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The Kaaba (Ka'abah), (Arabic: الكعبة) also Bait ul Ateeq (Arabic: البيت العتيق ) and Bait ul Haram (Arabic: البيت الحرام ), is a building located inside the mosque known as Masjid al Haram in Mecca (Makkah). The mosque has been built around the Kaaba. The Kaaba is the holiest place in Islam.

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 meaning cube). It is made of granite from the hills near Mecca. The structure is approximately 15 m (50 ft) high, 10 m (35 ft) wide, and 12 m (40 ft) long. It is covered by a black silk cloth decorated with gold-embroidered calligraphy. This cloth is known as the kiswah; it is replaced yearly. [1] [2]

The Kaaba partially covered by the Kiswah

One of the cornerstones of the Kaaba is the Hajar el Aswad (the sacred "Black Stone"), which is generally thought to be a meteorite remnant.

Inside the Kaaba, there is a marble floor. The interior walls are clad with marble half-way to the roof; tablets with Quranic inscriptions are inset in the marble. The top part of the walls is covered with a green cloth decorated with gold embroidered Quranic verses. Lamps hang from a cross beam; there is also a small table for incense burners. The building is otherwise empty. The caretakers perfume the marble cladding with scented oil, the same oil used to anoint the Black Stone outside.

The global coordinates of the Kaaba are 21° 25′ 24″ N, 39° 49′ 24″ E.

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 Ramadan and the same period of time before the start of the annual pilgrimage. The keys to the Kaaba are held by the Sheibani family. Members of the family 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.

History of the Kaaba

File:Kaaba door1.jpg

The door to the Kaaba, Masjid al Haram, Mecca (Hajj)

According to Islamic tradition, Allah (God) ordained a place of worship on Earth to reflect the house in heaven called Bait ul Ma'amoor (Arabic: البيت المعمور ). It is believed that Adam was the first to build such a place of worship.

According to the Qur'an, the Kaaba was built by the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ismail (Ishmael [3]). Some academic scholars will only say that it is a pre-Islamic house of native Arab worship.

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.

Muslim sources describe Mecca as a rich and populous city, the center of a thriving international trade, to which the religious status of the Kaaba was central; some academics disagree, saying that 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 threat of the Day of Judgment, did not at first have much success in the city of Mecca. The Quraysh persecuted and harassed him continuously, and he and his followers eventually fled to Medina, in 622 C.E. After this pivotal flight, 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.

Reconstructions of the Kaaba

According to some counts, the Kaaba has been reconstructed or undergone major repairs twelve times. The last reconstruction was done in 1996.

The Qibla and prayer

File:Mosque.Qibla.01.jpg

At prayer towards Qibla in Damascus

The Qibla, for any point of reference on the Earth, is the direction of the Kaaba. In Muslim religious practice, supplicants must face this direction at prayer.

It should be noted that Muslims do not worship the Kaaba or its contents any more than Christians worship churches or crosses; the Kaaba is simply a focal point for prayer.

The Qibla points along the shortest path to the Kaaba. Because the Earth is approximately spherical, this path will be part of a great circle such as airplanes fly. The location of the Kaaba (at 21°25′24″N 39°49′24″E / 21.42333°N 39.82333°E / 21.42333; 39.82333) can be used together with spherical geometry to determine the Qibla for any given point on the Earth.

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 The Qibla points along the shortest path to the Kaaba.  Because the Earth is approximately spherical, this path will be part of a [[great circle]] such as airplanes fly. The location of the Kaaba (at {{coor dms|21|25|24|N|39|49|24|E|}}) can be used together with [[spherical geometry]] to determine the Qibla for any given point on the Earth.
-==Claims that people were born in the Kaaba==
-Some Islamic sources claim that an early Muslim was actually born in the Kaaba. [[Shia]] Muslims claim that [[Ali ibn Abu Talib]], Muhammad's son-in-law, was born in the Kaaba, and only Ali. Some [[Sunni]] have countered that claim by saying that the child was not Ali, but [[Hakim ibn Hizam]], a rich Meccan convert to Islam. The Shia claim this as an example of history being changed or suppressed in order to detract honor from Muhammad's household, the [[Ahl al-Bayt]].
 ==See also==