Kaabah
The Kaaba ( الكعبة transliteration: al-Ka‘bah Persian: کعبه) also known as al-Ka‘abatu’l-Musharrafat ( الكعبة المشرًّفة), al-Baytu l-‘Atīq ( البيت العتيق "The Primordial House"), or al-Baytu’l-Ḥarām ( البيت الحرام "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. For the Muslim community, the Kaaba holds a place analogous to that of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for ancient Jewry.[1] The qibla, the direction Muslims face during prayer, is the direction from any point to the Kaaba. It is around the Kaaba that ritual circumambulation is performed by Muslims during the Hajj (pilgrimage) season as well as during the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage).[1]
Physical attributes and location of the Kaaba
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 Mecca, and stands upon a ten inch marble base, which projects outwards about a foot.[1] The most current dimensions for the structure are: 15 m high (49') with sides measuring 10.5 m (34') by 12 m (39'). [2]
It is covered by a black silk curtain decorated with gold-embroidered calligraphy. This cloth is known as the kiswah; it is replaced yearly. [3] [4] The Shahada 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.
In the eastern corner is the Rukn-al-Aswad (the Black Stone or al-Ħajaru l-Aswad), generally thought to be a meteorite remnant; at the northern corner lies 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').
Entrance to the inside of the Kaaba is gained through a door set 7 feet above the ground on the north-eastern wall of the Kaaba, which acts as the façade.[1] It is accessed by a wooden staircase on wheels, usually stored between the arch-shaped gate of Banu Shaybah and the 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 is 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 hatīm. It is three feet in height and five in length, and is composed of white marble. The space between the hatīm 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 Ishmael and his mother Hagar.[1]
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.
The Kaaba is located at approximately {{#invoke:Coordinates|coord}}{{#coordinates:21|25|21.15|N|39|49|34.1|E|type:landmark_scale:2000 | |name= }}.
History of the Kaaba
Apart from Islamic traditions, there is very little known about the history of the Kaaba. It is presumed to have existed before the Islamic era due to the geographer Ptolemy's mention of Mecca (under the name of Macoraba) in the second century.[5] The Encyclopaedia Britannica adds that although little is known about the Kaaba in pre-Islamic times, it is a certainty that "before the rise of Islam it was revered as a sacred sanctuary and was a site of pilgrimage."[6] According to German historian Eduard Glaser, the name "Kaaba" may have been related to the southern Arabian or Ethiopian word "mikrab", signifying a temple. The accounts of the pre-Islamic campaign of Abraha, the Axumite king who had set out to destroy the Kaaba, suggest the existence and worship of the Kaaba, although this says little about its appearance or associated equipment at that time.[5]
The Muslim view
According to Islamic tradition, God ordained a place of worship on Earth to reflect the house in heaven called al-Baytu l-Maˤmur [7] (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 [1]).
Muslims believe that 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[citation needed]. 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 C.E. After this pivotal migration, or Hijra, the Muslim community became a political and military force. In 630 C.E., 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.
It is also claimed by the Shi'a that the Kaaba is the birth place of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph and the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
The cleaning of the Kaaba
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.
The Qibla and prayer
For any reference point on the Earth, the Qibla is the direction to the Kaaba. Muslims are ordered to face this direction during prayer (Qur'an 2:143-144). While it may appear to some non-Muslims that Muslims worship the Kaaba, the Kaaba is simply a focal point for prayer, in a similar fashion to the cross for Christians or the Western Wall for Jews.
The earliest Muslims prayed towards Jerusalem. According to Islamic tradition, when Muhammad was praying in the Al-Qiblatain mosque (in Medina), he was ordered by God to change the qibla direction from Jerusalem to Mecca and the Kaaba. Various theories are advanced as to the reason for the change. [2]
Muslim groups in the United States differ 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. [3]
Some Muslims carry qibla compasses 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 in the shape of a minaret. "Qibla numbers" for various locations are listed in an accompanying booklet and also indexed online.
See also
- Black Stone
- H-R-M
- Hajj
- Kiswah
- Masjid al Haram
- Most holy place
- Qibla
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Wensinck, A. J; Ka`ba. Encyclopaedia of Islam IV p. 317
- ↑ Peterson, Andrew (1996). Dictionary of Islamic Architecture.. London: Routledge.
- ↑ 'House of God' Kaaba gets new cloth. The Age Company Ltd. (2003). Retrieved 2006-08-17.
- ↑ The Kiswa - (Kaaba Covering). Al-Islaah Publications. Retrieved 2006-08-17.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wensinck, A. J; Ka`ba. Encyclopaedia of Islam IV p. 318
- ↑ Britannica 2002 Deluxe Edition CD-ROM, "Ka'bah."
- ↑ Hajj-e-Baytullah. Baytullah - The House of Allah. Retrieved August 13, 2006.
External links
- Find Qibla from everywhere in the World
- Full information of the Holy Ka'bah
- Short History of the Kaaba
- Information about the Kaaba
- A 3D model of the Kabaa and Haraam
- Argument for Northeastern Qiblah in North America
- Argument for Southeastern Qiblah in North America
- Kaaba, the cornerstone of Islam
- History of the Kaaba
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