10 facts about the Door of the Holy Kaaba

The Holy Kaaba 🕋 was built by Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام and Prophet Ismail عليه السلام in around 1900 BC. Here we are presenting some lesser-known facts about the door of the Holy Kaaba.

Kaaba had no doors

Historians claim that when the Holy Kaaba was first built by Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام and Prophet Ismail عليه السلام it had no doors or roofs and it was simply made of walls. In other words, at that time there was no arrangement to enter the Holy Kaaba.

Two Doors

Later on, the Kaaba was opened on ground level from two sides. People used to enter from the Eastern opening and exited from the western exit. However, even at that time, there were no doors on the walls, it was just opening.

First Door by King Tubba

The first person to build the door of the Holy Kaaba was Abū Karib As’ad al-Kāmil also known as King Tubba who was the ruler of Himyar (Yemen) in the 4th century AD.

He instructed the leaders of the Jurhum tribe to maintain its purgation and cleanliness. The door was made with a lock holder and its keys were given to authorized personnel. This first-ever door was made of wood and it stood there till the pre-Islamic and the Islamic era.

Door by Abdullah bin Zubair

In 686 AD, the first door of the Holy Kaaba was changed by Abdullah bin Zubair رضي الله عنه who made an 11 arms long door. However, later it was remade of its original height of 6 arms.

Hidden Door of the Holy Kaaba

During the Hajj 2018, a rare and unexpected storm hit Makkah which revealed a hidden door to the Holy Kaaba. It is said that in 697 AD when Hajjaj bin Yusuf took the charge of Makkah, he closed the second door of the Holy Kaaba.

Door by Sultan Murad IV

In the era of Murad IV in 1635 AD, the door of the Holy Ka’ba was again changed. Silver ornaments that weigh up to 200 pounds were added to the door and it was painted with gold. 

Door by King Abdul Aziz

In 1944 AD, the door of the Holy Kaaba started shaking so King Abdul Aziz made a new door. He ordered to make a new door of a metal base with two wooden shutters fixed on its surface and decorated with silver and copper and plated with Gold. It took 3 long years to manufacture it.

Last Door by King Khalid

In 1978 AD, King Khalid bin Abdul Aziz ordered to make a new door of the Holy Kaaba to be made of pure Gold. The door took 12 months to complete and was made by a Jeweler Ahmad bin Ibrahim Badr.

280 kg of 99.99% pure gold was used to manufacture the latest door of the Kaaba.  This is the last door that was changed and is also the current door of the Holy Kaba.

Height of the Door

Currently, the door of the Holy Kaaba has the following dimensions;

• It rises 2.2 meters above the ground of Masjid al-Haram.
• Height of the Door: 3.18 meters.
• Width of the Door: 1.71 meters.

Who holds the key?

The key of the door to the Holy Kaaba is tended to by the Al Shaiba family, who are the keepers of the key to the Kaaba according to the will of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The custody of the key is always with the eldest of the Al Shaiba family.

Source: Al Arabiya