Quora Answer: Since the Ka’bah is Never Mentioned in the Bible, Does This Show that “Allah” is Not the Same God as Yahweh?

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “If the Ka’bah is Islam’s holiest site, but the God of Abraham (a.s.) never mentioned it in the Bible, does this not show that Allah (s.w.t.) is not the same god as the Jewish God?”

Here is a pesky fact: The Ka’bah is mentioned in the Old Testament, specifically the Book of Psalms. 

Psalm 84:2-4

² Lord of Hosts, how I love Your Dwelling-Place!  ³ For the courts of the Lord’s house, my soul faints with longing.  The Living God!  At His Name, my heart, my whole being, thrills with joy.  ⁴ Where else should the sparrow find a home, the swallow a nest for her brood, but at thy altar, Lord of Hosts, my King and my God?  ⁵ How blessed, Lord, are those who dwell in Your House!  They will be ever praising you.  ⁶ How blessed is the man who finds his strength in you!  Where there are hearts set on pilgrimage, ⁷ as they traverse the Valley of Bakkah, a returning place of springs, new-clad by the bounty of returning rain.  ⁸ So, at each stage refreshed, they will reach Zion, and have sight there of the God who is above all gods. 

² ὡς ἀγαπητὰ τὰ σκηνώματά σου κύριε τῶν δυνάμεων ³ ἐπιποθεῖ καὶ ἐκλείπει ἡ ψυχή μου εἰς τὰς αὐλὰς τοῦ κυρίου ἡ καρδία μου καὶ ἡ σάρξ μου ἠγαλλιάσαντο ἐπὶ θεὸν ζῶντα ⁴ καὶ γὰρ στρουθίον εὗρεν ἑαυτῷ οἰκίαν καὶ τρυγὼν νοσσιὰν ἑαυτῇ οὗ θήσει τὰ νοσσία αὐτῆς τὰ θυσιαστήριά σου κύριε τῶν δυνάμεων ὁ βασιλεύς μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου ⁵ μακάριοι οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ σου εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων αἰνέσουσίν σε διάψαλμα ⁶ μακάριος ἀνήρ οὗ ἐστιν ἡ ἀντίλημψις αὐτοῦ παρὰ σοῦ κύριε ἀναβάσεις ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ διέθετο ⁷ ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι τοῦ κλαυθμῶνος εἰς τόπον ὃν ἔθετο καὶ γὰρ εὐλογίας δώσει ὁ νομοθετῶν ⁸ πορεύσονται ἐκ δυνάμεως εἰς δύναμιν ὀφθήσεται ὁ θεὸς τῶν θεῶν ἐν Σιων 

² Quam dilecta tabernacula tua, Domine virtutum!  ³ Concupiscit, et deficit anima mea in atria Domini; cor meum et caro mea exsultaverunt in Deum vivum.  ⁴ Etenim passer invenit sibi domum, et turtur nidum sibi, ubi ponat pullos suos: altaria tua, Domine virtutum,  rex meus, et Deus meus.  ⁵ Beati qui habitant in domo tua, Domine; in sæcula sæculorum laudabunt te.  ⁶ Beatus vir cujus est auxilium abs te: ascensiones in corde suo disposuit, ⁷ in valle lacrimarum, in loco quem posuit.  ⁸ Etenim benedictionem dabit legislator; ibunt de virtute in virtutem: videbitur Deus deorum in Sion. 

The Ka’bah was an altar then, not the structure we are familiar with, which was built later.  It was the first place of pilgrimage, and thought to be one of the places visited by the Jews in their wanderings in the desert.  It is now known as Baytullah, the House of God, which would not be far from the Aramaic or Hebrew. 

That aside, even if it were not in the Bible, that is not a sound argument about the distinctiveness of “Allah” and “Elohim” as separate “gods”.  Firstly, both words are Semitic words, essentially meaning “God”.  Theologically, the Attributes of both are the same.  If God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Absolute and Unique, there cannot be more than one such Divine.  Regardless of how people name or address the Divine, God remains God.