In Islam the Kaʿbah is the central place of worship in Mecca, the house toward which one turns in prayer (qibla). The Kaʿbah was intended as a house for the worship of Allah ﷻ, for the cleansing away of idolatry, and as a place of prayer for all people.
The command in the Qur’an and the task of Ibrahim عليه السلام and Ismaʿil عليه السلام
In the Qur’an, in Surah al-Baqarah, verse 125, it is said:
“And when We made the House a place of return for the people and a place of security … and when Ibrahim and Ismaʿil raised the foundations of the House …”
This ayah shows that Allah ﷻ gave a role to Ibrahim عليه السلام and Ismaʿil عليه السلام in the building or the laying of the foundations. Tafsir Ibn Kathir and other commentators explain that this means they were expressly involved in the construction of the walls and the groundwork, and in the commentary upon this ayah it is said that “purify My House” refers to keeping the Kaʿbah free of everything that does not belong there, such as idols, so that it is devoted solely to the worship of Allah ﷻ.
Rebuilding and repairs across time
The original structure was later damaged or worn, so that rebuilding or repairs became necessary. Before the coming of the Prophet ﷺ the Quraish rebuilt the Kaʿbah after a flood destroyed parts of the walls, and in that reconstruction they took the original foundations into account.
There is a narration that the Prophet ﷺ wished to rebuild the Kaʿbah himself upon the foundation of Ibrahim عليه السلام, but that he refrained from doing so on account of the uncertainty among the people regarding so radical a change at that moment. The Kaʿbah as it stands today is held to rest upon the foundations that Ibrahim عليه السلام and Ismaʿil عليه السلام laid, with later additions and adjustments by subsequent generations.
The discussion: Adam عليه السلام as the first builder?
In some works, and by some commentators, it is held that Adam was the original builder of the Kaʿbah, before Ibrahim عليه السلام, and they base this upon certain narrations and interpretations that the place of worship already existed in early times.
Some scholars regard the claim that Adam built the Kaʿbah as a less certain view, and they therefore hold that the more common and more firmly grounded view is that Ibrahim and Ismaʿil عليه السلام were the ones charged by Allah ﷻ with raising the structural form of the Kaʿbah.