Kaaba
Saudi Arabia readies for 1.3 million pilgrims’ transfer to Mina
Source : Al Arabiya | 12 Oct 2013
All Saudi authorities involved in organizing this year’s hajj have completed preparatory measures to begin transferring more than 1.3 million pilgrims from Makkah to Mina for the day of al-Tarwiyah.
The transfer of the pilgrims to the holy sites is set to begin on Saturday evening. At Mina, air-conditioned tents provide temporary accommodation to the visiting pilgrims.
Ottoman portico surrounding Kaaba to be protected
Source : Agencies | 11 Dec 2012
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has ordered the preservation of the Ottoman portico within the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca during a project to expand the prayer area in the mosque, a Turkish daily reported on Sunday.
The project will increase the size of the mosque to 500,000 square meters, doubling its current size. However, there have been debates as to whether the historic Ottoman portico within the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca will be demolished as part of the project or not.
Work on mataf expansion begins
Source : Arab News | 16 Nov 2012
Preliminary work for the expansion of the mataf (the circumambulation area around the Kaaba) started yesterday with the installation of huge cranes at the northeastern courtyard of the Grand Mosque. The contractor undertaking the expansion has sought the evacuation of preachers’ offices in the mataf and the command office of the Haram Security forces close to Al-Safa Gate.
The expansion is being undertaken on the basis of a study prepared by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Haj and Umrah Studies.
Over a milion attend last Friday prayer in Kaaba
Source : Agencies | 22 Oct 2012
More than a million Hajj pilgrims flocked to the Holy Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on Friday to join in the last Friday prayers before their visit to the Plain of Arafat next week. Muslim pilgrims from all over the world met Kaaba for the Friday prayer.
Kiswa handed to Sheikh Al-Shaibi
By Jassim Abuzaid | 18 Oct 2012
The General Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs handed in the new Kiswa (Kaaba's cover) to the senior gatekeeper of the Kabaa yesterday in Makkah.
Sheikh Abdurrahman Al-Sudais, chief of the general presidency, handed in the Kiswa to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al-Shaibi in order to put it on the Kaaba on the 9th of Dul Hijja (Oct. 25), as is the annual custom.
Sadin, Kaaba key keeper keeping tradition alive
By Nadim Al-Hamid | 06 Oct 2012
Since Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) handed over the key to the Kaaba to Othman bin Talha, the prophet’s companion’s lineage sons have been inheriting it and the title Sadin of the Kaaba until today.
The Sadin is the keeper of the Kaaba’s key.
“Sadins are originally members of the Al-Shaibi family whose history can be traced to pre-Islamic period,” said Sadin Nizar Al-Shaibi.
The family’s history in key keeping goes back to the days of Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, according to Al-Shaibi.
The door of the Kaaba remains one of history’s mysteries
Source : Al Arabiya | 03 Aug 2012
Since it came into being and till now, it is still one of the mysteries of history. It is the door of the Kaaba. There is no documentation of its initial shape or what its builders looked like. There is, however, one indisputable historical fact: the Kaaba had two doors for a long time.
