The icon of Mary and Jesus in the Ka'ba
c. c. 600 – c. 683
Place: mecca
21.422, 39.826 · On the map
TRADITIONAL. Al-Azraqi's chains of transmission are weak, and other reports say all images were erased. Treat it as a memory of Christian imagery in Mecca, not as established fact.
Al-Azraqi's 9th-century history of Mecca says that when the Ka'ba's images were removed in 630, Muhammad put his hand over a painting of Mary with the child Jesus and ordered that it be spared. The image is said to have survived until the Ka'ba burned in 683.
People named here
- Muhammad
- Mary
- Jesus
Links
Place
Out
An icon of Mary and Jesus is reported inside the pre-Islamic Ka'ba.
located_at
traditional
People and office
Out
Al-Azraqi: Muhammad shielded the icon during the cleansing of 630.
spared_by
traditional
Sources
- 'The Prophet Muhammad Safeguards Jesus and Mary's Icons in the Ka'ba' (on al-Azraqi, Akhbar Makka)
Berkeley Institute for Islamic Studies. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Wikipedia: Kaaba
Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-11-11.