Ka'bah, the House of Allah SWT.

(Image source: islamic-awareness.org)

Every year more than a million people come here. (Wikipedia)

If someone asked me what country I would like to visit, I would shout the answer out loud "Saudi Arabia! Mecca!". The city has a really beautiful building, so beautiful until even a castle made of gold couldn't make people forget it. I am really sure you already know what building I'm describing is, it's Ka'bah. It is located in the center of Masjidil Haram, the most sacred masjid of Islam. It is the holiest site in Islam, we Muslims often referred to it as the House of Allah.

Muslims from all around the world visit Ka'bah every year during Dzulhijjah, the last month of Hijri calendar to do a part of hajj, tawaf (the act of walking around the Ka'bah for seven times). Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam. It has to be done for at least once a lifetime, if one is able. The Ka'bah is also where Muslims face when performing shalat (prayers). The direction facing the Ka'bah is called the qibla.

The Ka'bah was firstly built by Adam a.s., the first person on Earth. But then it was destroyed by a flood during Nuh a.s' era. Ibrahim a.s. together with Ismail a.s., his son, was then ordered by Allah SWT. to build it again.

Kabah is a bricked cuboid structure which is made of granite quarried from nearby hills. Standing upon a 250 cm  marble base that projects outwards about 35 cm, and is approximately 13.1 m (some claim 12.03 m high, with sides measuring 11.03 m by 12.86 m. Inside the Ka'bah, the floor is made of marble and limestone. The interior walls, measuring 13 m by 9 m, are clad with tiled, white marble halfway to the roof, with darker trimmings along the floor. The floor of the interior stands about 2.2 m above the ground area where tawaf is performed. (Wikipedia)

There is one stone placed at the Ka'bah that is said to be fallen from the Heaven. It is called as Hajar Aswad, or if translated "black stone". Kissing the stone during tawaf is a sunnah. A hadist (Rasulullah’s saying) states that the colour was actually white, but people’s sins make it black.

There is a unique rumor about Ka'bah; it is said to be releasing everlasting radiation. The rumor writer claims that it is based on NASA astronauts' experience. Many Muslim scientists believe that it is a connector between Ka'bah in the Earth and the one in Heaven.

I don’t know whether the rumor is true or not, but I don't think it matters. It is Allah’s house, after all. We need to love it, to miss it, to desperately want to see it with our own eyes.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaaba

http://edukasi.kompasiana.com/2013/10/19/asal-muasal-hajar-aswad-602019.html

http://10507276.blog.unikom.ac.id/inilah-rahasia.5cf