Ka'bah: Difference between revisions

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'''The Ka'aba''' (الكعبة, lit. "the Cube") is the holiest mosque in [[Islam]] located in [[Mecca]] ([[Muhammad]]'s city of birth) and is figuratively known as the "House of God" (or ''Bayt Allah'', lit. "House of Allah"). Another name for the Ka'aba is ''Masjid al-Haram'', which means "Mosque of the sanctuary", where "the sanctuary" is the name for the part of the city of Mecca that is considered sanctified. Muslims face its direction in daily prayer and it is intrinsic to the Hajj pilgrimage, two of the five pillars of Islam. In the Quran and Islamic tradition the Ka'bah is identified with the site of a sanctuary built by Abraham where he went to sacrifice his son Ishmael.

Prior to Muhammad claiming to receive [[Revelation|revelations]] from [[Allah]], the Ka'aba served as a popular [[Pre-Islamic Arabic Religion in Islam|pre-Islamic shrine]], which according to hadith tradition housed 360 idols and images of mostly pagan deities and attracted pilgrims and trade from many parts of Arabia. There were also eye-witness reports that figures of Mary and Jesus were in the Kaaba narrated from Muslims who died in the early 2nd century.<ref>See this [https://twitter.com/shahanSean/status/1546629237053988867 Twitter thread] by Professor Sean Anthony - 11 July 2022</ref> According to a hadith, the Ka'bah may have contained pictures of Abraham and Mary (see {{Bukhari|4|55|570}} and similarly {{Bukhari|4|55|571}}). Also according to tradition, particularly emphasized at this shrine during Muhammad's pre-Islamic years was the worship of the pagan Arab god [[Hubal]].

The Quran frequently mentions a secure sanctuary or house where rituals take place, which it names "the Ka'bah, the sacred house" in {{Quran-range|5|95|97}}. Traditionally, this is identified with the "foundations of the house" raised by [[Ibrahim (Abraham)|Abraham]] and [[Isma'il|Ishmael]] in {{Quran|2|127}}, which is probably the intended implication. See also {{Quran|3|96|97}} which says the first house for mankind where Abraham used to pray was built at Bakkah, generally understood to mean Mecca, and {{Quran-range|14|35|41}} where the sacred house built by Abraham is described in the same terms as the Ka'bah in other verses. Even more explict is {{Quran-range|22|26|29}} where the site of the house of Abraham is identified with the "ancient house" which it permits pilgrims to circumambulate. There is, however, little to no direct evidence on the pre-Islamic history of the Ka'bah in Mecca. In contrast, there is some significant indirect evidence bearing on the question and it does not favour the traditional understanding.

 

In his paper ''Foundations of the house'', Joseph Witztum discusses this verse ({{Quran|2|127}}). He argues that the Quranic scene reflects a number of post-Biblical traditions building on [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2022&version=NIV Genesis 22] where Abraham goes to sacrifice Isaac (in the Quran, instead it is Ishmael). In later exegetical traditions, Abraham builds an altar for the sacrifice and Isaac willingly offers himself for slaughter. By the time of Josephus' ''Antiquities of the Jews'' 1:227 (1st century CE), Isaac even helps in its construction. In the 4th to 5th centuries several (mostly Syriac) Christian homilies take up this motif. Then a 6th century CE Syriac homily by Jacob of Serugh on Genesis 22 describes them as building not just an altar but a "house" (Syriac: bayta), like in the Quran (Arabic: bayt). Witztum argues that the Quran transfers this imagery associated with Jerusalem to Mecca.<ref>Joseph Witztum, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40378843 The Foundations of the House (Q 2: 127)], Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, vol. 72, no. 1, 2009, pp. 25–40 ]<BR />In the Book of Jubilees (2nd century BCE), an altar built by Abraham in Hebron is mentioned. Abraham's house is also mentioned many times but only in the sense of his actual home or household, not a sanctuary.</ref> The clearly late development of the idea that Abraham build a sacred house in which to sacrifice his son undermines the idea that there is any history to the story, let alone that the Ka'bah in Mecca is the location where it happened. For many more examples of Syriac Christian narrative elements in the Quran, see the article [[Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature]]

 

 

A place called Macoraba in Arabia is mentioned in a geographic work by Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE. Many academic scholars believe this is a reference to Mecca (first proposed in the 16th century), and some even think that the name derives from an ancient South Arabian word for temple, mkrb. Others historians such as Patricia Crone and Ian D. Morris have argued that there is no good reason to believe Macoraba and Mecca are the same place. The idea has never been backed by any significant academic investigation, nor has any other ancient source been shown to describe Mecca or its temple.<ref>See the conclusion in Ian D. Morris (2018) [https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/alusur/article/view/6850 Mecca and Macoraba] in: al-Usur al-wusta vol. 26 (2018)</ref>

 

It seems that Muhammad unwittingly merely continued a pre-Islamic tradition of worship and pilgrimage at the Ka'bah. Its identification with the house of Abraham is without any historical foundation. Evidence suggests that not even the story that Abraham and his son built a sacred house at all had any significant antiquity.

Muslims worldwide face the Ka'aba in Mecca five times a day to preform their [[Salah|daily prayers]] (one of the Five Pillars of Islam). In this capacity, as the direction of prayer, the Ka'aba is referred to as the ''Qibla''. While it is taught by orthodox Islam that the Qibla changed during Muhammad's lifetime from Jerusalem to the Ka'aba, some recent critical scholarship has suggested that early Muslims after [[Muhammad's Death|Muhammad's death]] used to face the city of Petra for several decades. However, this view has been widely rejected by other academic scholars who have discussed the theory.

{{Main|Hajj|l1=Hajj}}Today, as with many Arabs during the pre-Islamic period, Muslims travel to the Ka'aba to perform the [[Hajj]] ceremony (which reflects in great detail the pilgrimage rituals of the pre-Islamic Arabs) at least once during their lifetime if they are financially and physically able. The Hajj is another of Islam's [[Five Pillars of Islam|Five Pillars]] and has its rituals outlined in some detail in the Qur'an.