based on no Quranic command, can be seen by the subsequent denials that the Jewish temple had ever been there. Think logically. If Abraham was supposed to, by Islamic teaching, have been around Mecca for the important points of his life, including the so-called near sacrifice of Ishmael, then why was he supposed to have ascended into heaven from Jerusalem, which is hundreds and hundreds of miles away across near impenetrable deserts? After all, he was not a young man when he died! Either Abraham was Jewish and lived around Jerusalem, dying there, or he was not Jewish and was never in Israel, but in Arabia...he could not have been in both places. Jerusalem has been added for political purposes, to prevent the Jews from reclaiming the Holy Land, to deny they ever had to right to it, and that any of its holy sites belonged to the Jews. I am sorry that this seems confrontational. It is not meant to be. It is just historical, and the facts can be verified on any credible historical site.

There are 3 holy cities. Makkah, Al-Madinah, and Jerusalem. The Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) said: Do not prepare yourself for a journey except to three mosques, i.e. Al-Masjid-AI-Haram, the Mosque of Aqsa (Jerusalem) and my Mosque (Al-Madinah)."

There holy city is called Mecca.

except for the 3 holy cities, we (shia) have : 1- karbala 2- najaf 3- samarra 4- alkhadhimia ( in baghdad ) these r in iraq 5- qum 6- mashhad these r in iran