The Kaaba, Masjid al-Haram, Mecca
by Muhammad Mahdi Karim, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Kaaba_Mirror_like.jpg, used under GNU Free Documentation License
Kaaba
Masjid al-Haram, Mecca
The Kaaba is the holiest place in Islam. It is a large cuboidal building located inside the mosque called a-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The mosque was built around the original Kaaba. The qibla, the direction Muslims face during prayer, faces the Kaaba from anywhere in the world. Tawaf, or ritual circumambulation of the Kaaba, is performed by Muslims during the Hajj pilgrimage season as well as during the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage).
The Kaaba is a large masonry structure roughly the shape of a cube. In fact, the name Kaaba comes from the Arabic word muka'ab which means "cube". It was made of granite from the hills near Makkah, and stands upon a 25 cm (10 in) marble base, which projects outwards about 30 cm (1 foot). The Kaaba is approximately 43 feet (13.10m) tall. Each side is 11.03 meters by 12.62 meters. The four corners of the Kaaba roughly face the four points of the compass. In the eastern corner of the Kaaba is the "Rukn-al-Aswad", the Black Stone. This black stone is generally thought to be a meteorite remnant.
The Black Stone is believed by some Muslims to date back to the time of Adam and Eve. It is about 30 cm (12 inches) in diameter, and surrounded by a silver frame. When Muslims come to Mecca to perform the Hajj, one of the tasks which they try to accomplish is to kiss the Black Stone, as Muhammad once kissed it. Because of the large crowds this is not always possible, and so as pilgrims walk around the Kaaba, they are to point to the Black Stone on each circuit. According to belief, when the Black Stone came down to earth, it was white. It turned black under the burden of millions of sins.
The Kaaba is is covered with a black silk curtain decorated with gold-embroidered calligraphy. This cloth is known as the kiswah. It is replaced yearly. The Shahadah 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.
There is a door set about 2 meters above the ground on the northweastern wall of the Kaaba. It is accessed by a wooden staircase on wheels, usually stored between the arch-shaped gate of Banu Shaybah and the well of Zamzam. Inside the Kaaba 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 are 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.
There is a semi-circular wall at the Masjid al-Haram, opposite the north-west wall of the Kaaba, called the hati-m. The wall is 90cm (3 feet) in height and 1.5m (5 feet) in length, and composed of white marble. The space between the hati-m and the Kaaba was for a time belonging to the Kaaba itself, and so is not entered during tha tawaf. It is also believed by some that this space bears the graves of prophet Ishmael and his mother Hagar.
Muslims throughout the world face the Kaaba during prayers, which are five times a day. For most places around the world, coordinates for Mecca suffice. 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.
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