For the most part, no one is allowed to actually enter inside Kaa’ba, which is the black cube in the center of the Grand Mosque, or Masjid e Haram. I am sharing one of my experiences when I was inside the Masjid e Haram, also known simply as ” the haram.” The kaa’ba is in the middle of the masjid, and one of the corner bears the Hajre Aswad, or the black stone, believed to be an rock from the heaven. As pilgrims perform their tawaf (a rotation around the Ka’baa, one of seven pilgrims must do during certain times of the Hajj), some try and get into the inner circles as close as they can to the Ka’baa, so they can touch the black stone.
Close to this corner where the black stone is, is the Muqame Ibraheem, or the station of Abraham that contains the feet imprint of Prophet Abraham, or the Prophet Ibrahim as he is known to Muslims.
Nearby is the Hijre Ismaeel, a curved wall, where baby Ishmael (or Ismail) was lying while his mother Hagar (Hajira ) searched for water between the hills of Safa and Marwa. Pilgrims are required to walk back and forth seven times between these two hills just like she did, in her memory and to honor her struggles — as the family of Abraham followed God’s command to move to a barren land at the time, which is currently is known as Makkah.
Next stop after the this first ritual of the Hajj is traveling to the tents of Arafat and Mina.
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