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Salaam All. I recently read a narration online (seriously wish I had bookmarked it) regarding an incident regarding either Imam Zain-ul-Abideen's (عليه السلام) son or Imam Baqir's (عليه السلام) son where they had given money to a man to invest/do business but he had a slightly negative reputation. The man disappeared and the Imam's son was clinging to the cloak of the Kaabah imploring and pleading with Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) for the safe return of the money. I'm totally paraphrasing here but the Imam said something to the effect of you cannot expect Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) to undo your own foolishness. If someone can point me to the source of this incident/narration I would be much obliged.

I decided to take the cover photo of the Shi'a community on Reddit (https://reddit.com/r/shia/) and make some edits to it. It's supposed to look like the Kiswah of the Ka'abah. I decided to make the Arabic on the Kiswah appear as these chain like structures as it went well with the minimalistic theme and also because it seems like the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم).w and his Progeny (عليه السلام).w.s are a Holy Chain of Allah, in addition to being the physical manifestation of His commands etc. All rights to the original image of the shrines belong to its owner. Original: Edited: A high quality 4K resolution version can be found through this link: https://mega.nz/file/Z4gkwB4Y#pWfX1kTHv9lGhWSbz1Wtz-h1LBjn4ifqljupk5DCozM JazakAllah

If the ka’aba is too crowded, why not come back later? You’ll have time to meditate without trying not to step on people. Last guy asked got offended. Told me to contact the Great Mosque.

The word Kaaba means cube in Arabic, and it refers to the square-like building in the holy city of Mecca, which is covered with a silk and cotton veil. It is the most sacred site for Muslims, and millions of people travel to visit that as a pilgrim each year. Many people think that Kaaba was built at the time of Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP) and with the advent of Islam. However, history has a different narration about which we are going to talk in this article. 1. The First People who Built Kaaba The first person who built Kaaba was Adam ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)), and it was remained unharmed until the great flood at the time of Noah ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)) [1], which caused it to be partially damaged. Afterward, the structure of the Kaaba was reconstructed by prophet Abraham ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)) and his son, Ishmael, under the command of Allah. The Quran has narrated this story in this verse: As Abraham raised the foundations of the House with Ishmael, [they prayed]: 'Our Lord, accept it from us! Indeed, You are the All-hearing, the All-knowing. (2: 127) 2. Kaaba Between Abraham ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)) and Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP) The son of prophet Abraham ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)), Ishmael ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)), and a tribe named Jorohom were the guardians of Kaaba after the demise of prophet Abraham ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)). This magnificent building stood upright until that Jarhim tribe, and then a tribe named Amaaleh rebuilt the square-shaped holy place [2]. Years after, one of the predecessors of Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP) named Qusai Bin Kelab, made a wooden structure to protect the building and neighbored it with another building Called Dar-ol Nadvah, which was the governor's state. Then he asked each Quraysh tribe to locate their houses mirroring one side of the Kaaba, to build a circle around it. Some say that Kaaba was once ruined in flood before the time of Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP), but that again is not proven [3]. 3. Kaaba and Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP) When Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP) was chosen as the Messenger of Allah, Kaaba was considered a holy place. Some reference books say that Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP) took part in the reconstruction of the Kaaba after the flood. Also, there was a fight between the Arab clans about where to locate the Black Stone, and Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP) was chosen as the trustee of all clans to locate the holy stone on the eastern side's edge. (4) Kaaba was filled with idols and statues when Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP) left Mecca because of the severe tortures and problems the Arab clans made for him and his followers. Even years before, Kaaba was a place to worship the idols. When Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP) gathered his followers and returned to Mecca, he ruined all those idols with the help of his first follower and friend, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (عليه السلام). Kaaba became a center of performing Hajj and the Qibla of the Muslims. The Dome of Rocks (Qubbat al-Ṣakhrah ) was the first Qibla of Muslims, but Allah inspired Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP) to change it toward the Cubic Kaaba. 4. Kaaba After Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP) Kaaba has been reconstructed many times after the demise of Prophet Muhammad ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)&HP), but the cubic shape of the building has never been changed. Now, the Saudi Arabian Government is responsible for preserving this sanctuary, though it belongs to all Muslims and all nations. There are many different parts and holy sites around Kaaba, like the Black Stone, the Iraqi corner, the Kiswa, or the black covering, which we are going to discuss in our next articles.

