| The Ka`bah: Facts and
History
The small, cubed building known as the Ka`bah
may not rival skyscrapers in height or mansions in width, but its impact
on history and human beings is unmatched.
The Ka`bah is the building towards which
Muslims face five times a day, everyday, in prayer. This has been the case
since the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) over
1400 years ago.
The Size of the Ka`bah:
The height of the Ka`bah is 39 feet, 6
inches and total size comes to 627 square feet.
The inside room of the Ka`bah is 13x9
meters.
The Ka`bah walls are one meter wide.
The floor inside is 2.2 meters higher than the place where people perform
Tawaf.
The ceiling and roof are two levels
made out of wood.
They were reconstructed with teak which is capped with stainless steel.
The walls are all made of stone. The
stones inside are unpolished, while the ones outside are polished.
This small building has been constructed
and reconstructed by Prophets Adam, Ibrahim, Ismail and Muhammad (peace be
upon them all). No other building has had this honor.
Yet, not very much is known about the
details of this small but significant building.
Did you know the Ka`bah was reconstructed
as recently as close to four years ago?
Did you know that the Ka`bah has been
subjected to danger by natural disasters like flooding, as well as human
attacks?
The other names of the Ka`bah
Literally, Ka`bah in Arabic means a high
place with respect and prestige.
The word Ka`bah may also be derivative of a word meaning a cube.
Bayt ul Ateeq.. which means, according
to one meaning, the earliest and ancient. According to the second meaning,
it means independent and liberating.
Bayt ul Haram... the honorable house
Construction of the Ka`bah
The Ka`bah has been reconstructed up to 12
times. Scholars and historians say
that the Ka`bah has been reconstructed between five to 12 times.
The very first construction of the Ka`bah
was done by Prophet Adam (raa). Allah says in the Quran that
this was the first house that was built for humanity to worship Allah.
After this, Prophet Ibrahim (raa)
and Ismail (raa) rebuilt the Ka`bah.
The measurements of the Ka`bah's Ibrahimic foundation are as follows:
- the eastern wall was 48 feet and 6
inches
- the Hateem side wall was 33 feet
- the side between the black stone and the
Yemeni corner was 30 feet
- the Western side was 46.5 feet
Following this, there were several
constructions before the Prophet Muhammad’s time. Reconstruction
of Ka`bah by Quraish
. Prophet Muhammad participated
in one of its reconstructions before he became a Prophet. After a flash flood, the Ka`bah
was damaged and its walls cracked. It needed rebuilding. This responsibility was divided
among the Quraish’s four tribes. Prophet Muhammad helped with this
reconstruction.
Once the walls were erected, it
was time to place the Black Stone, (the Hajar ul Aswad) on the eastern
wall of the Ka`bah. Arguments
erupted about who would have the honor of putting the Black Stone in its
place. A fight was about to break out over the issue, when Abu
Umayyah, Makkah’s oldest man, proposed that the first man to enter the
gate of the mosque the following morning would decide the matter. That man
was the Prophet. The Makkans were ecstatic. "This is the trustworthy
one (Al-Ameen), this is Muhammad". He
came to them and they asked him to decide on the matter. He agreed.
Prophet Muhammad proposed a solution that all
agreed to-putting the Black Stone on a cloak, the elders of each of the
clans held on to one edge of the cloak and carried the stone to its place.
The Prophet then picked up the stone and placed it on the wall of the Ka`bah.
Since the tribe of Quraish did not have
sufficient funds, this reconstruction did not include the entire
foundation of the Ka`bah as built by Prophet Ibrahim. This is the first
time the Ka`bah acquired the cubical shape it has now unlike the rectangle
shape which it had earlier. The portion of the Ka`bah left out is called
Hateem now.
Construction After the Prophet’s Time by
Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr
The Syrian army destroyed the Ka`bah in
Muharram 64 (Hijri date) and before the next Hajj Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr,
may Allah be pleased with him, reconstructed the Ka`bah from the ground
up. Ibn az-Zubayr wanted to make
the Ka`bah how the Prophet Muhammad wanted it, on the foundation of the
Prophet Ibrahim. Ibn az-Zubayr
said, "I heard Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) say, 'The
Prophet said: "If your people had not quite recently abandoned the
Ignorance (Unbelief), and if I had sufficient provisions to rebuild it
[the Ka`bah], I would have added five cubits to it from the Hijr.
Also, I would make two doors; one for people to enter therein and the
other to exit." (Bukhari). Ibn az-Zubayr said, "Today, I can
afford to do it and I do not fear the people. Ibn
az-Zubayr built the Ka`bah on Prophet Ibrahim’s foundation. He put the
roof on three pillars with the wood of Aoud (a perfumed wood with aroma
which is traditionally burned to get a good smell out of it in Arabia).
