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Building
of the Ka`bah
[Allah
has made the Ka`bah, the sacred house, a maintenance for the people]
(Al-Ma’idah 5:97)
[Most
surely the first house appointed for men is the one at Bakka,
blessed and guidance for the nations]
(Al `Imran 3: 96)
[And
when Ibrahim and Isma`il raised the foundations of the house: Our
Lord, accept from us: Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing]
(Al-Baqarah 2: 127)
There
was a disagreement on the reason for calling the Glorious House the
Ka`bah.
Some
said that it was called the Ka`bah because it was square. The Arabs
would call every square house ka`bah. Some said that the Ka`bah was
unique in its building. Some even said that it was named Ka`bah
because of its height from the ground.
Ibn
Al-Athir said in Al-Nihayah: “Everything that goes high is ka`bah,
thus the Inviolable House (Al-Bayt Al-Haram) was called the Ka`bah.
Some said that it was named so because of its cubic shape, that is
quadrate.”
Who
Was the Builder of the Ka`bah?
Historians,
narrators, and others differed on who was the builder of the Ka`bah.
Some said the angels were the first builders. Others said the first
builder was Adam. Still others said that he was Sheeth (Seth).
Others said it was Ibrahim, known as Khaleel Allah (the intimate
friend of Allah).
The
most authentic version is that the Prophet Ibrahim (may peace be
upon him) built it. However, narrators differ on this also.
Originally, was there a house before Ibrahim went to Makkah? When
Ibrahim went there, he constructed the Ka`bah on its foundations.
Was Ibrahim the founder and builder of the place as it is now?
Some
modern historians believe that Ibrahim (may peace be upon him) was
a renovator of the ancient house. There were traces of the original
one, regardless of whether the first builder was Adam or others.
These scholars support this argument with verses from the Glorious
Qur’an. It is taken for granted that Ibrahim was behind raising
the foundations of the house along with his son Isma`il. Ibn `Abbas
said concerning this, “Ibrahim was building while Isma`il was
helping him.” Other exponents said that both Ibrahim and Isma`il
were involved in raising the foundations, as, according to the
Glorious Qur’an: [Ibrahim
was raising the foundations of the House, with [his son] Isma`il.
They were saying, “Our Lord, accept from us: Thou art the
Hearing, the Knowing.”]
(Al-Baqarah 2: 127) Some, depending on this verse, maintain that
Ibrahim raised the foundations after they had been covered and
scattered by floods and other natural factors. They also maintain
that what Ibrahim was raising with Isma`il’s help was for worship
rather than for living, for in their du`aa’ (supplication)
Ibrahim and Isma`il said, “Our Lord, accept from us.”
Ibrahim
(May Peace Be upon Him) and Raising the Foundations
There
are several versions of the story of Ibrahim and how he arrived in
Makkah and how he raised the foundations of the Ka`bah. We mention
here what Al-Qummi mentioned in his explanation quoted from the
truthful Prophet (may the peace be upon him) which contains the
following stories:
Ibrahim
and his wife Hajar and his son Isma`il left for Makkah. At the
time, Ibrahim pledged to his wife Sarah, whom he left behind in
Ash-Sham, that he would not live in Makkah until he returned to
her. When they arrived, they found trees. Hajar threw clothing onto
a tree to take shade under it. Then Ibrahim decided to leave them
to go back to Sarah. Hajar said to him, “How come you want to
leave us alone without anyone with us and with no water and
food?” Ibrahim replied, “Allah ordered me to put you in this
place. He will suffice.” And he left them. When he arrived at a
place called Keda’, a mountain with pasture, he turned around and
said, “Our Lord, I have settled some of my children in an
uncultivable valley near Thy Sacred House, our Lord, that they may
observe Prayer. So makes men’s hearts incline towards them and
provide them with fruits that they may be thankful.” Then he left
and Hajar remained.
At
midday, Isma`il grew thirsty. Hajar walked and ascended As-Safa.
She saw a mirage in the valley and thought it was water. She went
to it, and when she got to Al-Marwah, Isma`il could not be seen.
She returned back to As-Safa and looked around and did the same
seven times. In the seventh round, at Al-Marwah, she looked at
Isma`il and saw water running under his feet. She returned and
gathered sand around it. It was liquid. She rolled (zammat)
it, thus the place was named Zamzam. The Jurhum tribe was the first
to live in Makkah after water became abundant. When the water
appeared, it attracted the birds and other beasts. The Jurhum
looked at the birds and other beasts drinking from there. The tribe
followed the birds and the beasts and there they found a woman and
a child living in the place, under the shade of a tree, with water
around them. They said to her, “Who are you? Who is this boy?”
