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| '''The external staircase of the Ka'ba''', or the external ladder of the Ka'ba, has been used for entry into the Ka'ba for many years. During the [[Conquest of Mecca]], the [[Prophet Muhammad (s)|Prophet muhammad(s)]] stood on the external ladder of the Kaa'ba and recited his famous sermon. Additionally, [[Abu Dharr al-Ghifari]], a famous companion, ascended the external staircase of the Ka'ba and leaned against the door of the Ka'ba to narrate a hadith about the virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS).
| | The internal staircase of the Kaaba |
| | The internal staircase of the Kaaba is a fixed staircase inside the Kaaba, located in the Syrian Corner, which is used to ascend to the roof of the Kaaba. This staircase was first made of wood by the Quraysh during the reconstruction of the Kaaba five years before the Prophethood. |
| | This staircase has been rebuilt, repaired, and replaced several times throughout different historical periods. Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi, Al-Mutawakkil Abbasi, and the Ottoman kings were some of the individuals involved. The latest internal staircase of the Kaaba was constructed during the reign of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. The entrance to this staircase is a locked door adorned with gold and silver designs. |
| | Location and History |
| | The internal staircase of the Kaaba is located on the right side after entering the Kaaba, in the Syrian Corner.(1) Azraqī,''Akhbār Makka'', vol. 1, p. 294. , Ibn Rustah,'' Al-Aʿlāq al-Nafīsah'', p. 33. |
| | For the first time, during the reconstruction of the Kaaba by the Quraysh, a wooden staircase for ascending to the roof of the Kaaba was built five years before the Prophethood.(2)Azraqī,''Akhbār Makka'', vol. 1, p. 165. , Fāsī al-Makkī,''Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām'', vol. p. 147. |
| | The internal staircase of the Kaaba has been repaired, rebuilt, and replaced several times throughout history. The list of these changes can be seen in the table below:*** |
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| 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 Ka'ba was inaugurated in the year 2000 CE.
| | Modern Internal Staircase |
| ==Location and history==
| | During the reign of King Fahd (1982-2005 CE), along with the repairs to the Kaaba, the internal staircase was also rebuilt using glass to increase the light inside the Kaaba. These renovations were completed in the year 1417 AH.(16) Muḥyī al-Dīn Aḥmad Imām, '' Fī Rahāb al-Bayt al-ʿAtīq '', p. 175,177. |
| According to Azraqi, before the reconstruction of the Ka'ba, the entrance of the Kaaba was at ground level. However, during the reconstruction of the Ka'ba, five years before the prophethood, the entrance of the Ka'ba was raised above ground level, and a staircase was built for entry into it.<ref>Azraqī,''Akhbār Makka'', vol. 1, p. 159-163.</ref>
| | Additionally, the entrance to this staircase is a locked door adorned with gold and silver designs.(17) "Al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah*** |
| Since then, those entering the [[Ka'ba]] would remove their shoes and place them under the entrance staircase.<ref>Azraqī,''Akhbār Makka'', vol. 1, p. 174.</ref>
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| ===Virtue===
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| During the Conquest of Mecca in the 10th AH/631-2, the Prophet Muhammad (s) stood on the staircase of the Ka'ba and recited his famous sermon.<ref>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.</ref>
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| Also, in a report, the ascent of Abu Dharr, the famous companion of the [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]], on the staircase of the Ka'ba and his leaning against the [[door of the Ka'ba]] while narrating a hadith about the virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) has been mentioned.<ref>Ṭūsī, ''Al-Amālī'', p. 482.</ref>
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| ==Reconstruction and architecture==
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| The external staircase or ladder has been repaired, reconstructed, and replaced several times. Azraqi, a historian and biographer of the third century AH, described the external staircase of the [[Ka'ba]] 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.<ref>Azraqī,''Akhbār Makka'', vol. 1, p. 310. , Kurdī,''Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm'', vol. 4, p. 140.</ref>
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| In the 5th century AH/626-7, the width of the ladder was enough for 10 people.<ref>Nāṣir Khusraw, ''Safarnāmah Nāṣir Khusraw'', p. 130,135-136.</ref>
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| 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.<ref>Ibn Jubayr,''Riḥla Ibn Jubayr'', p. 62-63.</ref>
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| In the year 766 AH/1364-5, by the order of the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Sha'ban b. Husayn <ref>Ibn Fahd,"Ittiḥāf al-wará", vol. 3, p. 304. , Maṭar," Tārīkh ʿimārat al-masjid al-ḥarām", p. 80.</ref> a new ladder was built for the Ka'ba.<ref>Ibn Baṭūṭa,''Al-Raḥla Ibn Baṭūṭa'', vol. 1, p. 372.</ref>
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| In the year 814 AH, some wooden parts of this staircase were repaired.<ref>Fāsī al-Makkī,''Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām'', vol. p. 138. , Ibn Fahd,"Ittiḥāf al-wará", vol. 3, p. 488.</ref>
