Kaaba

The Kaaba is the holiest place in Islam.  Muslims believe that the Kaaba is the House of God (Allah), built at Allah's command. 

The Kaaba’s original architecture has remained the same for centuries.

 History 

 Before Prophet Muhammad 
According to Islamic sources, the Kaaba was a place of worship for angels before the creation of man. After Adam was created, he built the Kaaba. According to the Qur'an, it was the first house on Earth.Seyyed Ḥusain Naṣr, Islamic Art And Spirituality (Albany: State Univ. of New York Pr., 1987),43Quran 3/96

The Kaaba was buried under the sand by Noah's flood. After a period of time, it was rebuilt by Prophet Abraham and his son, Prophet Ishmael.Britannica Concise Encyclopedia (Peru: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2006), 1008John L Esposito, The Oxford History Of Islam (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2000), 78Andrew Petersen, Dictionary Of Islamic Architecture (London: Routledge, 1999), 142Quran 22/26  

The Kaaba was a place of monotheism for centuries. Then Amr bin Luhayy brought an idol to the Kaaba.E. van Donzel, Bernard Lewis and Ch. Pellat, The Encyclopaedia Of Islam (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 91, 318. After that, the Kaaba became a place of pagan belief.Inside Mecca, directed by Anisa Mehdi, (National Geographic, 2003)

 After Prophet Muhammad 
Muslims began to manage the Kaaba in 630 AD. Idols are forbidden in Islam, and Prophet Muhammad removed them. Under Muhammad's guidance, the Kaaba was cleaned with sacred water.

Because people wanted to keep the Kaaba's original architecture, it remained the same for a thousand years. Only simple repairs and small decorations were done during this period. However, in 1630, three walls of the Kaaba were heavily damaged by a storm. 

The Kaaba was then restored by Murad IV, the seventeenth Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Following this renovation, the Kaaba has remained the same.

 Religious significance 
The Kaaba is the holiest place in Islam.  Muslims believe that Allah commanded man to build it. Prophet Mohammed called Masjid al-Haram ("the Sacred Mosque") one of the three most important mosques on the Earth.Sunan an-Nasa'i 2898Sahih Muslim 1397 

Muslims are required to make a pilgrimage (hajj) once in a lifetime to the Kaaba. Because it is the holiest place in Islam, all Muslims pray towards the Kaaba. At the end of Hajj season, there is a holiday called Eid al-Adha (English: Festival of Sacrifice).

 Appearance 

 Architecture 
The Kaaba is a rectangular building made of blue-gray granite. It is 12 meters long, 10 meters wide, and 15 meters high (33 feet x 50 feet x 45 feet).Richard Ettinghausen, Oleg Grabar and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, Islamic Art And Architecture, 650-1250 (New Haven (Conn.): Yale University Press, 2001), 3.
241x241px|thumb|Plan of the Kaaba
Three pillars (columns) inside the Kaaba support the roof. The floor is made of marble, while the ceiling is covered with cloth. Gold and glass decorations hang between the pillars.Issa 3d,”Inside Kaaba 3d,” (Kaaba- first time the 360), accessed November 4, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oviQ-L9Kv9Q

 The Black Stone is an egg-shaped black stone with red and yellow marks.
 The door is 2.13 m above the ground and made of pure gold. The Key has been held by the Shaiba family for 1400 years
 A rainwater pipe was added to protect the roof from the damage of accumulated rainwater.
 It is called al-Shadrawan, and it was added to protect the foundation of the Kaaba from the water.
 Hatim is a low wall. It is included as a part of the Kaaba’s sacred area. Muslims believe the place between the Kaaba and Hatim is the burial, area of Ishmael and Hajar.
 Al-Multezem, the part of the wall between the door and the Black Stone
 Station of Abraham, a glass and metal covering for Prophet Abraham’s footprint.
 Corner of Black Stone (East)
 Corner of Yemen (South-West)
 Corner of Syria (North-West)
 Corner of Iraq (North-East)
 Cover (Kiswah)
 The marble line helps pilgrims to count their walks around the Kaaba (Tawaf).
 The Station of Gabriel

 Cover (Kiswah) 
The Kaaba was first covered by Abu Karab As’ad around 60 BC. The cover was made of valuable materials, as a symbol of his respect for the Kaaba. After that, the Kaaba has been covered with the most valuable materials, following the tradition of showing respect.Al Arabiya, The Covering Cloth Of The Kaaba: An All-Time Grandeur, video, March 12,2012, accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQVwlyUCjRw.

The covers are produced by a factory every year. This factory was established in 1927, solely to produce these covers. The cover is replaced every year on the evening of Eid Al-Adha by 160 technicians.

The Kaaba’s cover contains Qur'anic verses. It is made of 450kgs of pure silk, and it includes hundreds of pounds of precious metals, 670 kgs of silver dyed black, about 120 kgs of pure gold and 50 kgs of silver. The cost of the cover is USD 4,534,325. Its size is 658 square metres."Kaaba’s Replacement Cloth Fitted In Record Time", Arab News, Last modified 2018, accessed November 4, http://www.arabnews.com/node/1359431/saudi-arabia.

References

Category:Buildings and structures in Saudi Arabia
Category:Mecca
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Category:Religion in Saudi Arabia