Have you ever been fascinated by something? I mean truly fascinated-- wherein you find yourself pondering, daydreaming, and even neglecting your hobbies to research the topic in question? I attended three separate high schools from 1421-1425 (2000-2004 CE), so one might think that Islam would have been very topical during this period. I'll be the first to admit that my high school didn't cover Islam at all. We had no units on Islam or Muslims in World History nor did we speak of Islam in any sort of current events units in social studies (my schools didn't even offer World Religions as an elective). Although we had Muslim students, the only information we ever received on Islam was from an Evangelical Christian Language Arts teacher that I will refer to as Mrs. B. Mrs. B did not take a very favorable view of Islam at all & would semi-regularly sneak in mean-spirited verbal barbs about the faith itself. These usually were ignored by everyone or written off as “Oh, there Mrs. B goes again!” while we pondered whether what her proclamations regarding her specific flavor of Christianity somehow violated the prohibition on public school employees promoting their religious views. We also knew nothing of Islam except what the American media (usually through right-wing pundits) was trying to pound into our heads. That is, until an incredibly well spoken and gifted classmate came along: Massomeh. Massomeh's came from a Muslim family and they had moved to the US from Tehran a few years prior to our sophomore year. She was a straight-A student who played on the girl's soccer team, never was so much as “shushed” by a teacher, and did her best to fit in socially while maintaining a level of integrity in her faith that not even the Southern Baptist students (who would act up outside of school), as vocal and virtue-signaling as they were, could hope to maintain during this period of American history, when the moral sentiments of previous generations began to “circle the drain”. Massey (how she preferred to be addressed by classmates) was the student that a lot of us wished we could be... until Mrs. B and a few other teachers began making their broad generalizations and giving false information about Islam, Iran, and Muslims in the wake of the attacks on New York City. As the idiom goes: “Sista don't play dat”, and we watched in awe as this peer of ours respectfully and concisely refuted, contradicted, and dismantled every claim that these faculty members made about Islam & Muslims (and occasionally Iran). She ended up becoming so popular with the students after these statements that she was voted as the head of our Student government (and also because her skill at persuading adults got us the few concessions in the cafeteria that we had wanted from the day the brand new high school opened its doors). Massey's mini-lectures on Islam had a major impact on me. I was already well into almost an obsessive interest in religions by that point, and it was refreshing to be able to hear one of my peers deliver expertise on something aside from school gossip, gangster rap, or football. I heard her elaborate on what Islam was, what Islam taught (remember that she was not an Islamic scholar), and subjects like the Hajj & what it entailed. When she inevitably gave a presentation on Islam during a current events segment of social studies, she had prepared a PowerPoint presentation complete with graphics; and that's where I saw a picture of a structure that would come to dominate my imagination and interest to this very day: a large black cube in the middle of the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Kaaba. The “House of God”. After the presentation in which she explained to the puzzled students that this grand, black cube structure was built by the patriarch Abraham (the root from which monotheism was reestablished) & it was believed to be the first house of worship ever constructed; I began to search out whatever pictures and information about this fascinating structure that I could. Of course, I was (nominally) Christian, so it made no sense to me why I was so enamored with this ancient structure when my own (nominal) religion had sacred sites and holy places of its own. My family didn't understand, and my teachers were uneasy with this fascination for whatever reason (likely politically motivated, as this was during the first presidential term of George W. Bush). I didn't look into Islam as a religion at this time, all I knew was that there was something about this large, black granite cube that captured my attention. Whether it was the shape, the Masjid al-Haram that surrounded it, or the ritual of the Hajj itself has been forgotten to me over the years; but I began daydreaming about its significance and even put a photo of it as the wallpaper on my 1998 IBM Aptiva PC (which troubled my mom and got me in a bit of trouble, as I was clearly “only doing this to rebel & get attention”). I had even printed a picture of It and glued it to the inside of my creative writing binder. This made no sense to anyone, least of all me: After all, I was the video-gaming, Magic: the Gathering-playing, anti-authoritarian punk rocker teen who was bored in school & had no plans on going to university or college after I escaped what amounted to little more than a government funded indoctrination daycamp. Why was I so star struck by this sacred structure, particularly as I was going through a period of doubting the existence of God and a general belief that “all religions have gotten it wrong”? Fast forward to the present day (1441). As my life changes in so many ways, I am more fascinated than ever before with this amazing, beautiful geometric house of God. However, I still cannot give a good explanation of exactly what it is that piques my interest to the point where I dream of and draw pictures of this monument, I tear through the internet for any articles, scholarly or otherwise, that I can find (and access) that will reveal the history, purpose, and significance of the Kaaba to me. The argument will likely be made that this is another case of the “white man fetishizing a non-white culture”, but such a limited hand-wave of my interest in the Kaaba betrays a painfully ignorant view of Islam and Muslims that is almost ironic in its naivety, as Islam is a religion and a way of life (deen) for all people of earth, regardless of their native language, skin color, or national origin. After all, it was upon making the pilgrimage to this most sacred place that one of my heroes, Malcolm X, repented of his Black Supremacist views and left the Nation of Islam (which is “Islamic” in the way that White Supremacist hate groups in America claim they are “Christian”). Furthermore, the Prophet Muhammad ((عليه السلام).) repudiated the idea of race in his farewell sermon: “O people, your Lord is One, and your father is one: all of you are from Adam, and Adam was from the ground. The noblest of you in Allah’s sight is the most godfearing: Arab has no merit over non-Arab other than godfearingness.” (from the report of Al-Jahiz (translated), forgive me if I have made an error) I wonder if the Kaaba and my obsessive interest in it was what drew me into pursuing Islam, or more appropriately (and truthfully), if this was the “introduction” to the Islamic way of life that Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) used to begin to undo my ignorance in regard to the perfect path that he has ordained for ALL mankind through His final prophet & messenger Muhammad ((عليه السلام).), to draw me away from the imperfect, tainted “cultural Christianity” that I was born into & subsequently was my sole religious exposure until that fateful day in class. Since this period of my life began, I have moved closer and closer to Islam like a comet being drawn toward the sun. I do not know what the future holds for me, nor can I pretend to & doing so would be both absurd & presumptuous on my part; but what I DO know is that Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) has created me for both his pleasure and to fulfill a specific destiny, no matter how insignificant it may seem to me & the world I occupy. Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) is THE BEST of planners & Inshallah, I will eventually be able to live a proper and functional Muslim life. It's just a matter of arriving at that point.

