Block G: History of the Islamic Religion UKS2 Topic: Early Islamic Civilisation Block G: History of the Islamic Religion Session 2 History of the Kabaah and the Hajj © Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.

History of the Kabaah and the Hajj

Every year millions of Muslims gather at the kabaah in Mecca for prayer. Their journey is called the hajj.

In Muslim tradition, the Kabaah is said to have been built by the first man, Adam, and then later rebuilt by the prophet Abraham. This is a medieval drawing of what Abraham's Kabaah might have looked like.

This is what a more modern artist thinks the Kabaah looked like as built by Abraham. A modern writer said: ”Tradition holds that it was originally a simple unroofed rectangular structure”.

“The Quraysh had also several idols in and around the Ka'bah “The Quraysh had also several idols in and around the Ka'bah. The greatest of these was Hubal. Beside it were laid the ritual arrows of divination. On both sides of it were placed the two gold images of deers”. Arabians still worshipped at the Kabaah but they filled it with idols of many gods as they became pagan. A modern historian wrote this about what was inside.

“The Quraysh tribe, who ruled Mecca, rebuilt the pre- Islamic Kaaba in c. 608 CE with alternating courses of masonry and wood. A door was raised above ground level to protect the shrine from intruders and flood waters”. This modern writer suggests that the Kabaah was rebuilt before Muhammad(pbuh) in stone and wood, with a raised door and a roof.

Muhammad(pbuh) cleared the Kabaah out, getting rid of all the idols and returning it to worshipping just one god. He built the first cube shaped building after it was damaged by floods.

This modern writer suggests the Kabaah was rebuilt as a rectangle in the 7th century AD and that Ibn Zubayr said he knew that's what Muhammad had wanted. “The Kaaba was set on fire in 683 AD. Ibn Zubayr rebuilt the Kaaba in wood and stone, following Ibrahim’s original dimensions and also paved the space around the Kaaba”.

The Kabaah was rebuilt again and made into a cube again, but there was a low curved wall at one end showing where Abraham's temple was meant originally.

For many centuries the Kabaah has been covered in the kiswa, a black cloth embroidered in gold with words from the Quran. This pictures dates from 1750.

Because of large numbers visiting it, the buildings around the Kabaah were taken down in the 20th century and the open area was expanded. One of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every Muslim who is able to do so to perform the hajj pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime Here is the Kabaah in 2008 surrounded by thousands of people.