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A description of Kaaba

The Kaaba, "Cube" is a cuboidal building. It is a large masonry structure roughly the shape of a cube. The building is more than two thousand years old. The building has a mosque built around it, the Masjid al-Haram.

Kaaba is made of granite from the hills near Mecca, and stands upon a 25 cm (10 in) marble base, which projects outwards about 35 cm (1 ft). It is approximately 13.10 m (42.98 ft) high, with sides measuring 11.03 m (36.19 ft) by 12.86 m (42.19 ft). The four corners of the Kaaba roughly face the four cardinal directions of the compass. In the eastern corner of the Kaaba is the Ruknu l-Aswad "Black Stone" or Hajaru l-Aswad, possibly a meteorite remnant; at the northern corner is the Ruknu l-Iraqi "The Iraqi corner". The western corner is the Ruknu sh-Shami"the Levantine corner" and the southern is Ruknu l-Yamani "the Yemeni corner".

The Kaaba is covered by a black silk and gold curtain known as the kiswah, which is replaced yearly. About two-thirds of the way up runs a band of gold-embroidered calligraphy with Qur'anic text, including the Islamic declaration of faith, the Shahadah.
The entrance is a door set 2 m (7 ft) above the ground on the north-eastern wall of the Kaaba, which acts as the façade. Inside the Kaaba, there is a marble and limestone floor. The interior walls are clad with marble halfway to the roof; tablets with Qur'anic inscriptions are inset in the marble. The top part of the walls is covered with a green cloth decorated with gold embroidered Qur'anic verses. In modern times, entry to the Kaaba's interior is generally not permitted except for certain rare occasions and for a limited numbers of guests.

There is also a semi-circular wall opposite, but unconnected to, the north-west wall of the Kaaba known as the hatim. This is 90 cm (35 in) in height and 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in length, and is composed of white marble. At one time the space lying between the hatim and the Kaaba belonged to the Kaaba itself, and for this reason it is not entered during the tawaf (ritual circumambulation).

Zamzam Well

The Well of Zamzam the Masjid al Haram in Mecca, 20 meters east of the Kaaba. Millions of pilgrims visit the Well each year while performing the Hajj or Umrah pilgrimages, in order to drink its water.

Islamic history states that Zamzam Well was revealed to Hajara, the wife of Ibrahim and mother of Ismail, around the year 2000 BC. According to Islamic tradition, she was left alone in this location by Ibrahim along with her infant son Ismail as per God's instruction. Being alone and without water, she had to desperately seek water for her infant son, but could find none, as Mecca is located in a hot dry valley with few other sources of water. Hajara ran seven times back and forth in the scorching heat between the two hills of Safa and Marwah, looking for water. Getting thirstier by the second, her son, Ismail, anxiously striked the land with his feet, where suddenly water sprang out as a miracle of God. The name of the well comes from the phrase Zomë Zomë, meaning 'stop flowing', a command repeated by Hajara during her attempt to contain the spring water.

Even today Zamzam stays as a true miracle, never going dry despite that huge quantities of it are consumed every day.

Black Stone (Hajar-ul-Aswad)

The Black Stone (called Hajar-ul-Aswad in Arabic) is the eastern cornerstone of the Kaaba. The Stone is roughly 30 cm (12 in.) in diameter, and 1.5 meters (5 ft.) above the ground.

When pilgrims circle the Kaaba as part of the Tawaf ritual of the Hajj, many of them try, if possible, to stop and kiss the Black Stone, emulating the kiss that it received from prophet Muhammad during his Hajj. If they cannot reach it, they point to it on each of their seven circuits around the Kaaba.

The Stone is broken into a number of pieces from damage which was inflicted during the Middle Ages. The pieces are held together by a silver frame, which is fastened by silver nails to the Stone.

Significance of Black Stone

The Semitic cultures of the Middle East had a tradition of using unusual stones (misphas) to mark places of worship, a phenomenon which is reflected in the Hebrew Bible as well as the Qur'an. So Hajarul Aswad could have been the mispha used by Abraham for the original structure. This might explain the reverence which Prophet Muhammad showed towards it by kissing it, as it carries the legacy of Prophet Abraham. Other than that it is well-acknowledged that the black stone is not considered sacred in any other way. When Umar ibn al-Khattab (580-644), the second Caliph, came to kiss the Stone, he said in front of all assembled: "No doubt, I know that you are a stone and can neither harm anyone nor benefit anyone. Had I not seen Allah's Messenger [Muhammad] kissing you, I would not have kissed you." This stone can also be considered simply as a marker, useful in keeping count of the ritual circumambulations (tawaf) one has performed.

Maqam Ibrahim

While building the Kaaba Ibrahim used a large black stone to stand upon. The place where this stone block was outside the Kaaba, close to the eastern wall of the sanctuary is called Maqam Ibrahim (the station of Ibrahim). The boulder is about 2 x 3 feet. Today, the Maqam Ibrahim, which is a small glass station with the stone within, is located in front of the door of the Kaaba. This is the place where Ibrahim offered up his prayers.

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