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Ka'bah: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Kaaba-flood-1941 1.jpg|right|220px|thumb|The Ka'aba was flooded by 5 feet of water in 1941. | [[File:Kaaba-flood-1941 1.jpg|right|220px|thumb|The Ka'aba was flooded by 5 feet of water in 1941.]] | ||
'''The Ka'aba''' (الكعبة, lit. "the Cube") is the holiest mosque in [[Islam]] located in [[Mecca]] ([[Muhammad]]'s city of birth) and is figuratively known as the "House of God" (or ''Bayt Allah'', lit. "House of Allah"). Another name for the Ka'aba is ''Masjid al-Haram'', which means "Mosque of the sanctuary", where "the sanctuary" is the name for the part of the city of Mecca that is considered sanctified. | '''The Ka'aba''' (الكعبة, lit. "the Cube") is the holiest mosque in [[Islam]] located in [[Mecca]] ([[Muhammad]]'s city of birth) and is figuratively known as the "House of God" (or ''Bayt Allah'', lit. "House of Allah"). Another name for the Ka'aba is ''Masjid al-Haram'', which means "Mosque of the sanctuary", where "the sanctuary" is the name for the part of the city of Mecca that is considered sanctified. | ||
==Origins and ritual significance== | ==Origins and ritual significance== | ||
Prior to Muhammad claiming to receive [[revelations]] from [[Allah]], the Ka'aba served as a popular [[Pagan Origins of Islam|pagan shrine]] that housed 360 idols and images of mostly pagan deities and attracted pilgrims and trade from many parts of Arabia. Particularly emphasized at this shrine during Muhammad's pre-Islamic years was the worship of the pagan Arab god [[Hubal]], often symbolically affiliated with the [[Crescent Moon|crescent moon]] symbol. | Prior to Muhammad claiming to receive [[Revelation|revelations]] from [[Allah]], the Ka'aba served as a popular [[Pagan Origins of Islam|pagan shrine]] that housed 360 idols and images of mostly pagan deities and attracted pilgrims and trade from many parts of Arabia. Particularly emphasized at this shrine during Muhammad's pre-Islamic years was the worship of the pagan Arab god [[Hubal]], often symbolically affiliated with the [[Crescent Moon|crescent moon]] symbol. | ||
Islamic scriptures teach that [[Ibrahim|Abraham]] (Ibrahim) built the Ka'aba with Ishmael around the time he "binded" Ishmael (a legend inspired by, though slightly different from, the Binding of Isaac). | Islamic scriptures teach that [[Ibrahim (Abraham)|Abraham]] (Ibrahim) built the Ka'aba with Ishmael around the time he "binded" Ishmael (a legend inspired by, though slightly different from, the Binding of Isaac). | ||
===''Qibla'', or direction of prayer=== | ===''Qibla'', or direction of prayer=== | ||
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===Hajj=== | ===Hajj=== | ||
{{Main|Hajj|l1=Hajj}}Today, as with many Arabs during the pre-Islamic period, Muslims travel to the Ka'aba to perform the [[Hajj]] ceremony (which reflects in great detail the pilgrimage rituals of the pre-Islamic Arabs) at least once during their lifetime if they are financially and physically able.The Hajj is one of Islam's [[Five Pillars]] and has its rituals outlined in some detail in the Qur'an. | {{Main|Hajj|l1=Hajj}}Today, as with many Arabs during the pre-Islamic period, Muslims travel to the Ka'aba to perform the [[Hajj]] ceremony (which reflects in great detail the pilgrimage rituals of the pre-Islamic Arabs) at least once during their lifetime if they are financially and physically able.The Hajj is one of Islam's [[Five Pillars of Islam|Five Pillars]] and has its rituals outlined in some detail in the Qur'an. | ||
===Black stone=== | ===Black stone=== | ||
{{Main|Black | {{Main|Black Stone|l1=Black Stone}}Housed in the eastern corner of the Ka'aba's walls is the [[Black Stone|black stone]], which is known to have been a sacred baetyl revered by the pre-Islamic Arabs. Islamic scriptures teach that the stone fell from heaven and was once completely white, only to be lost during Noah's flood and blackened by the sins of mankind. This stone is then said to have been provided back to [[Ibrahim (Abraham)|Ibrahim]] by [[Gabriel]] as Ibrahim was constructing the Ka'aba | ||
=== According to historians === | ===According to historians=== | ||
==== Patricia Crone ==== | ====Patricia Crone==== | ||
