What is the Kaaba? The main shrine of Islam, description, history

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

In the world today there is more than one place that is sacred to a huge number of believers of different religions. One of these places is the center of the main mosque in the city of Mecca (Saudi Arabia), called the Kaaba.

What is the Kaaba

The Kaaba itself is not the name of a mosque. This is a cubic structure with a height of 13.1 meters. It is made of Meccan black granite and stands on a marble base. The building is located in the center of the main Muslim mosque Masjid al-Haram.

The word “masjid” is translated from Arabic as “a place of prostrate prostrations”, and the literal translation of the full name of the temple is “Forbidden (Reserved) Mosque”. This phrase can be found 15 times in the Qur'an. This is a huge building, which was constantly reconstructed and supplemented thanks to the caliphs, sultans and Saudi kings. And its main feature is the fact that this is the place where the Kaaba is located. The area occupied by the mosque, including the Kaaba, reaches 193 thousand square meters, on which about 130 thousand Muslims can simultaneously conduct pilgrimages.

Kaaba is the place towards which they face when they pray. If a person stays inside the mosque, then it has a designation in which direction the main mosque (Kaaba) is located - a special niche in the wall, called the mihrab. There is a mihrab in every Muslim mosque around the globe.

One of the most important Muslim rites is the Hajj - the circumambulation of pilgrims around the Kaaba.

How the Kaaba appeared

Every Muslim in the world knows what the Kaaba is. The main shrine of Islam arose in ancient times. When Adam, the first man on Earth, was expelled from Paradise, he could not find a place for himself and asked God to give him permission to build a building similar to a heavenly temple. In the Qur'an, this building is called "The House of the Visited".

In response to the prayers of Adam, Allah sent angels to earth, who pointed to the construction site of the Kaaba. And this place was located right under the heavenly temple in Mecca.

History of the first reconstruction of the Kaaba

As already mentioned, unfortunately, the building was destroyed during the Great Flood. The Kaaba was lifted into the air, after which it collapsed. Later, this Muslim shrine, following the model, in the literal sense, of antediluvian times, was built by Ibrahim (or the Prophet Abraham in the Western tradition) together with his son Ismail (who, according to legend, is also the forefather of modern Arabs). By the way, the second son of Abraham - Isaac - is considered to be the forefather of the Jews.

Ibrahim received help from Archangel Jabrail (Gabriel). The Messenger of God gave one of the stones the ability to rise toany height for the construction of the Kaaba (he served Ibrahim with forests). Today this stone is called "Makamu Ibrahim", which literally means "Place of Ibrahim". There is a footprint on the stone, which is attributed to Ibrahim. And it is located near the Kaaba in the form of a monument.

Later, the mosque and the shrine were repeatedly completed, the square was expanded, new elements were added, such as decorated arches from Syria and Egypt, a gallery and much more.

Black stone of the Kaaba

As you know, the Kaaba is a Muslim shrine, a building in the shape of a cube. And its main feature is the eastern corner. This is because a special black stone is set into this corner, which has a silver border.

There is a legend in the Arab tradition that says that this stone was given to Adam by God himself. Initially, this stone was white (white heavenly yacht). According to legend, one could see Paradise in it. But it turned black because of human sins and depravity.

This legend also says that when the Day of Judgment comes, this stone will incarnate into an angel who will testify to all pilgrims who have ever touched the stone.

There is another belief, and researchers confirm this, which claims that this black stone is part of a meteorite. Because of this stone, the structure is also sometimes called the "Black Kaaba".

Building features

The doors of the cubic shrine are made of teak wood, decorated with gilding. This sample of doors became a replacement for the analogue of 1946 in 1979. The doorway is located onthe height of human growth from the foundation. To get inside, a special wooden ladder on wheels is used.

Each of the corners of the building has its own name: the eastern corner is called stone, the western - Lebanese, the northern - Iraqi, and the southern corner is called Yemeni.

The keys to the doors are kept by the family of the Meccan Beni Sheibe, whose members became the first keepers, according to legend, chosen by the Prophet Muhammad himself.

During the pilgrimage to Mecca, the Kaaba temple is usually closed, access inside is prohibited. The building is opened only for guests of honor, accompanied by the governor of Mecca, only twice a year. This ceremony is called "cleaning the Kaaba", it is held 30 days before Ramadan, as well as 30 days before the Hajj.

Cleansing of the Kaaba is carried out with special brooms and water taken from the sacred well of Zamzam with the addition of Persian rose water.

Kiswa for Kaaba

Every year, another ritual is also performed - making a cover for the Kaaba (kiswa). It takes 875 square meters of material with a thickness of 2 millimeters. The fabric should be embroidered with gold with sayings from the Koran. Kiswai covers the upper part of the Kaaba.

It is interesting that in ancient times the previous cover was not removed, thus, from year to year, kiswa accumulated on the Kaaba. But the caretakers of the temple were worried that a large number of veils could provoke the destruction of the temple, after which it was decided to replace the veil with a new one, that is, not to cover the shrine with more than one veil.

TempleKaaba: a shrine from the inside

The Muslim shrine is empty inside. Of course, there is no mihrab in it, since it is precisely it that he points to. The building is like "the center of the world."

The floor in the Kaaba is made of marble. There are three pillars of saj wood supporting the roof, as well as a staircase that leads to the roof of the building. That is, to the question "What is the Kaaba?" you can answer that this is a kind of altar. Inside there are three platforms, one opposite the entrance, and the other two - to the north.

The walls of the Kaaba are painted with various passages from the Koran, made of multi-colored marble. The thickness of the walls is six palms. And the temple is illuminated with many hanging lamps, which are decorated with enamel.

Kaaba and religions

What is the Kaaba for a non-Muslim? This is not so much a shrine as a building of historical, architectural, scientific and tourist interest. Similarly, as Christian temples for Muslims.

It is worth noting that non-Muslims are not allowed to be near the Kaaba, nor in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Muslims revere the Kaaba as one of the main shrines. The sanctuary is mentioned in daily prayers, and during the Hajj, pilgrims from many countries converge to it, as to the center of the whole world since the time of the Prophet.