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The external staircase of the Kaaba The external staircase of the Kaaba, or the external ladder of the Kaaba, has been used for entry into the Kaaba for many years. During the Conquest of Mecca, the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) stood on the external ladder of the Kaaba and recited his famous sermon. Additionally, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, a famous companion, ascended the external staircase of the Kaaba and leaned against the door of the Kaaba to narrate a hadith about the virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS).

Before the reconstruction of the Kaaba by the Quraysh, the entrance of the Kaaba was at ground level, but during the reconstruction of the Kaaba, five years before the prophethood, the entrance of the Kaaba was first raised above ground level, and a ladder was built for entry, which has been rebuilt and replaced several times throughout history. The latest external staircase of the Kaaba was inaugurated in the year 2000 CE. Location and history According to Azraqi, before the reconstruction of the Kaaba, the entrance of the Kaaba was at ground level. However, during the reconstruction of the Kaaba, five years before the prophethood, the entrance of the Kaaba was raised above ground level, and a staircase was built for entry into it.(14) Azraqī,Akhbār Makka, vol. 1, p. 159-163. Since then, those entering the Kaaba would remove their shoes and place them under the entrance staircase.(15) Azraqī,Akhbār Makka, vol. 1, p. 174. The virtue of the place: During the Conquest of Mecca in the 10th year after Hijra, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stood on the staircase of the Kaaba and recited his famous sermon.(16) Bayhaqī,Dalāʾil al-nubuwwa wa maʿrifat aḥwāl ṣāḥib al-sharīʿa, vol. 5, p. 85. , Al-Dhahabī,Tārīkh al-islām wa wafayāt al-mashāhīr, vol. 2, p. 556. Also, in a report, the ascent of Abu Dharr, the famous companion of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), on the staircase of the Kaaba and his leaning against the door of the Kaaba while narrating a hadith about the virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) has been mentioned.(17) Al-Ṭūsī, Al-Amālī, p. 482.

Reconstruction and architecture The external staircase or ladder has been repaired, reconstructed, and replaced several times. Azraqi, a historian and biographer of the third century of the Islamic calendar, described the external staircase of the Kaaba as made of cedar wood, with a length of 8.5 cubits (slightly over 4 meters) and a width of 3.5 cubits (close to 2 meters), consisting of 13 steps.(18) Azraqī,Akhbār Makka, vol. 1, p. 310. , Kurdī,Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm, vol. 4, p. 140. In the 5th century AH, the width of the ladder was enough for 10 people.(19) . Nāṣir Khusraw, Safarnāmah Nāṣir Khusraw, p. 130,135-136. In the 6th century AH, the staircase of the Kaaba was described as having nine steps with wooden bases, which used four wheels for easy movement.(20) Ibn Jubayr,Riḥla Ibn Jubayr, p. 62-63. In the year 766 AH, by the order of the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Sha'ban ibn Husayn(21) Ibn Fahd,"Ittiḥāf al-wará", vol. 3, p. 304. , Maṭar," Tārīkh ʿimārat al-masjid al-ḥarām", p. 80. a new ladder was built for the Kaaba.(22) Ibn Baṭūṭa,Al-Raḥla Ibn Baṭūṭa, vol. 1, p. 372. In the year 814 AH, some wooden parts of this staircase were repaired.(23) Fāsī al-Makkī,Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām, vol. p. 138. , Ibn Fahd,"Ittiḥāf al-wará", vol. 3, p. 488. In 818 AH, Sayf al-Din Shaykh Mahmudi, known as Mu'ayyad Jerkasi, sent a ladder for the Kaaba.(24) ) Ibn Fahd,"Ittiḥāf al-wará", vol. 3, p. 529. "There is another report of a ladder being sent for the Kaaba in 817 AH by Sayf al-Din Shaykhu, the Sultan of Egypt.(25) ʿ al-sanjārī.,"Manāʾiḥ al-karam", vol. 2, p. 417. "In a report from the year 1040 AH during the Ottoman period, the staircase, approximately four meters long, had seven steps made of pine wood, covered with copper and iron sheets, and was mounted on four copper wheels.(26) ) Ḥusaynī, " Mufarriḥat al-anām fī taʾsīs bayt Allāh al-ḥarām", p. 69. In 1097 AH, Ahmad Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Jeddah and Sheikh of the Haram, inaugurated a new staircase with a handrail for the Kaaba on the 16th of Ramadan of the same year.(27) ʿ al-sanjārī.,"Manāʾiḥ al-karam", vol. 5, p. 19. "The donated staircases by the rulers of India." "It has been reported that in the years 1116, 1240, and 1300 AH, new staircases were constructed and sent to the Kaaba by local Muslim rulers in India.(28) Kurdī,Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm, vol. 4, p. 140-143. "The Saudi era." In the year 1376 AH, by the order of King Saud bin Abdulaziz, a new 11-step wooden ladder adorned with silver coverings and golden Arabic engravings, made in Egypt, was unveiled.(29) Kurdī,Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm, vol. 4, p. 142-143. Kurdi, a historian of the 14th century AH, referred to two types of external staircases in his time: a small single-person ladder and a wide, movable ladder for several people. Two of the second type were kept beside the Zamzam well.(30) Kurdī,Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm, vol. 4, p. 140. ...and these were used for purposes such as washing the Kaaba, installing the covering, making repairs, and ceremonies related to the expansion of the Haram.(31) Kurdī,Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm, vol. 2, p. 441.