She said, “I am the mother of Ibrahim’s son. This is his son.
Allah asked him to leave us here.” They said, “Would you allow
us to live near you?” She said. “Until Ibrahim comes back.”
When Ibrahim visited them on the third day, Hajar told him, “O
Khaleel Allah, there are people from Jurhum who would like to ask
you whether you would allow them to live nearby.” He replied in
the affirmative and then Hajar allowed them. They erected their
tents and thus Hajar and her son became more secure. In the second
visit, Ibrahim saw many people around them. He was so pleased. Each
of the Jurhum gave Isma`il one or two sheep. Hajar and Isma`il were
living by them. When Isma`il grew up, Allah ordered Ibrahim to
build the House. But Ibrahim did not know on which site to build
it. Then Allah sent Jibreel (Angel Gabriel), and he showed Ibrahim
the site. Ibrahim built the House, with Isma`il helping him with
stones from a place called Dhu Tawa, and he raised the place nine
arm lengths in the sky. Jibreel also directed him to the place of
the Black Stone. He placed it in its position. When he built the
House, he made two doors for it: one east, one west. The western
one was called Al-Mustajar. Hajar threw clothing over its door.
When they completed the building, both Ibrahim and Isma`il
performed Hajj. Jibreel descended to them on the Day of Tarwiyah,
the 8th day of Dhul-Hijjah, and said, “O Ibrahim, stand up and
drink from the water.” Then he took him to Mina and there he
slept in it. After completion of the building, Ibrahim called, “O
Lord, make this place live in security, provide its people with
fruit, those who believe in You.”
In
the history, it was said that the date of building the House
included some supernatural things.
In
some of these stories, it was told that the House, when first
built, was a dome of light that descended on Adam and settled in
the place where Ibrahim was to build the House. It remained until
the flood of Noah. When the earth was flooded, Allah the Almighty
raised it, so that place never became flooded. That was the reason
behind the name the Ancient House.
The
Attempt to Demolish the Ka`bah
The
People of the Elephant: Abrahah and the Swarm of Birds
Abraha
built Al-Qullies in Sana’. He built a church the like of which
had never been seen on earth before. Then he wrote to Al-Najashi
(the Emperor) of Abyssinia telling him that he had built for him,
as a king, a church the like of which had never been built for a
king on earth before and that he would seek to make the Arabs make
pilgrimage to it.
Then
he set out in his endeavour to demolish the Ka`bah. Abraha sent Al-Aswad
ibn Maqsood on horses to Makkah. He confiscated property belonging
to the Tuhama clan of the Quraysh and he also confiscated 200
camels belonging to `Abdul-Muttalib ibn Hashim, who, at the time,
was master of the Quraysh. The Quraysh, Kinanah and Huthayl decided
to fight Al-Aswad. Then they learned that they would not be able to
defeat him, so they turned away from him.
After
that, Abraha sent Hanatta Al-Himiyari to Makkah. He said to him,
“Ask for its master and then tell him that the king will come to
demolish the House (Ka`bah), and if you do not oppose him, he will
not shed your blood.” When Al-Himiyari entered Makkah, he asked
about the Quraysh’s master. He was told that he was `Abdul-Muttalib
ibn Hashim. He went to him and informed him of Abraha’s message.
`Abdul-Muttalib said to him, “We don’t seek to fight him. We
are helpless. This is the House of Allah and the House of Ibrahim.”
Al-Himiyari said, “Come with me. He asked me to take you with
me.” They both went with a few of his children and arrived at the
camp.
Then
Anis said to Abraha, “O King, this is the Quraysh’s master at
the door. He wants to see you.” He was permitted. `Abdul-Muttalib
was the most handsome of all people. When Abraha saw him, he
honored him and respected him, but hated to seat him beneath him.
He also hated to allow the people of Abyssinia to see him sitting
next to him. Abraha got off his bed and sat on a mattress and made
him sit beside him. Then he asked if he needed something.
`Abdul-Muttalib
said, “My need is that the king should return to me the 200
camels taken from me.”
Abraha
told his interpreter, “Tell him that when I saw him, I admired
him, but now I don’t because he is asking for the 200 camels. How
come you do not talk to me about your House, home of your religion
and your ancestors that I have come to demolish?”
`Abdul-Muttalib
said, “I am the lord of the camels. The House has a Lord Who will
protect it.”
Abraha
said, “He wouldn’t prevent me from destroying it.”
`Abdul-Muttalib
said, “You and Him.”
