The Kaaba, in the mosque known as Masjid al Haram in Mecca (Makkah), is one of the holy places of Islam. It is a small brick building in the shape of a cube. The structure is 50 ft. high (15.24 m), the shorter walls are about 35 ft long (10.67 m) and the longest walls are 40 ft. long (12.19 m). It is covered by golden lettered and black silk cloth, known as the Kiswa, which is replaced yearly [1] [2]. It contains the Hajar el Aswad (the sacred " Black Stone"), which is presumed by most sources to be a meteorite remnant.
At the time of Muhammad, his tribe, the Quraysh was in charge of the Kaaba, which was at that time a shrine to inter-tribal Arabic pagan gods. Since Mecca was in the crossroads of major international trade routes, the Kaaba and its precincts also served as a place of sanctuary for caravan pagan worship, tribal and tradesmen poetry contests, and an oracle. It is also thought that the Kaaba represented the solar system, for it housed a zodiac "machine" of daily shrines that consisted of over 360 idols, each of which was probably a symbol representing a complex astronomical relationship between each day of the year, the months, and survival rituals tied to seasonal events. Muhammad, preaching the doctrines of one God (called Allah) and the threat of the Day of Judgment, did not at first have much success in the city of Mecca, which was a teeming metropolis in its own right, filled with people from as far away as IndiaThe Republic of India is a large multicultural country in South Asia, with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and is the world's second-fastest growing economy., MesopotamiaThis is an article about the ancient middle eastern region. For the region in modern times, see Iraq, Syria. See also Mesopotamia, Ohio. Mesopotamia ( Greek: , translated from Old Persian Miyanrudan "the Land between the Rivers" or the Aramaic name Beth-N, EgyptJumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah ( In Detail) Official language Arabic Capital Cairo Largest City Cairo President Hosni Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif Area Total % water Ranked 29th 1,001,450 km² 0. 6% Population Total (2003) Density Ranked 15th 74,718,797 and GreeceGreece formally called the Hellenic Republic (in Greek: ) Hellenike Demokratia , is a country in the southeast of Europe on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula. It is bounded on land by Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania.
The Quraysh persecuted and harassed him continuously, and he was forced to flee to MedinaThis article is about the Saudi city of Medina. For other uses, see Medina (disambiguation). Medina ( Arabic: or , Madinat Rasul Allah or al-Madina alternatively transliterated into English as Madinah is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia.. On his return from the Hijra, the Kaaba was re-dedicated as a house of worship to Allah.
In Islam, the Kaaba represents the House of GodThis article focuses on the concept of singular, monotheistic God . See deity, gods, or goddesses for details on divine entities in specific religions and mythologies. God is a term referring to the supreme being generally believed to be ruler or creator. This physical centre on the planet
earth symbolises the centre of the UniverseAlternate uses: See Universe (disambiguation In the first half of the 20th century, the word universe was used to mean the whole spacetime continuum in which we exist, together with all the energy and matter within it. Attempts to understand the universe, as well as the centre of life,
of the Muslim community, and the centre of the mind to which all things are
linked and around which they revolve. It is the centre of orientation which
gives meaning and value to the lives and existence of all Muslims and all
Muslim nations.
According to tradition, the Kaaba was built by the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ishmael. However, there is no evidence of this.