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| In 818 AH/1415-6, Sayf al-Din Shaykh Mahmudi, known as Mu'ayyad Jerkasi, sent a ladder for the Ka'ba.<ref>Ibn Fahd,"Ittiḥāf al-wará", vol. 3, p. 529.</ref>
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| "There is another report of a ladder being sent for the Ka'ba in 817 AH/1414-5 by Sayf al-Din Shaykhu, the Sultan of Egypt.<ref>sanjārī.,"Manāʾiḥ al-karam", vol. 2, p. 417.</ref>
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| "In a report from the year 1040 AH/1630-1 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.<ref>Ḥusaynī, " Mufarriḥat al-anām fī taʾsīs bayt Allāh al-ḥarām", p. 69.</ref>
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| In 1097 AH/1685-6, Ahmad Pasha, the Ottoman governor of [[Jeddah]] and Sheikh of the Haram, inaugurated a new staircase with a handrail for the Ka'ba on the 16th of Ramadan of the same year.<ref>sanjārī,"Manāʾiḥ al-karam", vol. 5, p. 19.</ref>
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| ===The donated staircases by the rulers of India===
| | References |
| "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.<ref>Kurdī,''Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm'', vol. 4, p. 140-143.</ref>
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| ==The Saudi era==
| | 1. **Akhbār Makkah: Al-Azraqī** (Died 248 AH). Edited by Kūshash Rashīd al-Ṣāliḥ. Makkah: Maktabat al-Thaqāfah, 1415 AH. |
| In the year 1376 AH/1956-7, by the order of King Saud b. Abdulaziz, a new 11-step wooden ladder adorned with silver coverings and golden Arabic engravings, made in Egypt, was unveiled.<ref>Kurdī,''Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm'', vol. 4, p. 142-143.</ref>
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| 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]].<ref>Kurdī,''Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm'', vol. 4, p. 140.</ref> and these were used for purposes such as washing the Ka'ba, installing the covering, making repairs, and ceremonies related to the expansion of the [[Haram]].<ref>Kurdī,''Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm'', vol. 2, p. 441.</ref>
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| ===Modern External Staircase===
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| In the year 2000 CE, during the [[ceremony of washing the Ka'ba]], 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.<ref>[https://www.almowaten.net/2022/08/%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%A9/ "Mawāṣafāt sullam al-Kaʿbah al-musharrafah"]</ref>
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| ==Notes==
| | 2. **Al-Aʿlāq al-Nafīsah: Ibn Rustah**. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1892 CE. |
| {{Notes}}
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| ==References==
| | 3. **Pulkan Kaʿbah: Abū al-Faḍl Rabānī**. Dānishnāmah Ḥajj wa Ḥaramayn Sharīfayn, 1392 SH. |
| {{References}}
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| *Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. ''Akhbār Makka wa mā jāʾa fīhā min al-āthār''. Edited by Rushdī Ṣāliḥ Mulḥis. Beirut: 1403 AH. | | 4. **Al-Tārīkh al-Qawīm: Muḥammad Ṭāhir al-Kurdī**. Edited by Ibn Duhaysh. Beirut: Dār Khadīr, 1420 AH. |
| *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. | | |
| *Dhahabī. ''Tārīkh al-islām wa wafayāt al-mashāhīr''. Edited by ʿUmar ʿAbd al-Salām. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1410 AH. | | 5. **Shifāʾ al-Ghurām: Muḥammad al-Fāsī** (Died 832 AH). Edited by a group of scholars. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyah, 1421 AH. |
| *Fāsī al-Makkī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. ''Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām''. Translated by Muḥammad Muqaddas. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1386 sh. | | |
| *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. | | 6. **Al-ʿUqd al-Thamīn fī Tārīkh al-Balad al-Amīn: Muḥammad al-Fāsī**. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyah, 1419 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. | | |
| *Ibn Fahd, ʿUmar b. Muḥammad. ''Ittiḥāf al-warā''. Edited by ʿAbd al-Karīm. Mecca: Jāmiʿat Umm al-Qurā, 1408 AH. | | 7. **Fī Rahāb al-Bayt al-ʿAtīq: Muḥyī al-Dīn Aḥmad Imām**. Andalus: Dār Qurtubah, No date available. |
| *Ibn Jubayr, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. ''Riḥla Ibn Jubayr''. Beirut: Dār al-Maktaba al-Hilāl, 1986. | | |
| *Kurdī, Muḥammad Ṭāhir. ''Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm''. Beirut: : Dār al- Khiḍr, 1420 AH. | | 8. **"Al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah"**: Al-Haramain Website. Article publication date: 9 Ordibehesht 1399 SH, Accessed: 28 Ordibehesht 1403 SH. |
| *Khusraw, Nāṣir. ''Safarnāmah Nāṣir Khusraw''. Tehran: Zavvār, 1381 SH. | | |
| *Maṭar, Fawzīyah Ḥusayn. ''Tārīkh ʿimārat al-masjid al-ḥarām''. Mecca: Jāmiʿat Umm al-Qurā, 1406 AH. | | 9. **Marʾat al-Ḥarāmeyn: Ibrāhīm Rafʿat Pāshā**. Qom: Al-Maṭbaʿah al-ʿIlmīyah, 1344 AH. |
| *sanjārī, ʿAlī b. Tāj al-ddīn al-. ''Manāʾiḥ al-karam''. Mecca: umm al-qurā university, 1998. | | |
| *Ṭūsī. ''Al-Amālī''. Qom: Dār al-Thaqāfah, 1414 AH. | | 10. **Mufarriḥat al-Anām fī Tāsīs Bayt Allāh al-Ḥarām: Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ibn Nūr al-Dīn Ḥusaynī**. Edited by ʿAmmār ʿAbbūdī Nusār. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1428 AH. |
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| | 11. **Manāḥiḥ al-Karam: ʿAlī ibn Tāj al-Dīn al-Sanjarī**. Edited by Al-Miṣrī. Makkah: Jāmiʿat Umm al-Qurá, 1419 AH. |
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| | 12. **Mawṣūʿah Marʾat al-Ḥarāmayn al-Sharīfayn: Ayyūb Ṣabrī Pāshā**. Cairo: Dār al-Afāq al-ʿArabīyah, 1424 AH. |