{{Quote|1=[https://books.google.com/books/about/Meccan_Trade_and_the_Rise_of_Islam.html?id=jKVNvgAACAAJ Crone, Patricia (1987). ''Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam''. ( | {{Quote|1=[https://books.google.com/books/about/Meccan_Trade_and_the_Rise_of_Islam.html?id=jKVNvgAACAAJ Crone, Patricia (1987). ''Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam''. (p. 192). Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.]|2=Allah is associated with a black stone, and some traditions hold that originally this stone was sacrificial [footnote: It owed its colour to the pagan practice of pouring blood and intestines over it (cf. U. Rubin, "Places of Worship in Mecca"). But as might be expected, there are also other explanations of its colour.]. This suggests that it was the stone rather than the building around it which was <i>bayt allah</i>, the house of god, and this gives us a perfect parallel with the Old Testament <i>bethel</i>. The cult of the Arab god Dusares (Dhu Shara) also seems to have centred on a black sacrificial stone. According to Epiphanius, he was worshipped together with his | ||
mother, the virginal Kaabou, or in other words <i>ka'ib</i> or <i>ka' 'ab</i>, a girl with swelling breasts. A similar arrangement is met in a Nabataean inscription from Petra that speaks of sacrificial stones (<i>nsyb'</i> = <i>ansab</i>) belonging to "the lord of this house" (<i>mr' byt</i>) and al-Uzza, another <i>ka'ib</i> lady. If we assume that <i>bayt</i> and <i>ka'ba</i> alike originally referred to the Meccan stone rather than the building around it, then the lord of the Meccan house was a pagan Allah worshipped in conjunction with a female consort such as al-Uzza and/or other "daughters of God." This would give us a genuinely pagan deity for Quraysh and at the same time explain their devotion to goddesses.}} | mother, the virginal Kaabou, or in other words <i>ka'ib</i> or <i>ka' 'ab</i>, a girl with swelling breasts. A similar arrangement is met in a Nabataean inscription from Petra that speaks of sacrificial stones (<i>nsyb'</i> = <i>ansab</i>) belonging to "the lord of this house" (<i>mr' byt</i>) and al-Uzza, another <i>ka'ib</i> lady. If we assume that <i>bayt</i> and <i>ka'ba</i> alike originally referred to the Meccan stone rather than the building around it, then the lord of the Meccan house was a pagan Allah worshipped in conjunction with a female consort such as al-Uzza and/or other "daughters of God." This would give us a genuinely pagan deity for Quraysh and at the same time explain their devotion to goddesses.}} | ||
The above view is outlined by Crone as a possibility among others (see also: [[Hubal]]). | The above view is outlined by Crone as a possibility among others (see also: [[Hubal]]). | ||
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150. Whensoever thou comest forth turn thy face toward the Inviolable Place of Worship [the Ka'aba]; and wheresoever ye may be (O Muslims) turn your faces toward it (when ye pray) so that men may have no argument against you, save such of them as do injustice - Fear them not, but fear Me! - and so that I may complete My grace upon you, and that ye may be guided.}} | 150. Whensoever thou comest forth turn thy face toward the Inviolable Place of Worship [the Ka'aba]; and wheresoever ye may be (O Muslims) turn your faces toward it (when ye pray) so that men may have no argument against you, save such of them as do injustice - Fear them not, but fear Me! - and so that I may complete My grace upon you, and that ye may be guided.}} | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qarmatians Qarmatians] ''(sect’s leader Ṭāhir Sulaymān, desecrated the Black Stone and Well of Zamzam with Muslim corpses during the Hajj season of 930 CE)'' | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qarmatians Qarmatians] ''(sect’s leader Ṭāhir Sulaymān, desecrated the Black Stone and Well of Zamzam with Muslim corpses during the Hajj season of 930 CE)'' | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Paganism]] | ||
[[Category:Pre-Islamic Arabia]] | |||
[[Category:Sacred history]] | |||
[[Category:Islamic History]] | |||
[[Category:Locations]] | |||
[[Category:Shrines]] | |||
[[Category:Relics]] | |||
[[Category:Ritual]] | |||
[[Category:Sirah]] | |||
[[Category:Heaven]] | |||
[[Category:Allah]] | |||