Kaa’bah: It’s Size and History!
The small, cubed building known as the Ka’abah may not rival
skyscrapers in height or mansions in width, but its impact on history and human
beings is unmatched. The Ka’abah 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 Kaa’bah:
The current height of the Kaa’bah is 39 feet, 6 inches and total size
comes to 627 square feet.
The inside room of the Kaa’bah is 13X9 meters.
The Kaa’bah’s walls are one meter wide. The floor inside is 2.2 meters
higher than the place where people perform Tawaaf.
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 Kaa’bah was reconstructed as recently as close to four
years ago?
Did you know that the Kaa’bah 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 Kaa’bah many are unaware
of.
The other names of the Kaa’bah Literally, Kaa’bah in Arabic means a
high place with respect and prestige. The word Kaa’bah 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 Kaa’bah has been reconstructed up to 12 times Scholars and
historians say that the Kaa’bah has been reconstructed between five to 12
times. The very first construction of the Kaa’bah was done by Prophet Adam.
Allah says in the Qur’ân that this was the first house that was built
for humanity to worship Allah. After this, Prophet Ibrahim and Ismail
rebuilt the Kaa’bah. The measurements of the Kaa’bah’s Ibrahimic
foundation are as follows:
-the eastern wall was 48 feet and 6 inches
-the Hateem side wall was 33 feet
-the side between the black stone and the Yemeni 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 Kaa’bah by Quraish Prophet Muhammad
participated in one of its reconstructions before he became a Prophet.
After a flash flood, the Kaa’bah 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, (theHajar ul
Aswad) on the eastern wall of the Kaa’bah. 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 Kaa’bah. Since the tribe of Quraish did not have
sufficient funds, this reconstruction did not include the entire foundation of
the Kaa’bah as built by Prophet Ibrahim. This is the first time the
Kaa’bah acquired the cubical shape it has now unlike the rectangle shape
which it had earlier.
The portion of the Kaa’bah left out is called Hateem now. Construction
After the Prophet’s Time-Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr The Syrian army
destroyed the Kaa’bah in Muharram 64 (Hijri date) and before the next Hajj
Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with him, reconstructed the
Kaa’bah from the ground up.
Ibn az-Zubayr wanted to make the Kaa’bah how the Prophet Muhammad
wanted it, on the foundation of the Prophet Ibrahim. Ibn az-Zubayr said, "I
heard Aa’ishah (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 Kaa’bah], 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.”
(Bukhaaree).
Ibn az-Zubayr said, "Today, I can afford to do it and I do not fear the
people. Ibn az-Zubayr built the Kaa’bah 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 Kaa’bah on the Prophet Ibrahim’s foundation,
which meant that the Hateem area was included. The Hateem is the area
adjacent to the Kaa’bah 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 Kaa’bah to allow for
light.
-moved the door of the Kaa’bah to ground level and added a second door
to the Kaa’bah.
-added nine cubits to the height of the Kaa’bah, 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 Kaa’bah
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 Kaa’bah
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 KHALIFAH 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 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 Kaa’bah.
-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 Kaa’bah to be constructed the way Abdullah
ibn az-Zubayr had built it, he regretted his actions.
Imam Malik’s advice to the KHALIFAH Harun al Rasheed Abbasi Khalifa
Harun al Rasheed wanted to rebuild the Kaa’bah 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 KHALIFAH 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 Kaa’bah. Based on this advice, Harun al Rasheed did not reconstruct
the Kaa’bah. 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 Kaa’bah’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 Kaa’bah 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 Kaa’bah 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 Kaa’bah In 1996
A major reconstruction of the Kaa’bah 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 Kaa’bah are the stones. All other material has been
replaced including the ceiling and the roof and its wood.
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