al-Qullays (the Yemeni Kaaba)
القليس (الكعبة اليمانية)
The church Abraha built in Yemen to divert the Arabs’ pilgrimage from Mecca — the ambition that led to the elephant campaign.
At a glance
- Era
- Pre-Islamic Arabia
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Islam and ChristianitySacred space and pilgrimage
Overview
Al-Qullays: the church Abraha built in Yemen and called the Yemeni Ka'ba, to divert the Arabs' pilgrimage to it — the preface to the Elephant campaign.
The story
Once Abraha held Yemen's government, he began spreading the Christian religion with the fullest energy and widest scope, to the point that he built a church in Yemen called the Yemeni Ka'ba, intending to divert the Arabs' pilgrimage to it and to demolish God's House at Mecca 1.
For young visitors
Al-Qullays is a great church Abraha built to rival the Ka'ba at Mecca; his plan failed as the Qur'an recounted in Surat al-Fil.
Connections
- Located in
- Sana'a
People and things also explored
al-Aswad al-AnsiAbrahaSana'aDar al-NadwaThe KaabaThe Raising of the Kaaba’s FoundationsThe burial of the ProphetThe change of the qibla
Sources
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “al-Qullays (the Yemeni Kaaba)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/building/al-qullays/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.