When
they left him, `Abdul-Muttalib went back to the Quraysh and told
them the story. He asked them to leave Makkah and go to the
mountains for fear of Abraha’s army. `Abdul-Muttalib took the
Ka`bah door ring. A group of the Quraysh went with him and they
started beseeching Allah to defeat Abraha and his soldiers. `Abdul-Muttalib,
while holding the Ka`bah door ring, said, “O Allah, don’t allow
their cross to be victorious.”
Then
`Abdul-Muttalib sent back the ring of the Ka`bah’s door. He and
others from Quraysh set out to the mountains, waiting to see what
Abraha would do with Makkah if he entered it. Abraha, sitting on
his elephant Mahmoud, was preparing himself to enter Makkah with
his elephants and soldiers. He directed the elephants towards
Makkah. One Qurayshi, called Nufayl ibn Habib Al-Juthu’mi, came
close to Abraha’s elephant and told it, “Sit down, Mahmoud, or
go back to where you came from because you are inside the House of
Allah.” After he finished talking into the elephant’s ear, the
elephant sat down and no one was able to send it towards Makkah.
Then Allah the Almighty sent small flying birds from the seaside
carrying three stones each, the size of peas or beans or lentils.
The birds dropped the stones on the army and each one on whom a
stone was dropped was killed. Some were hit while others fled back
home. Abraha was also hit in his body. His people took him to Sana’
and there he died a miserable death.
When
Allah sent the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)
to the Quraysh, he was a blessing to them from Allah as well as a
favor. In the Glorious Qur’an, Allah reminds the people of the
Quraysh how he protected them and the Holy Ka`bah from Abraha.
Allah says: [Hast
thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with the People of the Elephant?
Did He not cause their plan to miscarry? And He sent against them
swarm of birds which ate their carrion, striking them against
stones of clay. And thus made them like broken straw, eaten up.]
(Al-Fil 105:1-5) He also said, [Because
of the attachment of the Quraysh-His making them attached to their
journey in winter and summer- They should worship the Lord of this
House, Who has fed them against hunger, and has given them security
against fear.]
(Quraysh 106: 1-4)
Merit
of Makkah Over Other Areas
In
his book Shafa’ Al-Gharam, Al-Fasi Al-Makki quoted
narrators such as Ash-Shami, At-Tarmathi, and Ibn Majah as saying
that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sitting on his
camel said of Makkah, “By Allah, you are the best and the dearest
to me of all Allah’s lands, and had I not been banished I would
never have left you.”
Makkah
is also home to the House of Allah and the qiblah of all Muslims,
dead or alive. In Makkah, the Prophet was born. There were also so
many statements as to the merits of Makkah and its status. Some of
what has been said about its merits are:
At-Tirmidhi
said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Makkah,
“I do know that you are the dearest to me of all lands, and the
dearest to Allah of all His lands, and had the polytheists not
banished me, I would never have left you.” Sa`id ibn `Abdullah
Al-A`raj said, quoting Abu `Abdullah as saying, “The dearest land
to Allah is Makkah, and no soil is dearer to Allah than its soil,
and no stone dearer to Allah than its stones, and no tree dearer to
Allah than its trees, and no mountain dearer to Allah than its
mountains, and no water dearer to Allah than its water.”
He
also said in another quote: “Allah the Almighty never created a
piece of land dearer to Him than (and here he pointed to Makkah).”
Merit
of Prayer in Makkah
Prayer
in the Makkah Mosque is better than praying in other mosques. There
are several references to this. Ibn `Amr reported that the Prophet
was reported to have said, “Prayers in my mosque are better than
1,000 times of Prayer at other mosques, except at Al-Masjid Al-Haram.”
(Reported by Ahmad, Muslim, and An-Nisai’)
Jubayr
ibn Mut`am reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) said, “Prayers in my mosque are better than 1,000 Prayers at
other mosques except at Al-Masjid Al-Haram.” (Reported by Ahmad,
At-Tayalisi, and At-Tabrani, as was mentioned by As-Suyuti in Al-Jami`
Al-Kabeer)
It
was also mentioned that Abul-Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him)
quoted his father as saying, “Praying in Al-Haram Mosque equals
100,000 Prayers.”
Also,
Abul-Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I asked him,
“Is it better that a man prays in a group at his house or alone
in Al-Masjid Al-Haram?” He replied, “Alone.”
As-Sadik
(may Allah be pleased with him) quoted his father as saying: The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “A Prayer in my
mosque equals 10,000 of praying in another mosque, except in Al-Masjid
Al-Haram, where the Prayer in it equals 100,000 Prayers.”
Demolition
of the Ka`bah and Its Reconstruction
The
Ka`bah has undoubtedly been built several times, but there are
disagreements on the how many times. Many events have taken place,
both natural disasters and man-made catastrophes.
