We worship GOD Almighty in His Grand Temple/House. We never worship the House itself! The Bible's Prophets in the Bible also had a "House of GOD Almighty" that they worshiped Him in. Also, the Jews' wailing wall today is a similar example to the Muslims' Kaaba, where the Jews pray to GOD Almighty facing the wall. The Bible also says:



Q11- If Islam is so against any form of idol worship, why do they bow to the kaaba? Why do they call it God's House? Do they believe He lives there?
The sections of this article are:
1- The House/Temple of GOD Almighty in the Noble Quran and the Bible.
2- But aren't Muslims still physically bowing down to the Kaaba itself?
(a)- The blood of a Muslim Believer is more precious than the entire Kaaba!
(b)- In Christianity, the temple is Holy. See pictures of GOD Almighty by these infidels!
(i)- The Bible forbade making images of GOD Almighty!

Exodus 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."

(ii)- But the portraits are not images and idols?!
3- What is the difference then between the hindu idols and the Kaba?
4- What about the black stone near the Kaaba? How sacred is it?

NASA confirms that the black stone was indeed sent from space.

5- Is the Jews' wailing wall idol worship?
6- Conclusion.



1- The House/Temple of GOD Almighty in the Noble Quran and the Bible:
To help the Jewish and Christian reader understand the Islamic way of Worship better, I'd like to first present the following from the Bible:
Psalm 138:2
I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.GOD Almighty's Holy Temple in Islam is the Kaaba in Mecca.

Genesis 28:16-18
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it."
17 He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.

Judges 20:18
18 The Israelites went up to Bethel (the House of GOD in Hebrew) and inquired of God. They said, "Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?" The LORD replied, "Judah shall go first."
1 Chronicles 6:47-49
47 the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.
48 Their fellow Levites were assigned to all the other duties of the tabernacle, the house of God.
49 But Aaron and his descendants were the ones who presented offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense in connection with all that was done in the Most Holy Place, making atonement for Israel, in accordance with all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

"Behold! We gave the site, To Abraham, of the (Sacred) House (i.e., the Kaaba), (Saying): 'Associate not anything (In worship) with Me; And sanctify My House For those who compass it round, Or stand up, Or bow, or prostrate themselves (Therein in prayer). And proclaim the Pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways; (The Noble Quran, 22:26-27)"

As we clearly see, the "House of GOD"Almighty is mentioned in both the Bible and the Noble Quran. The Prostration to GOD Almighty in either His House or in the direction of His House (if you live far away) is the most proper way of Worship according to both the Bible and the Noble Quran.
As we also clearly see, the House of GOD Almighty was mentioned in the Bible first. The Kaba or Kaaba (the black cube building in Saudi Arabia) is basically the symbolic point on earth (His House) that GOD Almighty Chose to have all of His True Believers meet Him through bowing down their faces in humility down to the ground before Him.
The actual bricks and cement that make up the Kaaba are not holy.


While it is true that many ignorant and illiterate Muslims might incline toward idol worship and do consider the actual Kaaba as a very sacred thing to a point where they would go as far as rubbing their bodies against it to get "blessings", but these people are not representing the True picture of Islam. If a person worships the Kaaba itself, then he/she becomes an idol worshiper:
"Behold! We gave the site, To Abraham, of the (Sacred) House (i.e., the Kaaba), (Saying): 'Associate not anything (In worship) with Me; And sanctify My House For those who compass it round, Or stand up, Or bow, or prostrate themselves (Therein in prayer). And proclaim the Pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways; (The Noble Quran, 22:26-27)"
"Say: 'O People of the Book (i.e., Jews and Christians)! Come to common terms as between us and you: That we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah.' If then they turn back, say ye: 'Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to Allah's Will).' (The Noble Quran, 3:64)"
"God forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with God is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed. (The Noble Quran, 4:48)"
"Who can be better in religion than one who submits his whole self to God, does good, and follows the way of Abraham the true in Faith? For God did take Abraham for a friend. (The Noble Quran, 4:125)"
The Kaaba is only the House of GOD Almighty and is the meeting place for us to meet the Almighty LORD by bowing down our faces in humility down to the ground before Him in that direction.


Since Allah Almighty ordered Abraham the father of Ishmael and Isaac peace be upon them to build the Kaaba, people called it the House of GOD Almighty, and it became the direction for us to bow down to Allah Almighty in worship:
"Behold! We gave the site, To Abraham, of the (Sacred) House (i.e., the Kaaba), (Saying): 'Associate not anything (In worship) with Me; And sanctify My House For those who compass it round, Or stand up, Or bow, or prostrate themselves (Therein in prayer). And proclaim the Pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways; (The Noble Quran, 22:26-27)"
So when Muslims prostrate to Allah Almighty, they prostrate in the direction that is as close as possible to Him. It was also prophesied in the Noble Quran that people from all over the world would come to the city of Mecca (where the Kaaba is located) for pilgrimage.
Please visit: The detailed story of how the Kaaba was built by Abraham and his son Ishmael peace be upon them.
During the early days of Islam, the Muslims were commanded to bow down to Allah Almighty in the direction of the Farthest Mosque (Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa) in Jerusalem, because it was the Holiest Mosque/Temple to worship Allah Almighty in back since it was not defiled with idols. Allah Almighty then commanded Prophet Muhammad to order the Muslims to prostrate to Allah Almighty in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca, because it was the House of GOD Almighty which was built by Prophet Abraham peace be upon him (mentioned also in the Bible), and because after the Muslims liberated Mecca in a 10,000 men army (this event was prophesied in the Bible), they cleaned the Kaaba from all idols.


