50 Fun Facts About Kaaba

What does the Arabic word Kaaba literally mean?

Some scholars question whether the cubic sense predates Islam and look to a South Arabian word for temple instead.

The Kaaba stands at the centre of which mosque?

It is Islam's most important mosque and, as of 2026, the largest and most expensive building in the world.

Muslims call the Kaaba Baytullah, meaning what?

It determines the qibla, the direction of prayer, for Muslims worldwide.

How do pilgrims circle the Kaaba during tawaf?

The rite, tawaf, is compulsory in both Hajj and Umrah; the first three circuits are hurried, the last four leisurely.

What is the area around the Kaaba where pilgrims perform tawaf called?

It is crowded every day of the Islamic year except the Day of Arafah, when the covering is changed.

The black cloth covering the Kaaba is called what?

It is black silk with gold-wire embroidery and is replaced annually; the hizam is its band of Quranic text.

On which day of the Islamic calendar is the Kaaba's covering changed?

It is the one day the Kaaba and Mataaf are not thronged with pilgrims, who are at Arafat.

Since 1962 the Kaaba's covering has been made entirely in Saudi Arabia. Which country had produced it for most of Islamic history?

Caliph Umar sent the first Egyptian kiswah, of white Coptic linen; production moved partly to Mecca from 1927.

The Black Stone is set into which corner of the Kaaba?

Tawaf begins there, and pilgrims try to kiss or touch it if the crowds allow.

The Black Stone is held together in a frame made of what metal?

It was broken into fragments long ago; Ibn al-Zubayr first rejoined the pieces with a ligament of the same metal.

What has the Black Stone often been described as, though it has never been analysed with modern techniques?

Some writers compare it to the meteorite worshipped at the Temple of Artemis; Marinus of Tyre mentioned Arab devotion to a "quadrangular stone" around 100 CE.

According to Islamic tradition, which two figures rebuilt the Kaaba on God's command?

Ibrahim had left Ismail and his mother in the valley of Mecca years earlier.

The Maqam Ibrahim, a glass and metal enclosure near the Kaaba, is said to preserve what?

Tradition says the stone rose miraculously to let him build the upper walls with Ismail passing up stones.

The low semicircular wall opposite the Kaaba's north-west side, enclosing ground that was once part of the building, is called what?

Tradition places Ibrahim's shelter for Ismail and his mother here; the space is not entered during tawaf.

Why was the Hatim area left outside the Kaaba when the Quraysh rebuilt it around 600 CE?

Six cubits were excluded from the northern side; Ibn al-Zubayr later rebuilt to include it, and Abd al-Malik reversed that.

Where did the Quraysh get the timber for the rebuild of about 600 CE?

A Coptic carpenter from the same ship, Baqum, did the work.

How did Muhammad settle the clans' quarrel over who should set the Black Stone in place during that rebuild?

The story is told in Ibn Ishaq's biography and al-Azraqi's chronicle of Mecca.

Before Islam, how many idols is the Kaaba said to have hosted?

Possibly one for each day of the year; a statue of the Quraysh's chief deity stood among them.

The chief idol of pre-Islamic Mecca, made of red agate with a golden hand, was named what?

Seven divination arrows stood before it; the Book of Idols says Amr ibn Luhay first placed it on the Kaaba's roof.

When Muhammad cleared the Kaaba of images after conquering Mecca, which picture is he reported to have spared?

Al-Azraqi records him ordering all pictures erased "except the picture of Maryam".

In which year did Muhammad conquer Mecca and remove the idols from the Kaaba?

The Banu Bakr's breach of a peace treaty with the Quraysh triggered the march.

Before the qibla was changed to the Kaaba, in which direction did early Muslims pray?

The change came with the revelation of Surah Al-Baqara 2:144, about 16 months after the migration to Medina.

The Medina building where the change of prayer direction is said to have happened is known as what?

Muslims there had previously prayed toward Jerusalem, the same direction as the mizrah of Medina's Jews.

Which 628 agreement with the Quraysh allowed Muslims to perform pilgrimage at the Kaaba from the following year?

Muhammad had set out for Umrah that year and been turned back by the Quraysh.

The Kaaba was rebuilt after the original was damaged by fire during which event?

The fire broke out on 31 October 683 during the war between the Umayyads and Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr.

Which Umayyad general bombarded the Kaaba with stones during the second siege of Mecca in 692?