Al-Fasi,
in Shafa’ Al-Gharam, has this to say: “Undoubtedly the
Ka`bah was built several times. There has been disagreement about
the number of these reconstructions. Some said it was constructed
ten times: by the angels, Adam, Sheeth (Seth), Khaleel Allah (Ibrahim),
Amaliqa, the Jurhum, the Qusai ibn Kilab, the Quraysh, `Abdullah
ibn Az-Zubayr, and by Al-Hajjaj, as explained earlier. Those of the
angels, Adam, and his son were not mentioned in the Glorious
Qur’an. Ibrahim Al-Khaleel’s building of the Ka`bah was
mentioned in the Glorious Qur’an.”
The
Ka`bah is still the building of Ibrahim until it was built by
Jurhum, as was mentioned by Al-Azraqi quoting `Ali (may Allah be
pleased with him) and `Abdullah ibn `Abbas.
When
the House was taken over by Qusai ibn Kilab in the second century
before Hijrah, he demolished it and rebuilt it strongly and roofed
it with pieces of wood and palm tree branches. He also built next
to it Dar An-Nadwah, the first public building after the Ka`bah in
Makkah. There he had his government, a home for consultation with
his followers, and all their political and social issues were
discussed inside it.
The
sides of the glorious House were divided among the people of the
Quraysh. They built their houses along the surrounding area and
opened their doors to it.
Five
years before Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) became a
prophet, a flood demolished the Ka`bah. The Quraysh met to discuss
the problem and agreed to divide its reconstruction among the
tribes. The builder was the Roman Baqoom, with the assistance of an
Egyptian carpenter. When they came to the Black Stone, they all
differed on which tribe should have the honor of putting it in its
original place. They were all about to fight over that issue. At
that time, Muhammad, who was 35 years old, was working with them.
He was very much respected for his good conduct and perfect morals.
They used to call him “The Honest” or Al-Ameen. They agreed to
allow the first person to enter the mosque to make the decision for
them. He was the first and they accepted him as an arbitrator. He
asked for a garment and put the stone on it and asked the tribesmen
to hold it from its edges. They lifted the stone and placed it in
the eastern side of the building and then he lifted it and put it
in its place. In so doing, with this lofty idea and sound policy,
he ended the tension among the tribes. They did not have enough
money, so they built the Ka`bah as it is now. Previously Al-Hijr
(the Chamber) was inside of it.
When
`Abdullah ibn Az-Zubayr became governor of Makkah, Yazeed ibn
Mu’awiyah sent Al-Hussayn ibn Numayr with a large attacking army.
Ibn Az-Zubayr resorted to Al-Masjid Al-Haram. Ibn Numayr struck the
mosque with his weapons, thus destroying the Ka`bah and burning its
kiswah and its wood. When Yazeed died, Ibn Numayr retreated
with his army from Makkah.
Then
Ibn Az-Zubayr thought of demolishing it and rebuilding it on
Ibrahim’s foundations. He brought gypsum from Yemen and used it
for construction. He included the Hijr inside the Ka`bah and made
its door down to the ground. Opposite the door, to the west, he
opened another door for people’s exit. He made the height of the
Ka`bah 27 cubits.
When
he completed the reconstruction, he perfumed it with amber and musk
fragrance on the inside and outside, and he also dressed it with
brocade.
The
building was completed on 17 Rajab 64 a.h. When `Abdul Malik ibn
Marwan became a caliph, he sent an army, led by Al-Hajjaj, to Ibn
Az-Zubayr. Al-Hajjaj besieged Makkah and fought and killed Ibn
Az-Zubayr in 73 a.h.
Al-Hajjaj
entered Makkah and wrote to `Abdul Malik informing him of Ibn
Az-Zubayr’s changes to the Ka`bah. `Abdul Malik put him in charge
of it and ordered him to bring it back to its original state as it
was during the Prophet’s time. Al-Hajjaj tore down its northern
side (Ash-Shami) about six cubits and one fist, raised the eastern
door, and closed the western one that had been added by Az-Zubayr.
He did not make any other changes. Then he compacted its ground
with stones taken from its rubble.
Therefore,
the Ka`bah now goes back to Ibn Az-Zubayr in its eastern, southern
and western sides, and the northern side was built by Al-Hajjaj. No
other changes have been made since then except the construction of
its roof during Sultan Sulayman’s time in the year 960 and the
renovation made during Sultan Ahmad’s rule in 1021. This was
followed by the reconstruction made by Sultan Murad IV in the wake
of a huge flood that took place in 1039, in which water rose to a
depth of two meters. The flood destroyed its northern, western, and
eastern walls. There were also a few minor constructions
afterwards.
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