What is the Kaabah?

What is the Kabaah?

The Kaabah is a cube-shaped structure located at the center of the Sacred Mosque (al-Masjid al-Haram) in Makkah, on the Arabian Peninsula. It is the largest, most important, holiest, and most honored mosque in Islam. The Kaabah serves as the qiblah, the direction toward which Muslims face during their daily prayers, no matter where they are in the world. It is also the focal point around which pilgrims circumambulate during the Hajj pilgrimage, an obligation required once in a lifetime for those who are physically and financially able. Both prayer and Hajj are among the most important pillars of Islam—essential tenets of faith. Denial of either excludes one from the fold of Islam.

The Quran states that the Kaabah was built by Prophet Ibrahim and his son, Prophet Isma‘il. God says: “And when Abraham raised the foundations of the Kaabah building, and Ishmael, [they called God]: ‘Our Lord, accept it from us. Indeed You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing’” (Quran 2:127). After its completion, God commanded Ibrahim to call the people to Hajj: “And proclaim the Hajj to the people: they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass” (Quran 22:27).

The Kaabah has witnessed numerous historical and miraculous events. One such event was the attack by Abraha the Abyssinian, who sought to destroy it. God protected the Kaabah by sending a storm of birds that pelted Abraha and his army with stones until they perished. The Kaabah was also the site of the miraculous birth of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (p), the cousin, son-in-law, and successor of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh&hp). His mother, Fatimah bint Asad, sought refuge in God and prayed earnestly when the Kaabah’s wall miraculously split open. She entered, gave birth to Imam Ali inside, and emerged holding her newborn, after which the wall returned to its original position—an event unique in history.

Tragically, in 64 AH, following the plundering of Madinah, Yazid’s army assaulted Makkah and set the Kaabah and the Sacred Mosque ablaze, committing a heinous and cursed act.

In the end times, the Kaabah will serve as the place from which Imam al-Mahdi (p), the twelfth Imam from the Prophet’s Household, will address the people upon his reappearance to establish justice and equity across the earth. After appearing in Madinah, he will proceed to Makkah, rest his back against the Kaabah, address the people openly, and announce his mission to uphold justice and fairness.