The Kaaba and prayer toward it (kaʿba)

In the lexicon ka'ba is the square house; in the terminology it is the Sacred House, and the qibla is the direction toward which one prays, the part of the Kaaba or what lies before it; the name came to mark the direction itself, and the qibla is wider than the Kaaba. The Sacred Mosque can mean the Kaaba alone, the Kaaba with what surrounds it, the whole city of Mecca, or the city with its sanctuary ¹.

There is no dispute that facing the Kaaba is a condition of valid prayer, on the verse in Surat al-Baqara, verse 144. One who sees the Kaaba must face its very mass; reliance on judgement is not enough, and facing only its direction is not enough; for one who cannot see it the jurists differ ².

The Shafi'is and Hanafis allow prayer inside it, both obligatory and voluntary, on the report of Ibn Umar about the Prophet ﷺ praying two rak'as between the two pillars; the Shafi'is allow it if the worshipper faces its wall or open door. The Malikis and Hanbalis hold that the obligatory prayer is not allowed but the voluntary is, on the report of Ibn Abbas that the Prophet prayed two rak'as before the wall. Ibn Jarir, some Zahiris, Asbagh ibn al-Faraj, and a report from Ibn Abbas forbid both ².

The Malikis and Hanbalis hold that the obligatory prayer on its roof is not valid, since one faces no part of it. The Hanafis and Shafi'is, and one Hanbali narration, hold it valid if one faces some part of it; the Shafi'is and the second Hanbali narration require standing at the end or middle of the roof with a marker of the Kaaba's stones two-thirds of a cubit high in front. The Hanafis dislike it as impolite and allow voluntary prayer there. Beneath it, Hanafi principles allow it, the Malikis forbid it, and the Hanbalis allow it ³.

Prayer on the roofs next to it, and on high places such as Mount Abu Qubays, is valid by agreement ³.