Kaaba
The
Kaaba ( ) also known as al-Ka‘abatu'l-Musharrafat (), al-Baytu l-‘Atīq (), or al-Baytu'l-Ḥarām ( "The Sacred House"), is a building located inside the
mosque known as
al-Masjidu'l-Ḥarām in
Mecca. The mosque was built around the original Kaaba.
The Kaaba is the holiest place in
Islam. The
qibla, the direction Muslims face during
prayer, is the direction from any point to the Kaaba. The
global coordinates of the Kaaba are .
|
The Structure of the Kaaba |
The Kaaba is a large masonry structure roughly the shape of a
cube. (The name
Kaaba comes from the Arabic word meaning "cube"). It is made of
granite from the hills near
Mecca. The most current dimensions for the structure are: 15 m high (49') with sides measuring 10.5 m (34') by 12 m (39'). [Petersen, Andrew. Dictionary of Islamic Architecture. London: Routledge, 1996. p.142.] It is covered by a black silk cloth decorated with gold-embroidered calligraphy. This cloth is known as the
kiswah; it is replaced yearly. [
1] [
2]
The eastern cornerstone of the Kaaba contains the
Black Stone or
al-Ħajaru l-Aswad, which is generally thought to be a
meteorite remnant.
Entrance to the inside of the Kaaba is gained through a door set 2.13 meters above the ground on the north-eastern wall of the Kaaba.
Inside the Kaaba, there is a marble floor. The interior walls are clad with marble half-way to the roof; tablets with Qur'anic inscriptions are inset in the marble. The top part of the walls is covered with a green cloth decorated with gold embroidered
Qur'anic verses. Lamps hang from a cross beam; there is also a small table for incense burners. The building is believed to be otherwise empty. Caretakers perfume the marble cladding with scented oil, the same oil used to anoint the Black Stone outside.
Muslims throughout the world face the Kaaba during prayers. For most places around the world, coordinates for Mecca suffice. However, in
the Sacred Mosque, worshippers pray in concentric circles radiating outwards around the Kaaba. Therefore, the focus point is in the middle of the Kaaba. As one is not permitted to take a GPS reading from on top or inside the Kaaba, an estimate must be made from various positions around the Kaaba.
For a satellite view of the Kaaba and environs, see [
3].
The building is opened twice a year for a ceremony known as "the cleaning of the Kaaba."
This ceremony takes place roughly fifteen days before the start of the month of
Ramadan and the same period of time before the start of the annual pilgrimage.
The keys to the Kaaba are held by the
Banī Shaybat (بني شيبة) tribe.Members of the tribe greet visitors to the inside of the Kaaba on the occasion of the cleaning ceremony. A small number of dignitaries and foreign diplomats are invited to participate in the ceremony. The governor of Mecca leads the honored guests who ritually clean the structure, using simple brooms.
According to Islamic tradition, God ordained a place of worship on Earth to reflect the house in heaven called
al-Baytu l-Maˤmur (
Arabic:
البيت المعمور ). Muslims believe that
Adam was the first to build such a place of worship.
According to the
Qur'an, the Kaaba was built by
Ibrahim (
Abraham) and his son Ismail (
Ishmael [
4]). This is not accepted by non-Muslims, and there is some evidence to suggest that Mecca may have had a long history as a center of worship.
At the time of
Muhammad, his tribe, the
Quraysh, was in charge of the Kaaba, which was at that time a shrine to numerous
Arabian tribal gods. Desert tribesmen, the
Bedouin, and inhabitants of other cities would join the annual pilgrimage, to worship and to trade. Caravan-raiding, common during the rest of the year, was suspended during the pilgrimage; this was a good time, then, for travel and trade.
The
Qur'an describes Mecca as a barren wadi (
Arabic: واد غير ذي زرع) where life is tough and resources scarce. Indeed, there is no evidence that Mecca was anything but a center of local trade and worship (see
Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam, Patricia Crone, Blackwell, 1987).
Muhammad, preaching the doctrine of
monotheism and the promise of the
Day of Judgment, faced mounting opposition in the city of Mecca. The Quraysh persecuted and harassed him continuously, and he and his followers eventually migrated to
Medina in 622 CE. After this pivotal migration, or
Hijra, the Muslim community became a political and military force. In 630 CE, Muhammad and his followers returned to Mecca as conquerors and the Kaaba was re-dedicated as an Islamic house of worship. Henceforth, the annual pilgrimage was to be a Muslim rite, the
Hajj.
According to some counts, the Kaaba has been reconstructed or undergone major repairs twelve times. The last reconstruction was done in 1996.
The
Qibla, for any point of reference on the Earth, is the direction to the Kaaba. In Muslim religious practice, supplicants must face this direction at prayer. Some non-Muslims believe that Muslims worship the Kaaba; Muslims themselves say that the Kaaba is simply a focal point for prayer. Such as the cross for Christians or the Wailing Wall for Jews.
The earliest Muslims prayed towards Jerusalem. At some point believers were told to pray towards Mecca and the Kaaba. Muslims believe that this change was made by Muhammad during the ten years that he lived in Medina. Various theories are advanced as to the reason for the change.
Muslim groups in the United States disagree as to how the qibla should be oriented - some believe that the direction should be calculated as a straight line drawn on a flat map, like the familiar
Mercator projection of the globe; others say that the direction is determined by the shortest line on the globe of the earth, or a
great circle. At times this controversy has lead to heated disputes. Flat-map Muslims in the United States pray east and slightly south; great-circle Muslims face in a north-easterly direction. In both cases, the
exact orientation will vary from city to city. [
5]
Some Muslims carry qibla
compasses (such as
these) that tell them which direction to face no matter where they are. This method requires one to align the north arrow with a particular point on the compass corresponding to one's location. Once so aligned, one simply turns toward the direction indicated by the compass's Qibla pointer, which is often takes the shape of a minaret. "Qibla numbers" for various locations are listed in an accompanying booklet and also
indexed online.
*
Black Stone*
H-R-M*
Hajj*
Kiswah*
Masjid al Haram*
Qibla*
Find Qibla from everywhere in the World*
Full information of the Holy Ka'bah*
Detailed history of Kaaba reconstructions*
Short History of the Kaaba*
History of the Kaaba*
Information about the Kaaba*
A 3D model of the Kabaa and Haraam. With Pictures and Videos*
Argument for Northeastern Qiblah in North America*
Argument for Southeastern Qiblah in North America*
Kaaba, the cornerstone of Islam