How do you debunk the claim that the kaaba is pagan and the word "Allah" was used pre-Islam and with pagans? If anyone can link me shia sources debunking these claims I will appreciate it since I had discussed this with non-muslim friends and do not know how to answer them when they ask about it. [Mod Note: Link to a banned website was removed.]

Allama Ali Ibne Mohammed (630 AH) in his book Usdul Ghaba Vol iv page 31 says, The Holy Prophet had told Ali, your status is like that of Kaaba. People go to Kaaba but that August house never approaches anybody. Therefore after my death, if people come to you and swear the oath of allegiance you accept it and if they do not come to you then you do not go to them.” “The position of Ali (A.S) amongst the people is like Surat Qul Hu Allahu Ahad in the Qur’an.”Muslim, 1/48; Al-Tirmidhi, 2/299; Al-Nisa’i, 27; Musnad Ahmad, 6/299; Ibn Al-Maghazeli, 191.

Hi there, I am a 15 year old living in England. I had a very strange but magical dream two days ago. I was flying around the Kaaba with I think my mother. It was the most beautiful sight ever. The Kaaba was so close to me and I was flying around I think prophet Muhammad (pbuh) Shrine/Roza was opposite but Kind of the the left side of the Kaaba. The Kaaba was as follows: It was the Kaaba and it looked like how it looks and there were three places of standing. The first was a circle and it was full of people the the outside layer was that of Imam Hussain's Roza because it was only a Rectangle standing area and that too was full of people. Then the opposite side (just like how Imam Hussain and Hazrat Abbas a.s Roza's are structured) was what I believe Prophet Muhammad's shrine. Subhanallah. As I was flying around with my mother she said to me "Mecca is the brightest place of Earth" and I was amazed, then Allah took me to outer space and i was going at a speed which was exceptionally fast that my mind was scared even though I was asleep. It is hard to explain. I was in pitch blackness but I turned to the right direction in the pitch darkness where I could see nothing, and I flyed over somehow I chose the right direction (in pitch blackness I could have gone to wrong way and away from the earth but I went the direction of the earth) and I was going at speeds which are unexplainable. Then I saw the Beautiful Eartb to the left and the Sun to the right. They were not that far away from each other. In earth there it was dark from space but only one area there was a beautiful yellow light shining which i could see from space. The sun was a yellow ball and the earth was dark with only one area where light was shining. Going in very fast speed, I aimed for the bright spot but I was scared even in my dream of crashing and of Jinns in space but I carried on going for earth and as I got closer I realised that the spot where there was yellow light beaming out of was the KAABA, MECCA. My mothers words had come true. I kept flying towards earth until I was so afraid of crashing/dying that I woke myself up. I could feel my conscious self trying to wake myself up if that makes sense? Please can I have your thoughts on this dream? It is by far the most beautiful dream I have ever heard, it is a shame that worldly fears were present even when I was flying around the Kaaba and even when Allah took my soul of this world to prove my mothers statement that Kaaba is the most lit up place on earth. Subhanallah. I told my mother this dream when I woke up and she said it was beautiful and the reason I was scared was because I am a sinner and the worldly fears. She said she was worried I went to pitch blackness as that I generally a bad sign, but she was glad I found the way around to planet earth and kaaba even I didn't make it all the way because I woke myself up due to fear of Jinns and Crashing. What do you guys think? I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

Salaam, Throughout history the Kaaba has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times, but how come the mark left from the birth of Imam Ali (as) is still there? Could it just be a mark from damage that's occurred? I've heard that every year, around Imam Ali's birth date the Saudi government tries covering the mark up since the mark becomes too evident, but I'm not 100% sure about this. ^ this is what I mean btw

http://www.khanwadeabutalib.com/public/ilm/article/Worshiping-and-Praising-Allah-by-all-of-/719/58#.VSzQzdzF9Vg