Ibn al-Zubayr was killed and Abd al-Malik razed his Kaaba, rebuilding on the Quraysh foundations in 693.

Which Shia sect sacked Mecca in 930 and carried the Black Stone off, keeping it until the Abbasids paid a ransom in 952?

Abu Tahir al-Jannabi hoped to redirect the Hajj; the Abbasids ransomed the stone back in 952.

Where was the stolen Black Stone kept from 930 to 952?

Their leader set it up in his own mosque to redirect the Hajj; the Abbasids ransomed it back after 22 years.

The Kaaba's walls collapsed in which year after heavy rain and flooding, prompting a rebuild in Meccan granite under Ottoman rule?

A golden rain spout was added in the 1627 rebuild.

The golden rain spout on the Kaaba's roof is called what?

The slanted Shadherwaan base was added at the same time to protect the foundations from rainwater.

The Kaaba's door, the Bab ar-Rahmah, was replaced in 1979 with doors made of what?

Ahmad bin Ibrahim Badr made them, replacing the doors his father had made in 1942.

How high above the ground is the Kaaba's door set?

A wooden staircase on wheels, kept between the Banu Shaybah gate and the Zamzam well, is used to reach it.

Roughly how tall is the Kaaba?

Its sides measure about 12 by 10.5 metres, and the interior floor stands well above the tawaf area.

How many pillars stand inside the Kaaba?

Some sources erroneously report two; lamp-like objects hang from a teak ceiling capped with stainless steel.

The Kaaba's other three corners are named for which regions?

The Rukn al-Yamani, Rukn ash-Shami and Rukn al-Iraqi; the four corners point roughly to the cardinal directions.

The Kaaba's long axis has been observed to align with the rising of which star?

Its short axis roughly lines up with the summer-solstice sunrise and winter-solstice sunset.

The Kaaba is opened for a cleaning ceremony how often, and with what?

The ceremonies fall on the 1st of Sha'ban and the 15th of Muharram, led by the Governor of Makkah Province.

Which tribe has held the keys to the Kaaba since before Islam, an honour confirmed by Muhammad?

They descend from Uthman ibn Talha; Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al-Shaibi kept the key for eighteen years until 2010.

The Islamic "Year of the Elephant", around 570 CE, is named for whose failed march on the Kaaba with war elephants?

The lead elephant, Mahmud, is said to have refused to enter Mecca; Surah Fil describes birds destroying the army.

The Christian ruler who led the elephant expedition was a viceroy of which kingdom ruling Yemen?

Originally a general in the Aksumite army that invaded Yemen around 525, he seized power for himself.

The Zamzam Well is said in Islamic tradition to have sprung up to save the infant Ismail and his mother, named what?

In some versions she runs between the hills of Safa and Marwah searching for water, a route pilgrims still walk.

The pair of horns kept inside the pre-Islamic Kaaba were said to have belonged to what?

Ram's horns, money and undefined decorations were all recorded inside.

Pre-Islamic Mecca was declared a sanctuary in which no violence was allowed within how far of the Kaaba?

The combat-free zone let Mecca thrive as both pilgrimage site and trading centre.

Which two Saudi and Iranian banknotes carry a picture of the Kaaba on the reverse?

The Kaaba is also considered the axis mundi, with the Gate of Heaven directly above.

The earliest known circulated image of the Kaaba appeared in 1193 on what kind of document?

An earlier mosaic in the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, from 705-15, does not survive.

In 1916, whose troops bombarded Mecca and set fire to the Kaaba's covering, an incident exploited by the Arab Revolt?

Hussein bin Ali's propaganda used it to paint the Ottomans as impious.

Who led the armed seizure of the Grand Mosque in November 1979?

Up to 600 militants declared one of their leaders the Mahdi; the Saudis called in French GIGN advisers to end the siege.

The clock tower that looms over the Kaaba is part of which complex, home to the tallest building in Saudi Arabia?

Guinness rates it the tallest clock tower in the world, with the largest clock faces.

The Quran calls the Kaaba al-Bayt al-Atiq, meaning what?

Other Quranic names include al-Bayt al-Haram, the Sacred House.

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah counted how many external pilgrims arriving for Umrah in 1439 AH (2017-18)?

Numbers peak during Ramadan and the Hajj, when millions gather for tawaf.