Kaabas

Ka'abas also spelt Ka'bas (Arabic: الكعبات) are the plural term used to describe houses of worship mainly located in the Arabian Peninsula that are cubic in shape and resemble the Kaaba structure from Mecca. They are mainly dedicated to various gods from the Arabian pantheon, although the term has been used to describe some Christian churches built in a similar style in the Arabian Peninsula.

Architectural style

A typical Kaaba building is shaped like a cube or block and functions as a place for the devotees of a particular god or goddess to worship in.^[1][2] The name "Kaaba" was used by ancient Arabians to describe and label these sites because of their resemblance to the Kaaba at Mecca and the purpose of doing pilgrimage to them.^[1][2]

The Kaaba architecture is found in temples throughout the Arabian Peninsula (including in Persia and Mesopotamia),^[a] in mosques across the Wusab province of Yemen that were converted into mosques from earlier cult pre-Islamic buildings,^[3] in the Jinn Blocks of Petra and Hegra, and in kaaba-like tombs of both Jews and Arabs found across the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile Crescent.^[4]

List of Kaabas

Here is a list of some of these Kaaba structures that are mentioned in the writings of Muslim scholars and historians.

Arabian Peninsula

Ruins of the Kaaba of Najran near the ruins of Al-Okhdood

Ruins of the Yemeni Kaaba in the city of Sana'a

• Kaaba of Dushara, worshipped by the Nabataeans^[5]
• Kaaba of Dhu-Ghabat, worshipped by the Banu Lihyan tribe^[5]
• Kaaba of al-Lat, worshipped by the Thaqif tribe^[5]
• Kaaba of Dhu al-Khalasa, worshipped by the Daws tribe^[6][7]
• The Kaaba of the Ghatafan tribe^[8]
• Kaaba of Najran, a site of worship of in the Christian community of Najran, converted from an earlier Kaaba dedicated to the god Dhu Samawi from the polytheistic era^[9]
• A Kaaba attested for the god Yād^[4]
• A Kaaba attested to have been present in the Ukaz sanctuary^[4]
• Yemeni Kaaba, a church built by the Aksumite garrison in Yemen to rival the Kaaba of Mecca^[10][b]
• In the Wusab province of Yemen, almost all mosques have a cube-shaped, windowless, single-door architecture. The tombs of saints in the area also follow this pattern. Many of these mosques appear to have been converted from pre-Islamic cult buildings dating to the late antique period of the Arabian peninsula, when this architectural style was common.^[12][3]

Mesopotamia

• Kaaba Sindad, used by the migrant Arabs as a place for celebrations to be held instead of a place of worship.^[13]
• A Kaaba for the god Dushara^[14][15]

Persia

The Kaaba of Zoroaster, located in the Naqsh-e Rostam funeral complex

• Kaaba of Zoroaster, a place of worship for Zoroastrians. It is unlikely to have been a temple; although it did reportedly contain statues of gods that were destroyed by Bardiya according to inscriptions and texts from the Achaemenid period.^[16]

Fate of the Kaabas

Most of the Kaabas dedicated to pagan gods in the Arabian Peninsula were destroyed after Islam.^[5][10] Among the destroyed Kaabas include that of the Kaaba of al-Lat that was worshipped by the Thaqif.^[10]

Conversion into mosques

Some said that the Kaaba of Najran in the ancient city of Al-Okhdood became a church after the Aksumites entered Najran as a relief for their Christian brethren who had been persecuted by Dhu Nuwas. The Kaaba of Najran still survives today, although in ruins, and is part of an archaeological site.

The traveller Yaqut al-Hamawi mentions that the Kaaba of Dhu al-Khalasa was converted into a mosque.^[6] The site of the Kaaba of al-Lat is also now where the Abd Allah ibn al-Abbas Mosque stands.^[17]

Notes

1. See the below sources: Kitab al-Asnam and the Encyclopaedia Iranica.
2. Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri mentions that the Yemeni Kaaba was built by Abraha to rival the Kaaba of Mecca. This may indicate the Yemeni Kaaba is the same as the Al-Qalis church which served the exact same purpose.^[11]