Kaaba

views updated May 23 2018

Kaaba (Ka'abah or Ka'ba) Central shrine of Islam, located in the Great Mosque in Mecca. In prayer, Muslims face the meridian that passes through the Kaaba. Each pilgrim who undertakes the Hajj circles the shrine seven times, touching the Black Stone for forgiveness. The Black Stone is said to have been given to the patriarch Abraham by the Archangel Gabriel.

Kaaba

views updated May 14 2018

Kaaba a square stone building in the centre of the Great Mosque at Mecca, the site most holy to Muslims and towards which they must face when praying. It stands on the site of a pre-Islamic shrine said to have been built by Abraham, and a sacred Black Stone is set in its south-eastern corner.