Most sacred Muslim shrine, located near the centre of the Great Mosque in Mecca .
All Muslims face toward it in their daily prayers. The cube-shaped structure, made of gray stone and marble, has its corners roughly oriented to the points of the compass; the interior contains only pillars and silver and gold lamps. Pilgrims to Mecca walk around the Kaʽbah seven times and on its eastern side touch the Black Stone of Mecca , which may date from the pre-Islamic religion of the Arabs. Tradition holds that the Kaʽbah was built by Abraham and Ishmael. In 630 Muhammad purged the place of its pagan idols and rededicated it to Islam .