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When God ordered Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to build the Sacred House, the Ka'bah, Ibrahim and Ismail(peace be upon them) started building the foundations of the Ka'bah. After the walls of the Ka'bah became high, Ibrahim (pbuh) told Ismail (pbuh) to find a stone to complete building the Ka'bah. Ismail (pbuh) went to look for the stone but did not find any stone and came back to his father. Ismail (pbuh) saw a stone next to his father and asked, "Where did the stone come from?" Ibrahim (pbuh) answered, "God has sent it from Heaven". Ibrahim (pbuh) stood on it and started building the ka'bah. The stone is called the Station of Ibrahim (Maqami Ibrahim), which is still in Makkah Mukarramah near the Ka'bah. Both Ibrahim and Ismail (pbut) went on building the Ka'bah saying, "accept this service from us, O our Lord." When they finished the building, "Angel Jibreel descended from heaven and showed Ibrahim the rituals of Hajj (pilgrimage)" (Nawwab 1992). After the completion of Ka'bah, Ibrahim (pbuh) was commanded by God to call all mankind to perform the pilgrimage (Nawwab 1992).
Through the years, the message of Ibrahim was left behind and Ka'bah got filled with idols. "As many as 365 idols are said to have been placed in the structure at one time. Moreover, the House of God was used for non-religious purposes" (Makkah 1997). The pilgrimage was continued but it was an idolatrous business project for the tribe of Quraysh, the residents of Makkah and the guardian of the Ka'bah. When Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) took over Makkah in the year 630 A.D., he purified the Ka'bah from all idols (The Holy 1999).
The Ka'bah, in Arabic literally means 'cube' it is in the middle of Makkah Mukarramah and in the shape of a big high square room with the height of fifteen meters. The door of the Ka'bah, which is made of solid gold, is two meters above the ground. The four corners of Ka'bah have its own names, the black corner (the corner where the black stone is), the Shami corner (northern corner), the Yamani corner (southwestern corner) and the Iraqi corner (directs toward Iraq). The Mazib, where the water drains through is at the top of the northern wall and is made of pure gold. It is obligatory for all Muslims five times a day to face in the direction of the Ka'bah when offering their Salat (prayer) (The Haram 1999).
The Black Stone, a sign of a great blessing is placed at the southeastern part of Ka'bah. The Black Stone is a heavy oval stone, of black reddish color with a diameter of thirty centimeters and bordered with a silver frame. The person who is circling the Ka'bah has to kiss or touch the black stone if possible. The Prophet (pbuh) mentioned, "the Black Stone was whiter than milk when lowered from Haven (paradise), but humans sins made it black" (The Haram 1999)
The Station of Ibrahim (Maqami Ibrahim) is the stone on which Ibrahim (pbuh) stood while building the Ka'bah. The footprints of Ibrahim (pbuh) are still clear visibale in the stone. It is in a crystal glass cover, with an iron framework and around the stone is a marble foundation. (The Haram 1999).
The walls of the ka'bah got cracked because of putting one Kiswa (Ka'bah drapes or covering) on top of another kiswa on the Ka'bah. Quraish, the historic tribe rulers of Makkah start to collect halal (un forbidden) money from all residents of Makkah to rebuild the ka'bah. After collecting the money, it was not enough to rebuild the Ka'bah to its original structure so they built ka'bah smaller than the original structure and left the stone of Ismail out. The stone was originally a part of the Ka'bah when Ibrahim (pbuh)originaly built it.
The dyed black cover of the Ka'bah (Kiswah) is woven from pure natural silk. The Kalimat (words) "LA ILAHA ILA ALLAH MUHAMMAD UR RASOOL UL ALLAH", "ALLAH JALA JALALAHO", SUBHANA ALLAH WA BIHAMDIH", "SUBHAN ALLAH AL AZEEM", "YA HAMAN", YA MANAN" are printed with gold thread on the kiswah. As circles on the four corners, the surah "IKHLAS" is overstated in gold and other six verses of Qur'an is printed as well. The Burqu'a, drapes of the Ka'bah door is made of the same material. (Esin 1963).
Author Haji N. Serpas
December 9, 2002
hs1168@albany.edu