The Attack on the Sacred Kaaba from the Pre-Islamic Era until the End of the Abbasid Period - A Historical Study

Abstract

The great sanctity that the Sacred Kaaba enjoyed - since the pre-Islamic period - did not prevent it from being exposed to aggression and attacks, or attempts to attack it, for multiple reasons and motives. This study tracks these attacks on the Sacred Kaaba, some of which led to its destruction or the destruction of parts of it, or constituted violations of its sanctity even if they did not result in demolition. The study covers the period from the pre-Islamic era to the end of the Abbasid period. Previous studies focused on the issue of renovating and caring for the Kaaba motivated by its sanctification. However, this modest study seeks to document the opposite aspect - namely, the violation of the Sacred Kaaba and its sanctity and attempts to destroy it, not merely for rebuilding or renovation purposes, but to remove it from the face of the earth to divert attention to invented sanctities or to violate it as punishment and humiliation for those who rebelled against authority and took refuge in it. This is a recurring phenomenon that did not stop with the failed campaign of Abraha in the pre-Islamic period, but extended temporally to similar events that were more ugly and disrespectful to this great religious and historical symbol of the Arabs in particular and Muslims in general, passing through the Umayyad period and reaching the Abbasid era. Success comes from Allah.