Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 207
207 This response to the call of Allah is interspersed with: Allah is Great, Allah is Great, there is no being worthy of worship save Allah; Allah is Great, Allah is Great, all praise belongs to Allah. The first concern of each pilgrim on his arrival in Mecca is to proceed to the enclosure of the Ka’aba and to perform the circuit of the Sacred House. The Ka’aba is, par excellence, the House of God. Of course, all places of worship are Houses of God, and as the Prophet declared, the whole earth is a mosque, but the Ka’aba has been declared by God Himself to be the Sacred House, being the first House consecrated to the worship of the One True God (3:97). When the expression “House of Allah” is used, it is understood throughout the Muslim world to mean the Ka’aba. The tumult of the heart when the pilgrim approaches the Sacred House and has his first sight of it is indescribable. The Ka’aba itself ⎯ not to be confused with the precincts of the Ka’aba which extend over the central sector of Mecca ⎯ is a very simple stone structure, laying no claim to grandeur of size or beauty of architecture. It impresses by its very simplicity. Most