Modern External Staircase In the year 2000, during the ceremony of washing the Kaaba, and with the participation of several Islamic delegations present for Hajj, a new external staircase made of teak wood was inaugurated. It measured 565 centimeters in length, 480 centimeters in height, 188 centimeters in width, and weighed 6.5 thousand kilograms. This electric staircase operates with 24 batteries and is controlled automatically.(32) . "Mawāṣafāt sullam al-Kaʿbah al-musharrafah".**

References

• Ibn Jubayr, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Riḥla Ibn Jubayr. Beirut: Dār al-Maktaba al-Hilāl, 1986. • Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Akhbār Makka. Qom: Maktaba al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, [n.d] • Kurdī, Muḥammad Ṭāhir. Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm. Beirut: : Dār al- Khiḍr, 1420 AH. .Ibn Baṭūṭa, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Raḥla Ibn Baṭūṭa. Edited by ʿAbd al-Hādī Tāzī. Rabat: Ākādimīyya al-Mamlikat al-Maghribīyya, 1417 AH.

• Fāsī al-Makkī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām. Translated by Muḥammad Muqaddas. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1386 sh. .Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Akhbār Makka wa mā jāʾa fīhā min al-āthār. Edited by Rushdī Ṣāliḥ Mulḥis. Beirut: 1403 AH. • ʿAlī b. Tāj al-ddīn al-sanjārī.Manāʾiḥ al-karam. Mecca: umm al-qurā university, 1998. .Bayhaqī, Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-. Dalāʾil al-nubuwwa wa maʿrifat aḥwāl ṣāḥib al-sharīʿa. Edited by ʿAbd al-Muʿṭī al-Qalʿajī. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1405 AH.

. Al-Ṭūsī (d. 460 AH). *Al-Amālī*. Qom: Dār al-Thaqāfah, 1414 AH.

. Al-Dhahabī (d. 748 AH). *Tārīkh al-islām wa wafayāt al-mashāhīr*. Edited by ʿUmar ʿAbd al-Salām. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1410 AH . Nāṣir Khusraw (d. 481 AH). *Safarnāmah Nāṣir Khusraw*. Tehran: Zavvār, 1381 SH. . Ibn Fahd, ʿUmar b. Muḥammad (d. 885 AH). *Ittiḥāf al-wará*. Edited by ʿAbd al-Karīm. Mecca: Jāmiʿat Umm al-Qurā, 1408 AH. . Maṭar, Fawzīyah Ḥusayn. *Tārīkh ʿimārat al-masjid al-ḥarām*. Mecca: Jāmiʿat Umm al-Qurā, 1406 AH. . Ḥusaynī, Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn b. Nūr al-Dīn. *Mufarriḥat al-anām fī taʾsīs bayt Allāh al-ḥarām*. Edited by ʿAmmār ʿUbūdī Naṣṣār. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1428 AH. 15. "Mawāṣafāt sullam al-Kaʿbah al-musharrafah". Al-Muwāṭin website, date of publication: 24 Murdād 1401 SH, date of access: 23 Urdībihisht 1403 SH.