The Kaaba (Ka’aba, Ka’bah, “Cube,” “House of God”) is a shrine located in a square adjacent to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. The Kaaba itself is Islam’s holiest site. The surrounding square has been enlarged to over 16,000 square meters and can accommodate over 300,000 Muslim pilgrims. When Muslims pray the required five times each day, they face not simply Mecca, but the Kaaba in Mecca; Muslims praying in Mecca turn towards the Kaaba instead of facing just any direction.
Source: WikipediaDiagram of the Kaaba: Interior and Exterior of the Kaaba in the Courtyard of the Grand Mosque in Mecca
The name Kaaba means “cube,” but the structure isn’t a cube: it measures 12m long, 10m wide, and 15m high (33 feet x 50 feet x 45 feet). The Kaaba is built from grey granite and each corner points to one of the four points of the compass. The single Entrance is on the northeast, side, 2.3m above the ground. The interior of the Kaaba is bare except for three supporting wooden pillars and gold hanging lamps. Affixed to the eastern corner of the Kaaba, about 1.5m up, is the Black Stone of Mecca.
Souce: Public DomainThe Kaaba and the Kiswah: The Kaaba in the Courtyard of the Great Mosque in Mecca is Covered by a Black Robe, called a Kiswah
The exterior of the Kaaba is usually covered with a large black cloth called the kiswah (“robe”) that has Quranic verses embroidered with gold thread on it. Each year a new one is created and, prior to 1927, it was provided by Egyptian artisans who brought it with them in a pilgrimage caravan that travelled from Cairo.
Souce: Public DomainDrawing of Throngs of Pilgrims around the Kaaba in Mecca
According to Muslim traditions, Adam built the original Kaaba as a copy of and directly below God’s throne in heaven. This structure was destroyed during the great Flood, leaving behind nothing but the foundation. The current structure was rebuilt by Abraham (Ibrahim) and his son Ishmael (Ismail). A gilded cage near the Kaaba contains a stone preserving a footprint of Abraham. Establishing this ancient pedigree for the Kaaba helped Muhammad connect his new faith with the Judaism.
< --- Image Removed Due to Comments -- >Source: Public DomainMuhammad at the Kaaba in Mecca
When Muhammad received his revelation, the Kaaba was under the control of one of the most important tribes of Mecca, the Quraysh. It was used as a shrine for pagan idols, especially al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat, known together as al-Gharaniq (Daughters of God), and Hubal, a marriage god. When Muhammad took control of Mecca he cleaned out the idols and dedicated the Kaaba to God. Above: Miniature of Mohammed re-dedicating the Black Stone at the Kaaba. From Jami' al-Tavarikh ("The Universal History" or "Compendium of Chronicles," written by Rashid Al-Din), a manuscript in the Library of the University of Edinburgh; illustrated in Tabriz, Persia, c. 1315.
Souce: Public Domain
Pilgrims Surround the Kaaba in the Courtyard of the Great Mosque in Mecca
At least once in their lives, every Muslim is supposed to make a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. The central event of the hajj is a visit to the Kaaba: Muslims walk en masse counterclockwise around the Kaaba seven times (tawaf). This ritual is supposed to represent the angels walking around the throne of God and allows Muslims to symbolically enter the presence of God. Fifteen days before the Hajj and fifteen days before Ramadan are the only times the Kaaba is opened, and then just to clean it.
Souce: Public DomainPhotoraph of the Courtyard of the Great Mosque in Mecca, with the Kaaba to the Right
Measuring about 12 inches in diameter, this sacred stone if probably a meteorite, though no scientific tests have ever been done on it. When they walk around the Kaaba, Muslim pilgrims often try to reach out and touch or kiss the Black Stone. Today it is worn and cracked from centuries of pilgrimages and is only held together by a wide silver band. Muslims insist that the Black Stone is not an idol: prayers are directed to God alone.
