MAKKAH — The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques released on Wednesday never-before-seen detailed images of the Maqam Ibrahim or the Station of Abraham located at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. The presidency captured the details of the rare images of the Station of Abraham with a new technique that uses stacked panoramic focus. On Tuesday, the presidency documented Hajar Al-Aswad or the Black Stone at Kaaba with a Focus Stack Panorama in 49,000 megapixel image. Maqam Ibrahim is the stone that bears the imprint of where the Prophet Ibrahim (may God be pleased with him) stood while building the Kaaba when the walls became too high. The stone is enshrined with a gold, silver, and glass frame to preserve Prophet Ibrahim's footprints. In a series of tweets posted on its official Twitter account, the presidency includes a number of pictures that show the shrine in a way that has not been seen before. The presidency noted, "The shrine of the Prophet Ibrahim is a ruby from heaven." The shrine of the Prophet Ibrahim is located in front of the door of the Kaaba, 10 to 11 meters east of the Kaaba, in the part leading to Safa and Marwah, the presidency noted. The presidency explained that the shrine is an archaeological stone upon which the Prophet Ibrahim stood when the Kaaba was built. The stone is almost square shape having 40 centimeters of length and width and the height of about 20 cm. The color of this stone is yellowish and reddish white. The footprints imprint are in middle of the stone. The length of the footprints on the surface of the stone is 27 cm and their width is 14 cm. According to Islamic faith, God brought down the Black Stone and the shrine stone to Prophets Ibrahim and Ismail from Paradise, after they were ordered to lift the foundations of the Kaaba. The shrine stone is marked by two footprints on them. Throughout history, it remained adjacent to the sacred Kaaba as one of the landmarks of Makkah. When Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) conquered Makkah, he and his companions decided to shift the stone from its original location near the Kaaba to its current location at a distance of more than 10 meters, in order to facilitate the circumambulation ritual (tawaf) and to enable worshipers to pray behind the shrine as described in the Holy Qur'an. According to historians, the first ruler to cover the shrine was the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mahdi. Caliph Al-Mutawakkil covered it with gold and silver to strengthen it. In the Saudi era, specifically in the reign of King Faisal, expansion works were ordered and buildings were removed to facilitate the circumambulation rituals for better ease. A crystal glass and a silver cover were then installed. It has been renovated after the restoration works that took place during the reign of King Fahd, heat resistant and shatter proof frosted glass has been placed above the shrine covered in copper encased in gold.
