ABSTRACT
The word ka‘ba in Arabic is derived from the root meaning ‘cube’. In the Qur
) an, the Ka
( ba is God’s house of
worship and prayers. The Lord twice refers to it as ‘My House’ (bayti) (2.125; 22.26) and Abraham, when addressing God, calls it ‘Your Sacred House’ (baytika al-haram) (14.37). In all, this house of worship is referred to eighteen times in the Qur
) an, using four basic epithets:
al-ka ( ba, al-bayt (the House), al-bayt al-
haram (the Sacred House) and al-bayt al-
( atiq (the Ancient House). The word
Ka ( ba itself occurs only twice, in the
sura entitled al-ma ) ida (the Table) (5.95,
96), where it is made clear that the Ka
( ba and the Sacred House are synon-
ymous: ‘God has made the Ka ( ba, the
Sacred House, an establishment for people’. The significance of these two instances of the word Ka
( ba occurring in
a chapter that is devoted to the Christian theme of the Last Supper should
not be ignored. Both the Ka ( ba and the
Table sent down by God are meant to be perceived as signs or miraculous events in the history of religion and are thus appropriately both housed in a single sura. Other epithets for the Ka
( ba
can be found in another eight chapters, namely 2, 3, 8, 11, 14, 22, 33 and 106, with four repetitions each in chapters 2 (al-baqara) and 22 (al-hajj). It is thrice referred to as al-bayt al-haram (5.97; 14.37), and twice as al-bayt al-
( atiq
(22.29, 33), with all other instances using the shortened form al-bayt or Bayt. The specific location of the Ka
( ba
is also given, at Becca (3.96), in a valley with no cultivation (ghayri dhi zar
) )
(14.37). The main purpose of this sacred shrine was to erect a sanctuary for worshippers in which to establish prayers (salat) and the circumambulation of the Ka
( ba:
The Ka ( ba is also described as the ‘first
House (of worship) appointed for man’ (3.96). This refers to the fact that it was first built by Adam under the instructions of the angel Gabriel as place for worshipping God. (It is perhaps significant to note that Eve (Hava or Hawwa’) is said to have died in the city of Jeddah; her graveyard is well known to local inhabitants and, appropriately, named Hawwa’s Graveyard.) According to Tradition, theKa
( bawas an earthly replica
of a divine prototype in heaven called al-bayt al-ma
) mur (literally, the Ever-
inhabited House), around which the angels circumambulated and which was located exactly above the sacred site of the Ka
( ba. This heavenly prototype was
shown to the Prophet Muhammad during his ascension to the seven heavens when the five ritual prayers were legislated. Tradition has it that 70,000 angels sing praises, perform prayers and circumambulate the House daily in solemn procession. It is important to note that al-bayt al-ma
) mur is referred to once in
the Qur ) an in the form of an oath (52.4).