Souce: Public DomainDrawing of the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, c. 1911
The Black Stone was a gift to Adam when he and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden and later became a symbol of God’s covenant with Abraham, Ismail, and thus the Muslim community. By saluting the Black Stone as they pass, Muslims renew their covenant with God. Muslims call to it the “cornerstone of the House” or the “right hand of God on earth” and say it was originally white, but went black by absorbing sins; it thus serves as a symbol of human degradation and need for God’s forgiveness.
Souce: Public DomainPhotograph of the Kaaba, Surrounded by Pilgrims in the Grand Mosque of Mecca
Close to the northwestern side of the Kaaba is a raised and curved exterior wall, about 1.5m high and 17.5m long, called the multazam. At the conclusion of the tawaf, the circumambulation around the Kaaba, Muslims press themselves up against the multazam in order to receive power and blessings associated with the structure. Opposite the Black Stone is the sacred well of Zamzam where pilgrims drink and where Hagar is supposed to have found water for herself and Ismail in the desert.
Souce: Public DomainKaaba and the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Photograph in 1917
We have rendered the shrine (the Kaaba) a focal point for the people, and a safe sanctuary. You may use Abraham’s shrine as a prayer house. We commissioned Abraham and Ishmael: “You shall purify My house for those who visit, those who live there, and those who bow and prostrate.” ... And when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the House, (Abraham prayed): Our Lord! Accept from us (this duty). Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower. (2:125-127) Lo! (the mountains) As-Safa and Al-Marwah are among the indications of Allah. It is therefore no sin for him who is on pilgrimage to the House (of God) or visiteth it, to go around them (as the pagan custom is). And he who doeth good of his own accord, (for him) lo! Allah is Responsive, Aware. (2:158)
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The Kaaba is a large masonry structure roughly the shape of a cube. (The name Kaaba comes from the Arabic word "muka'ab" meaning "cube".) It is made of granite from the hills near Makkah, and stands upon a 25 cm (10 in) marble base, which projects outwards about 30 cm (1 foot). Approximations for the structural dimensions are: 13.10 metres (43 feet) high, with sides measuring 11.03 metres by 12.62 metres. The four corners of the Kaaba roughly face the four points of the compass. In the eastern corner of the Kaaba is the "Rukn-al-Aswad" (the Black Stone or al-Hajaru l-Aswad), generally thought to be a meteorite remnant; at the northern corner is the "Rukn-al-Iraqi" ('The Iraqi corner'); at the west lies "Rukn-al-Shami" ('The Levantine corner') and at the south "Rukn-al-Yamani" ('The Yemeni corner').
It is covered by a black silk curtain decorated with gold-embroidered calligraphy. This cloth is known as the kiswah; it is replaced yearly. The Shahadah is outlined in the weave of the fabric. About two-thirds of the way up runs a gold embroidered band covered with Qur'anic text.Entrance to the inside of the Kaaba is gained through a door set 2 m (7 feet) above the ground on the north-eastern wall of the Kaaba, which acts as the façade. It is accessed by a wooden staircase on wheels, usually stored between the arch-shaped gate of Banu Shaybah and the well of Zamzam. 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 are covered with a green cloth decorated with gold embroidered Qur'anic verses. 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.Although not directly connected to it, there is a semi-circular wall opposite the north-west wall of the Kaaba, known as the hatim. It is 90 cm (3 ft) in height and 1.5 m (5 ft) in length, and is composed of white marble.
The space between the hatim and the Kaaba was for a time belonging to the Kaaba itself, and so is generally not entered during the tawaf (ritual circumambulation) . It is also thought by some that this space bears the graves of prophet Ismail and his mother Hajirah.[1]Muslims throughout the world face the Kaaba during prayers, which are five times a day. For most places around the world, coordinates for Mecca suffice. 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.
Update: Video of Kaaba
3 comments:
in one picture you have shown MUHAMMAD(S.A.W). What is this. do you know we musmlims do not permit to sketch our beloved Prophet. so why you did this. I warn you to remove this picture from your site.
Picture Removed
Hi
Could you remove images at end of the webpage so as not to mix them with kaaba pictures at one page; you can put these images at one folder under certain title.
Thanks.
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