The Kaaba
The Kaaba (Arabic:
الكعبة al-Ka’bah :"Cube") is a cube-shaped building in
Mecca, Saudi
Arabia and is the most sacred site in Islam. The
building predates Islam, and, according to Islamic tradition, the first
building at the site was built by Abraham. The building has a mosque built around
it, the Masjid al-Haram. All Muslims around
the world face the Kaaba during prayers, no matter where they are.
One
of the Five Pillars of Islam requires
every Muslim to perform the Hajj pilgrimage at least once in his or her lifetime if they are
able to do so. Multiple parts of the Hajj require pilgrims to walk seven times
around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction (as viewed from above). This circumambulation,
the Tawaf, is also
performed by pilgrims during the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage). However, the most dramatic times are
during the Hajj, when about three million (officially) pilgrims simultaneously
gather to circle the building on the same day.
The Kaaba is a large masonry structure roughly the shape of a cube. The Kaaba is covered by a black
silk and gold curtain known as the kiswah, which
is replaced yearly. About two-thirds of the way up runs a band of
gold-embroidered calligraphy with Qur'anic text,
including the Islamic declaration of faith, the Shahada.
The four corners of the Kaaba roughly point toward the four cardinal directions of the compass. In
the eastern corner of the Kaaba is the Ruknu l-Aswad "the Black
Corner"" or al-Hajaru l-Aswad "the Black Stone".
At the northern corner is the Ruknu l-Iraq "the Iraqi corner".
The western corner is the Ruknu sh-Shāmī "the Levantine
corner" and the southern is Ruknu l-Yamanī "the Yemeni
corner".
The Black Stone is a significant feature of the Kaaba, believed by
Muslims to date back to the time of Adam and
Eve. Located at the eastern corner of the Kaaba, it is about 30 cm
(12 in) in diameter and surrounded by a silver frame. Although not
strictly obligatory, pilgrims can kiss the Stone, as Muhammad is said to have
done.
A
1315 illustration from the Persian Jami
al-Tawarikh, inspired by the story of Muhammad and the Meccan clan elders
lifting the Black Stone into place when the Kaaba was rebuilt in
the early 600s. At the time of Muhammad (CE 570–632), his tribe the Quraysh was in
charge of the Kaaba, which was at that time a shrine containing hundreds of
idols representing Arabian tribal gods and other religious
figures, including Jesus
and Mary. Muhammad earned the enmity of his
tribe by claiming the shrine for the new religion of Islam that he preached. He
wanted the Kaaba to be dedicated to the worship of the one God alone, and all
the idols evicted. The Quraysh persecuted and harassed him continuously and he
and his followers eventually migrated to Medina in 622.
After this pivotal migration, or Hijra,
the Muslim community
became a political and military force. In 630, Muhammad and his followers
returned to Mecca
The
Kaaba was re-dedicated as an Islamic house
of worship, and henceforth, the annual pilgrimage was to be a Muslim rite,
the Hajj, which
visits the Kaaba and other sacred sites around Mecca
Question :
- Who the first built of kaaba?
The
first build the kaaba is Abraham.
- Where the location of black stone?
In the eastern corner of the Kaaba.
- When the Kaaba was rebuilt?
In the early 600s.
- How much the idols was destroyed by Muhammad when he and
his followers returned to
360
idols in and around the Kaaba was destroyed by Muhammad and his followers.
- Why every Muslim requires to perform the Hajj to
Because, the Hajj is One of the Five Pillars of Islam.
- What is the Kaaba ?
The Kaaba
is a cube-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi
Arabia and is the most
sacred site in Islam.
- Do all Muslims to frond Kaaba eachtime to pray?
Yes,
they do.
- What is name of a black silk that covered of Kaaba?
The name is the kiswah.
- Are we shoul kiss Hajar Aswad /Black Stone?
No, We Are.
- When Muhammad and his followers eventually migrated to Medina?
Muhammad and his
followers eventually migrated to Medina in 622.
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