In his construction he put two doors, one
facing the east the other facing the west, as the Prophet wanted but did
not do in his lifetime. He rebuilt the Ka`bah
on the Prophet Ibrahim’s foundation, which meant that the Hateem area
was included. The Hateem is the area adjacent to the Ka`bah enclosed by a
low semi-circular wall. Abdullah ibn
az-Zubayr also made the following additions and modifications:
- put a small window close to the roof of
the Ka`bah to allow for light.
- moved the door of the Ka`bah to ground
level and added a second door to the Ka`bah.
- added nine cubits to the height of the Ka`bah,
making it twenty cubits high.
- its walls were two cubits wide.
- reduced the pillars inside the
House to three instead of six as were earlier built by Quraish.
For reconstruction, ibn az-Zubayr put up
four pillars around Ka`bah and hung cloth over them until the building was
completed. People began to do Tawaf around these pillars at all times, so
Tawaf of the Ka`bah was never abandoned, even during reconstruction.
During Abdul Malik bin Marwan’s time
In 74 Hijri (or 693 according to the
Gregorian calendar), Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf al-Thaqafi, the known tyrant of
that time, with the approval of Umayyad Khalifa Abdul Malik bin Marwan,
demolished what Ibn az-Zubayr had added to it from the older foundation of
Prophet Ibrahim, restore its old structure as the Quraish had had it.
Some of the changes he made were the
following:
- he rebuilt it in the smaller shape which
is found today
- took out the Hateem
- walled up the western door (whose signs
are still visible today) and left the rest as it was
- pulled down the wall in the Hateem area.
- removed the wooden ladder Ibn az-Zubayr
had put inside the Kaba.
- reduced the door's height by five cubits
When Abdul Malik bin Marwan came for Umra
and heard the Hadith that it was the wish of the Prophet for the Ka`bah to
be constructed the way Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr had built it, he regretted
his actions.
Imam Malik's advice to the Khalifa Harun
al Rasheed
Abbasi Khalifa Harun al Rasheed wanted to
rebuild the Ka`bah the way the Prophet Muhammad wanted and the way
Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr built it.
But when he consulted Imam Malik,
the Imam asked the Khalifa to change his mind because constant demolition
and rebuilding is not respectful and would become a toy in the hands of
kings. Each one would want to demolish and rebuild the Ka`bah.
Based on this advice, Harun al
Rasheed did not reconstruct the Ka`bah. The structure remained in the same
construction for 966 years, with minor repairs here and there.
Reconstruction during Sultan Murad
Khan’s time
In the year 1039 Hijri, because of heavy
rain, flood and hail, two of the Ka`bah walls fell down.
The flood during which this
occurred took place on the 19th of Shaban 1039 Hijri which continued
constantly, so the water in the Ka`bah became almost close to half of its
walls, about 10 feet from the ground level. On
Thursday the 20th of Shaban 1039 Hijri, the eastern and western walls fell
down. When flood receded on Friday the
21st of Shaban, the cleanup started. Again,
a curtain, the way Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr established on 4 pillars, was
put up, and the reconstruction started on the 26th of Ramadan. The rest of
the walls except for the one near the Black Stone, were demolished.
By the 2nd of Zul-Hijjah 1040 the
construction was taking place under the guidance of Sultan Murad Khan, the
Ottoman Khalifa. From the point of the Black stone and below, the current
construction is the same as that done by Abdullah ibn az Zubayr.
The construction which was done under the
auspices of Murad Khan was exactly the one done at the time of Abdul Malik
ibn Marwan which is the way the Quraysh had built it before Prophethood.
On Rajab 28 1377, One historian counted the
total stones of the Ka`bah and they were 1,614. These stones are of
different shapes. But the stones which are inside the outer wall which is
visible are not counted in there.
Reconstruction of the Ka`bah In 1996
A major reconstruction of the Ka`bah took
place between May 1996 and October 1996.
This was after a period of about
400 years (since Sultan Murad Khan’s time). During
this reconstruction the only original thing left from the Ka`bah are the
stones. All other material has been replaced including the ceiling
and the roof and its wood.
What is inside the Ka`bah?
Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi is the president of
the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). He had the opportunity to go
inside the Ka`bah in October 1998. In an interview with Sound Vision, he
described the following features:
- there are two pillars inside (others
report 3 pillars)
- there is a table on the side to put
items like perfume
- there are two lantern-type lamps hanging
from the ceiling
- the space can accommodate about 50
people
- there are no electric lights inside
- the walls and floors are of marble
- there are no windows inside
- there is only one door
- the upper inside walls of the Ka`bah
were covered with some kind of curtain with the Kalima written on it
From:
http://www.soundvision.com |
