Kaaba (Arabic: ٱلْكَعْبَة, translit. al-Kaʿbah, lit. 'cube', Arabic pronunciation: [kaʕ.bah]), in full al-Kaʿbah al-Musyarrafah (Arabic: ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, translit. al- Kaʿbah al-Musyarrafah, lit. 'Noble Kaaba'), is a building in the center of the holiest mosque in Islam, the Grand Mosque, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.[1][2] This place is the most sacred place in Islam.[3] The Kaaba is also known as Baitullah or Bait Allah (Arabic: بَيْت ٱللَّٰه, lit. 'House of Allah'), and is the Qibla (Arabic: قِبْلَة, facing direction) for Muslims around the world when establishing Salat.

When Islam first appeared, Muslims used to face towards Jerusalem when offering their prayers, before being moved to the Kaaba, based on the revelations of the Qur'an to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[4]

According to history, the Kaaba has been rebuilt several times, notably by the Islamic prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Isma'il (Ismael), when Ibrahim returned to Makkah after leaving his wife Hajar and Ismail at the behest of Allah. Tawaf, walking around the Kaaba seven times, is a pillar of Hajj and Umrah.[3] The area around the Kaaba where worshipers perform tawaf is also called the mataf.

Pilgrims and Umrah pilgrims visit the Kaaba and mataf every day, except for the 9th of Zulhijah (Day of Arafah), when the cloth covering it, the kiswa, is replaced. However, an increase in the number of pilgrims occurs during Ramadan and Hajj, when millions of pilgrims perform Tawaf.[5] According to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia, 6,791,100 pilgrims from all over the world came to perform Umrah in 1439 H (2017/2018 AD).[6]