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| Ka`bah
as an Islamic Symbol Yahya Monastra In Islamic architecture like the Taj Mahal,
the octagon is a Qur'anic symbol of Paradise.
There is no end of spiritual insight once that symbol serves as a
support to begin contemplation. If you are looking for a symbol of Islam as
a whole, that would be the Ka`bah. The
whole reality and doctrine of Islam is summed up in its shape, its unity,
and its centrality. The cross is a cosmic symbol. Its arms radiate outward, showing extension into the four
directions; this symbolizes creation from the divine center and also the
path of the return to the divine. The Ka`bah, by contrast, is a meta-cosmic
symbol. It has six faces
showing the six directions in three dimensions, but all the directions are
completely drawn into the Center. Its
compactness is thus a symbol of tawhîd.
The three dimensions recall the three planes on the spiritual path:
the Will, the Soul, and the Intellect; Sharî`ah (law), Tarîqah (path),
and Haqîqah (Reality) -- each with a dual aspect, active and passive, or
objective and subjective. It is a crystalline shape, recalling the
symbolism of crystals, which although they are stones, transmit light.
Just as the religion of Islam takes place in this world, but
retains the pristine purity of the Transcendent. The centrality of the Ka`bah, with all the
worshipers facing inward toward the center, is again a tangible symbol of
tawhîd. The circumference of
the circle is the sharî`ah, the radius into the center the tarîqah, and
the center itself is the haqîqah. Come you lost atoms to your Center draw,
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