2- But aren't Muslims still physically bowing down to the Kaaba itself?
We've already seen the "House of GOD"Almighty in both the Bible and the Noble Quran above. We've seen how the Prostration to GOD Almighty in either His House or in the direction of His House (if you live far away) is the most proper way of Worship.
Again, to help the Jewish and Christian reader understand the Islamic point better, I'd like to present the following from the Bible:
Numbers 24:3-5
3 and he uttered his oracle: "The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,
4 the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
5 "How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!
Deuteronomy 9:17-19
17 So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.
18 Then once again I fell prostrate before the LORD for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the LORD's sight and so provoking him to anger.
19 I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the LORD listened to me.
Deuteronomy 9:25
25 I lay prostrate before the LORD those forty days and forty nights because the LORD had said he would destroy you.
1 Kings 18:39
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"
Even Jesus, peace be upon him, bowed down to Allah Almighty the Islamic way:
"Going a little farther, he [Jesus] fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.' (From the NIV Bible, Matthew 26:39)"
When Muslims bow down to Allah Almighty in worship at their homes, they do not for instance bow down to the sofa, or to the pair of shoes, or to the table, or to the wall, or to the door, or to the TV, or to any object that is in front of them in their homes. They bow down to Allah Almighty only, regardless what's in front of them AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT WORSHIPING THAT OBJECT. The Kaaba is the same thing. We do not bow down to it in worship in any shape or form. We bow down only to Allah Almighty in its direction because it is His Appointed House where He symbolically meets His Servants and True Believers.
The Kaaba makes the millions of Muslims all over the world Pray to Allah Almighty as one unified community.


Now in regards to whether Allah Almighty living there or not, no we do not believe that Allah Almighty lives there. Allah Almighty is unlimited and is every where.
By the way, the Orthodox Jews too bow down to GOD Almighty in worship. Below is a picture of how Jews worship Allah Almighty:



(a)- The blood of a Muslim Believer is more precious than the entire Kaaba!
Some anti-Islamics tried to compare the Muslims' bowing towards the Kaaba to the hindus' deification and glorification of their stones, by making idol gods and holy temples for these gods out of them. Islam is far from this!
The hindus glorification of stones and rocks is not Islamic. We do not worship neither the Kaaba nor the black stone. In fact Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said in his famous saying that:
لهدم الكعبة حجراً حجراً أهون من قتل المسلم‏

"Demolishing the Kaaba completely is much more preferred to Allah Almighty than shedding the blood of a Believing Muslim." (Source)

Why should this be of any surprise, when Allah Almighty had brought down all of the Angels under the feet of the human-believers when He commanded them to bow down to Adam?

So no, we do not worship rocks and stones.

(b)- In Christianity, the Temple is Holy:
Matthew 23:21
16 "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'
17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
18 You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.'
19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.
22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
This is another example of why Christianity is full of corruption. No temple should be holy enough to equate it with GOD Almighty. By you swearing by the temple and by GOD Almighty, you are in essence making them both equal. This is a form of idol-worship. Notice how even Jesus himself said that the temple makes the gold that is in it sacred, and for the altar also making the gift sacred.
These verses are some of the reasons why you see 'holy idols' of Jesus, Mary, the Angels, and even GOD Almighty (!) in all of the Christians' churches. The Church, as an object, is a holy place to them - so holy that they could and would swear by it. And these idol-objects become holy by the Church.
Please visit: Allah Almighty delcared the false religion of christianity to be no more than a man-made religion of "conjecture".
Here are some of the blasphemous pictures that these infidels put in their churches about GOD Almighty Himself:
(Click on any of the images to enlarge)
(Catholics and NON-Catholic portraits)


See also Jesus having long hair is considered stupid by Paul.

(i)- The Bible forbade making images of GOD Almighty!
Whatever happened to these Commands from GOD Almighty:
Exodus 20:4
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."
Leviticus 26:1
" 'Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your God.
Isaiah 41:29
See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion."Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (From the NIV Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4)"
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. (From the NIV Bible, Mark 12:29)"

""Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good–except God alone." (From the NIV Bible, Mark 10:18)"
"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (From the NIV Bible, Numbers 23:19)"
"Say: He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him. (The Noble Quran, 112:1-4)"
Indeed, Jesus Christ, the man, is only a Messenger from Allah Almighty, and he was never crucified. Isaiah 53 and Psalm 91 are discussed in great details in this link.