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The Kaba, Its Size and History
The small, cubed
building known as the Kaba may not rival skyscrapers in height or mansions in
width, but its impact on history and human beings is unmatched.
The Kaba 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 Kaba:
The current height of
the Kaba is 39 feet, 6 inches and total size comes to 627 square feet.
The inside room of the
Kaba is 13X9 meters. The Kaba's 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 Kaba
was reconstructed as recently as close to four years ago?
Did you know that the
Kaba has been subjected to danger by natural disasters like flooding, as well as
human attacks?
If you didn't keep
reading. You'll find some rarely heard of information discussed below and
discover facts about the Kaba many are unaware of.
The other names of the
Kaba
Literally, Kaba in
Arabic means a high place with respect and prestige. The word Kaba may also be
derivative of a word meaning a cube.
Some of these other
names include:
Bait ul Ateeq-which
means, according to one meaning, the earliest and ancient. According to the
second meaning, it means independent and liberating. Both meanings could be
taken
Bait ul Haram-the
honorable house
The Kaba has been
reconstructed up to 12 times
Scholars and historians
say that the Kaba has been reconstructed between five to 12 times.
The very first
construction of the Kaba was done by Prophet Adam (peace be upon him). Allah
says in the Quran that this was the first house that was built for humanity to
worship Allah.
After this, Prophet
Ibrahim and Ismail (peace be upon them) rebuilt the Kaba. The measurements of
the Kaba'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 (peace and blessings be
uponj him) 's time.
Reconstruction of Kaba
by Quraish
Prophet Muhammad
participated in one of its reconstructions before he became a Prophet.
After a flash flood,
the Kaba 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 Kaba.
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)," they shouted in a chorus.
"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 Kaba.
Since the tribe of
Quraish did not have sufficient funds, this reconstruction did not include the
entire foundation of the Kaba as built by Prophet Ibrahim. This is the first
time the Kaba acquired the cubical shape it has now unlike the rectangle shape
which it had earlier. The portion of the Kaba left out is called Hateem now.
Construction After the
Prophet's Time-Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr
The Syrian army
destroyed the Kaba in Muharram 64 (Hijri date) and before the next Hajj Abdullah
ibn az-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with him, reconstructed the Kaba from the
ground up.
Ibn az-Zubayr wanted to
make the Kaba 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 Kaba], 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
Kaba 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 Kaba on
the Prophet Ibrahim's foundation, which meant that the Hateem area was included.
The Hateem is the area adjacent to the Kaba 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 Kaba to allow for light.
-moved the door of
the Kaba to ground level and added a second door to the Kaba.
-added nine cubits to
the height of the Kaba, 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 Kaba 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 Kaba 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 wish of Prophet for the
Kaba 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 Kaba 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 Kaba.
Based on this advice,
Harun al Rasheed did not reconstruct the Kaba. 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 Kaba's 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 Kaba 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 Kaba 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
Kaba In 1996
A major reconstruction
of the Kaba 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 Kaba are the stones. All
other material has been replaced including the ceiling and the roof and its
wood.
What is inside the Kaba?
Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi is
the president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). He had the
opportunity to go inside the Kaba 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 Kaba were covered with some kind of curtain
with the Kalima written on it
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