Kaaba

The Kaaba in the mosque known as Al-Masjid al Haram in Makkah is one of the holy places of Islam. It is a small building in the shape of a cube approximately twenty metres on each side, covered by black silk cloth, known as the Kiswa, which is replaced yearly [1]. It contains the Hajar el Aswad ("Black Stone"), which is presumed by most sources to be a meteorite remnant.

At the time of Muhammad, his tribe, the Quraysh was in charge of the Kaaba, which was at that time a shrine to Arabic pagan gods. Muhammad, preaching the doctrines of one God (called Allah) and the threat of the Day of Judgment, did not at first have much success in the city of Makkah.

The Quraysh persecuted and harassed him continuously, and he was forced to flee. On his return from the Hijra, the Kaaba was re-dedicated as a temple to Allah.

According to tradition, the Kaaba was built by the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son.

The Qibla and prayer

The Qibla, for any point of reference on the Earth, is the direction of the Kaaba. In Muslim religious practice, supplicants must face this direction in prayer. It should be noted that Muslims do not worship the Kaaba or its contents, any more than Christians worship churches or crosses; the Kaaba is simply a focal point for prayer.

The Qibla points along the shortest path to the Kaaba. Because the Earth is approximately spherical, this path will be a great circle such as airplanes fly. In ancient times, Muslims traveling abroad used an astrolabe to find the Qibla.

In the early years of Islam, Muslims used to pray towards Al-Masjid al Aqsa in Jerusalem (and thus it's called the First of the Two Qiblas). After the return from the Hijra, Muslims started to pray towards the Kaaba in Al-Masjid al Haram in Mecca.