50 free Kaaba trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Kaaba trivia quiz covers the stone cube at the centre of Mecca's Grand Mosque, the building every Muslim faces in prayer. The easy questions are the ones most people know: what the word means, which city and mosque it stands in, which direction pilgrims walk around it and how many times, what the black cloth is called, and which stone sits in its eastern corner. From there it moves into the tradition of Ibrahim and Ismail, the Maqam Ibrahim, the Hijr Ismail, the Zamzam well and the pre-Islamic 360 idols cleared out in 630. The hard end covers the details: the qibla change from Jerusalem, the Byzantine shipwreck timber used in the rebuild of about 600, the fire of 683 and Ibn al-Zubayr's rebuilding, Abd al-Malik's 693 restoration, the Qarmatians' theft of the Black Stone in 930, the 1626 flood, the golden rain spout, the 300 kg gold door of 1979, the corners named for Yemen, Syria and Iraq, the star Canopus alignment, the twice-yearly cleaning ceremony and the tribe that has held the keys since before Islam. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the Kaaba, the Black Stone, the kiswah, the Hajj and Meccan history, and each question links to the page that establishes it. Fifty questions, free, with an explanation after every answer.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What does the Arabic word Kaaba literally mean?
The Cube
Some scholars question whether the cubic sense predates Islam and look to a South Arabian word for temple instead.
Q 02The Kaaba stands at the centre of which mosque?
Masjid al-Haram
It is Islam's most important mosque and, as of 2026, the largest and most expensive building in the world.
Q 03Muslims call the Kaaba Baytullah, meaning what?
House of God
It determines the qibla, the direction of prayer, for Muslims worldwide.
Q 04How do pilgrims circle the Kaaba during tawaf?
Seven circuits, anti-clockwise
The rite, tawaf, is compulsory in both Hajj and Umrah; the first three circuits are hurried, the last four leisurely.
Q 05What is the area around the Kaaba where pilgrims perform tawaf called?
The Mataaf
It is crowded every day of the Islamic year except the Day of Arafah, when the covering is changed.
Q 06The black cloth covering the Kaaba is called what?
The Kiswah
It is black silk with gold-wire embroidery and is replaced annually; the hizam is its band of Quranic text.
Q 07On which day of the Islamic calendar is the Kaaba's covering changed?
The 9th of Dhu'l-Hijja, Arafah
It is the one day the Kaaba and Mataaf are not thronged with pilgrims, who are at Arafat.
Q 08Since 1962 the Kaaba's covering has been made entirely in Saudi Arabia. Which country had produced it for most of Islamic history?
Egypt
Caliph Umar sent the first Egyptian kiswah, of white Coptic linen; production moved partly to Mecca from 1927.
Q 09The Black Stone is set into which corner of the Kaaba?
East
Tawaf begins there, and pilgrims try to kiss or touch it if the crowds allow.
Q 10The Black Stone is held together in a frame made of what metal?
Silver
It was broken into fragments long ago; Ibn al-Zubayr first rejoined the pieces with a ligament of the same metal.
Q 11What has the Black Stone often been described as, though it has never been analysed with modern techniques?
A meteorite
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.
Q 12According to Islamic tradition, which two figures rebuilt the Kaaba on God's command?
Ibrahim and Ismail
Ibrahim had left Ismail and his mother in the valley of Mecca years earlier.
Q 13The Maqam Ibrahim, a glass and metal enclosure near the Kaaba, is said to preserve what?
The imprint of a prophet's feet
Q 21In which year did Muhammad conquer Mecca and remove the idols from the Kaaba?
630
The Banu Bakr's breach of a peace treaty with the Quraysh triggered the march.
Q 22Before the qibla was changed to the Kaaba, in which direction did early Muslims pray?
Toward Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem
The change came with the revelation of Surah Al-Baqara 2:144, about 16 months after the migration to Medina.
Q 23The Medina building where the change of prayer direction is said to have happened is known as what?
The Mosque of the Two Qiblas
Muslims there had previously prayed toward Jerusalem, the same direction as the mizrah of Medina's Jews.
Tradition says the stone rose miraculously to let him build the upper walls with Ismail passing up stones.
Q 14The low semicircular wall opposite the Kaaba's north-west side, enclosing ground that was once part of the building, is called what?
The Hijr Ismail, or Hatim
Tradition places Ibrahim's shelter for Ismail and his mother here; the space is not entered during tawaf.
Q 15Why was the Hatim area left outside the Kaaba when the Quraysh rebuilt it around 600 CE?
Financial constraints
Six cubits were excluded from the northern side; Ibn al-Zubayr later rebuilt to include it, and Abd al-Malik reversed that.
Q 16Where did the Quraysh get the timber for the rebuild of about 600 CE?
A Byzantine ship wrecked on the Red Sea coast
A Coptic carpenter from the same ship, Baqum, did the work.
Q 17How did Muhammad settle the clans' quarrel over who should set the Black Stone in place during that rebuild?
He had the elders lift it on a cloak, then placed it himself
The story is told in Ibn Ishaq's biography and al-Azraqi's chronicle of Mecca.
Q 18Before Islam, how many idols is the Kaaba said to have hosted?
360
Possibly one for each day of the year; a statue of the Quraysh's chief deity stood among them.
Q 19The chief idol of pre-Islamic Mecca, made of red agate with a golden hand, was named what?
Hubal
Seven divination arrows stood before it; the Book of Idols says Amr ibn Luhay first placed it on the Kaaba's roof.
Q 20When Muhammad cleared the Kaaba of images after conquering Mecca, which picture is he reported to have spared?
Maryam and Isa
Al-Azraqi records him ordering all pictures erased "except the picture of Maryam".
Q 24Which 628 agreement with the Quraysh allowed Muslims to perform pilgrimage at the Kaaba from the following year?
Hudaybiyyah
Muhammad had set out for Umrah that year and been turned back by the Quraysh.
Q 25The Kaaba was rebuilt after the original was damaged by fire during which event?
The Umayyad siege of Mecca in 683
The fire broke out on 31 October 683 during the war between the Umayyads and Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr.
Q 26Which Umayyad general bombarded the Kaaba with stones during the second siege of Mecca in 692?
Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf
Ibn al-Zubayr was killed and Abd al-Malik razed his Kaaba, rebuilding on the Quraysh foundations in 693.
Q 27Which Shia sect sacked Mecca in 930 and carried the Black Stone off, keeping it until the Abbasids paid a ransom in 952?
The Qarmatians
Abu Tahir al-Jannabi hoped to redirect the Hajj; the Abbasids ransomed the stone back in 952.
Q 28Where was the stolen Black Stone kept from 930 to 952?
The oasis of al-Ahsa
Their leader set it up in his own mosque to redirect the Hajj; the Abbasids ransomed it back after 22 years.
Q 29The Kaaba's walls collapsed in which year after heavy rain and flooding, prompting a rebuild in Meccan granite under Ottoman rule?
1626
A golden rain spout was added in the 1627 rebuild.
Q 30The golden rain spout on the Kaaba's roof is called what?
The Mizab ar-Rahmah
The slanted Shadherwaan base was added at the same time to protect the foundations from rainwater.