The Ka'ba's wall-paintings

صور حيطان الكعبة

The murals inside Quraysh's rebuilt Ka'ba — Abraham holding the divining-arrows, Ishmael on horseback facing him, the 'Divider' allotting to a deputation, and some sixty ancestral portraits captioned with each man's cult and deeds — redone and perfected when the building was finished 1.

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Overview

Al-Mas'udi mentions that the walls of the Kaba, when Quraysh built it before the Prophethood, bore many images painted in various pigments. 2

What al-Mas'udi describes

  • An image of Ibrahim with the divining arrows in his hand.
  • Opposite it, an image of Ismail on a horse, conducting the people as they set out.
  • An image called "al-Faruq," standing over a company of people and apportioning among them.
  • About sixty further images of their descendants down to Qusayy ibn Kilab, each with the name of its owner, how he was worshipped, and what was known of his deeds.

When Quraysh completed the building, they put the images back and perfected their form and workmanship, according to al-Mas'udi. 2

This is a report that the source cited here alone carries. An additional source is needed.

Sources

  1. Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p. 570-571
  2. Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p.570-571
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Ka'ba's wall-paintings”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/object/suwar-hait-al-kaba/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.

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