Qualla: Kaaba https://qualla.com/kaaba en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/kaaba-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Kaaba https://qualla.com/kaaba Kaaba: Introduction https://qualla.com/kaaba/ Photo credit User:Cagritasarim, CC BY-SA 4.0. At this moment, somewhere on Earth, a Muslim is turning to face the Kaaba. The direction, called the qibla, determines how mosques are oriented in Jakarta and Casablanca and Toronto and Johannesburg. It determines which way the dying are laid in Muslim hospitals. It determines the alignment of entire Islamic cities. And it all points to a single cuboid building, clad in a black silk and gold curtain, tucked into a valley in western Saudi Arabia. The Kaaba is not grand by the standards of world religious architecture. It is austere, almost severe. But for nearly two billion Muslims, it is the most important spot on the planet.

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Image: User:Cagritasarim | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/kaaba-wp/sgu3-kaaba-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Kaaba: A Cube Aligned with the Stars https://qualla.com/kaaba/ Photo credit Amerrycan Muslim, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Kaaba is a cuboid of stone, its interior floored in marble and limestone, its walls tiled partway up with white marble trimmed in darker stone. The four corners roughly point to the four cardinal directions, but not exactly. Astronomers have noted that the building's long axi...

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Image: Amerrycan Muslim | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/kaaba-wp/sgu3-kaaba-a-cube-aligned-with-the-stars.mp3 0:06 2 full Kaaba: The Kiswah https://qualla.com/kaaba/ Photo credit King Eliot, CC BY-SA 4.0. Every year, during the Hajj, the building is dressed fresh. The kiswah is a black silk curtain embroidered with gold, replaced annually in a formal ceremony. Two-thirds of the way up wraps the hizam, a band of gold-embroidered Quranic verses including the Shahada, Islam's declara...

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Image: King Eliot | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/kaaba-wp/sgu3-kaaba-the-kiswah.mp3 0:06 3 full Kaaba: The Tawaf https://qualla.com/kaaba/ Photo credit Khalili Collections, Public domain. To approach the Kaaba in the flesh is to perform tawaf: seven counterclockwise circumambulations, the first three at a quickened pace on the outer edge of the mataf, the paved circular area around the building, and the final four at a leisurely pace closer in. It is compulsory du...

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Image: Khalili Collections | Public domain

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/kaaba-wp/sgu3-kaaba-the-tawaf.mp3 0:06 4 full Kaaba: The Cleaning of the House https://qualla.com/kaaba/ Photo credit Mbenoist at French Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Twice a year, the Kaaba is opened and cleaned. The ceremony takes place on the first day of Sha'ban, the eighth month of the Islamic calendar, and on the fifteenth of Muharram, the first month. The keys are held by the Bani Shaybah tribe, an honor Muhammad bestowed on them more t...

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Image: Mbenoist at French Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/kaaba-wp/sgu3-kaaba-the-cleaning-of-the-house.mp3 0:06 5 full Kaaba: The Black Stone https://qualla.com/kaaba/ Photo credit Wurzelgnohm, CC0. Set into the eastern corner of the Kaaba is the Black Stone, a dark object that exists today as several fragments held together in a silver frame. Islamic tradition holds that an angel brought it to Abraham from heaven, fallen originally onto the nearby hill of Abu Qubays. Scient...

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Image: Wurzelgnohm | CC0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/kaaba-wp/sgu3-kaaba-the-black-stone.mp3 0:06 6 full