The Kaaba in Makkah is the direction of every Muslim prayer and the centre of the Hajj. Muslims hold that it is the oldest house of worship dedicated to the one God.
In this article
Who built the Kaaba?
The Qur’an calls it the first house established for mankind, at Bakkah, and tells how Abraham and Ishmael raised its foundations, praying that God would accept it from them.1 God showed Abraham its site and commanded him to purify it for those who circle it, stand, bow and prostrate.2
وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمُ ٱلْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ ٱلْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَـٰعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّآ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ١٢٧
And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ishmael, [saying], “Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing.
Qur’an 2:1273
A history of rebuilding
The building has been rebuilt many times on its ancient foundations. The tribe of Quraysh rebuilt it in stone and wood during the Prophet’s lifetime, before his mission began. When the Prophet returned to Makkah in 630 he cleared it of idols and restored it to the worship of the one God. It was damaged by fire in 683, during a civil war, and rebuilt by ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr on what he held to be Abraham’s dimensions; in 692 the caliph ʿAbd al-Malik restored the shape it had in the Prophet’s time.4
The verse explains why every rebuilding kept to the old foundations. What Abraham and Ishmael laid was a prayer as much as a wall: ‘Our Lord, accept this from us.’ Muslims who pray toward the Kaaba five times a day join the prayer of its first builders.
Further reading: The stations of the Hajj, Ishmael in the Abrahamic traditions, Makkah.
Notes
- Qur’an 3:96; 2:127. ↩
- Qur’an 22:26, trans. Saheeh International; Arabic text from Quran.com. ↩
- Qur’an 2:127, trans. Saheeh International; Arabic text from Quran.com. ↩
- “Kaʿba,” Archnet, Aga Khan Trust for Culture; “A short history of the Kaaba,” The Royal Mint. ↩