The Kaba: It's 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
Bayt 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. 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 rebuilt the Kaba. The
measurements of the Kaba's Ibrahimic foundation are as follows:
-the
eastern wall was 48 feet and 6 inches
-the Hatim side wall was 33
feet
-the side between the black stone and the Yamani 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 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