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What Is The History Of The Black House Muslims Worship?

One of the iconic images of Islam and the Muslims is the image of hundreds of thousands of Muslims prostrating as one before the Ka'bah; a cuboid structure, draped in black cloth, found in the centre of the city of Makkah, in what is now Saudi Arabia. Many non-Muslims mistakenly assume that the Ka'bah is a kind of idol which Muslims use in their worship and rituals, when nothing could be further from the truth.

In Islam, every single act of worship must be directed to God alone, and the greatest sin in Islam is to direct even the tiniest part of worship to other than God. It is not allowed for a Muslim to have any kind of intermediary with God in worship, whether a living being, or an inanimate object. Muslims pray to Allah - Almighty God - alone, and they do not take things either as direct objects of worship, or indirect objects of worship through which God's help is sought.

The Ka'bah (also spelt Kaaba) is a mosque - a Muslim place of worship, built by the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), and before him by Adam, the Father of Mankind. It serves as a place of prayer, and the direction which every single Muslim around the world faces to pray. It also plays a critical role in the greater and lesser pilgrimages of Hajj and 'Umrah, as the structure which Muslims circle around.

It was built by Ibraaheem (peace be upon him) on the command of Allaah. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

"And (remember) when We showed Ibraaheem the site of the (Sacred) House (the Ka'bah at Makkah) (saying): 'Associate not anything (in worship) with Me, and sanctify My House for those who circumambulate it, and those who bow and make prostration." [al-Hajj 22:26]

Allaah also says (interpretation of the meaning):

"And (remember) when Ibraaheem and (his son) Ismaa'eel were raising the foundations of the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah)..." [al-Baqarah 2:127]

Kaaba was the first house of worship ever built.

The Kaaba and the black stone have great significance to Muslims but are NOT WORSHIPPED. The black stone is believed to have been sent down from heaven to mark the spot where God wanted Adam to establish an altar for worship. When it first came down it was supposedly a brilliant white but over the centuries the stone turned black from absorbing the sins of the people. The stone remained in that spot and eventually Ibraheem (Abraham) left his wife Hagar and his son Ismail (Ishmael) in the desert they lived in the same area that this stone was originally sent. Ibraheem didn't just abandon his son there and never return he came and visited from time to time and on one such occasion Allah revealed to him the location of the stone and Ibraheem and Ismail together built the first Kaaba in that spot and set the black stone into the wall. Eventually over time the people in the area began to worship other than Allah and added idols to the Kaaba. Before Muhammad (SAW) became the Prophet the Kaaba had suffered a fire which had damaged but not completely destroyed it. The Meccans renovated the building and cleaned it up, placing the black stone back into the wall. It was damaged twice once in 683 and again in 952. The damaged pieces are joined together by silver ligaments and a silver frame covers them holding them in plae in the wall. Touching, kissing, or at least reaching towards it is part of the Hajj ritual. So while it is important historically for Muslims and is one of the many parts to the Hajj ritual it has no worship. In fact when it was removed from the Kaaba for a time pilgrims simply continued on with their worship and pretended it was still there or touched/kissed/reached for the place it once was.

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) kissed the Black Stone, and his ummah followed his lead in doing so.

In all of these roles, the Ka'bah is simply a place for worshipping God, and a focal point of that worship, and it does not represent an object of worship itself or an intermediary through which God's help is sought. This is clearly illustrated by the action of 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab, the second most senior and learned of the companions of the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), when he approached the Black Stone, mounted in the eastern corner of the Ka'bah, saying: