In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah).
The Rebuilding of the Ka'bah.
When the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, reached thirty-five years of age,
a major event took place:
Quraysh decided to rebuild the Ka'bah.
This was because some of the Ka'bah's stones had begun to crumble,
and a severe flood had struck it,
significantly weakening its structure.
They differed among themselves:
should they merely restore the House,
or demolish it and rebuild it anew?
Some argued,
"It should be demolished and rebuilt from scratch."
While others insisted,
"Rather, it should only be restored,"
because they feared that if they demolished the House,
they might be struck by a calamity.
For what had happened to Abraha
was still very fresh in memory;
many of them had lived through it
and witnessed what befell Abraha and his army
when they marched against that sacred House.
Then Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah stepped forward
and said,
"By Allah, we shall certainly tear it down
and rebuild it anew!"
They said,
"We fear that we will be struck by harm."
He replied,
"What harm could befall you
when you intend nothing but good?"
They said,
"Then you begin first."
So Al-Walid went up to the Ka'bah,
raised his axe, and said,
"O Allah, do not be alarmed,"
meaning, "Do not fear, O Lord;
we do not intend to harm You,
but we only desire good."
And this, without doubt,
shows their profound ignorance of Allah,
the Blessed and Exalted.
He struck a blow and then waited,
and no harm befell him.
So he said,
"O people, demolish it!"
They replied, "No,
not until you wake up tomorrow unharmed."
When morning came
and he had suffered no affliction,
they all stood up
and demolished the Sacred House of Allah.
However,
when they intended to begin
rebuilding it, they said,
"Nothing shall enter into its construction
except pure, lawfully earned wealth;
no money from usury (riba) shall be accepted,
nor from gambling, nor the earnings of a prostitute,
nor any stolen wealth."
And this is truly
remarkable, for despite their pagan ways,
they knew lawful wealth
from unlawful wealth.
And Allah decreed that the lawful wealth
which they were able to gather
fell short and was insufficient
to rebuild the entire Ka'bah.
So they built the Ka'bah upon the dimensions
that it stands on today,
and left that semi-circular enclosure which we see,
which is called
by many people "Hijr
Isma'il"—
though Isma'il, peace be upon him, has no connection to
this Hijr—
also called Al-Jadr,
as the people of Mecca used to call it,
or Al-Hatim.
And of this enclosure,
about six cubits
are considered part of the Ka'bah itself.
Therefore, whenever we wish
to perform Tawaf around the Ka'bah,
it is not permissible for us to circumambulate
from inside the Hijr,
because we are commanded
to circumambulate around the Ka'bah,
not inside the Ka'bah.
The Ka'bah originally had two doors—
not just one—
and the entrance was level with the ground,
but they elevated it
so that they could admit whom they wished
and keep out whom they wished.
'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, once asked
the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
about the wall (Al-Jadr):
"Is it part of the House?"
He replied, "Yes."
She asked, "Why then
did they not include it within the House?"
He said, "Your people
ran out of sufficient funds."
She asked,
"Why is its door raised up high?"
He replied,
"Your people did that
so they could admit whom they wished
and prevent whom they wished.
Were it not that your people have only recently
left the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah) behind,
and I fear that their hearts would reject it
if I were to incorporate the wall into the House
and lower its door to ground level, I would have done so."
And this showed the Prophet's,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
utmost wisdom.
For how easily Quraysh would have said,
"Look at Muhammad,
peace be upon him,
who claims that he
is a messenger sent by Allah;
no sooner did he conquer Mecca
than he demolished the House of Allah!"
Therefore, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, deemed
it the wiser course
to defer this matter.
But was this matter delayed
for very long?
No, it was not delayed for long.
During the caliphate of
'Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr,
may Allah be pleased with him,
in the year 65
of the Prophet's Hijrah—
or the year 64—
'Abdullah
ibn al-Zubayr stepped forward
and incorporated the Hijr into the Ka'bah,
widened the Ka'bah,
raised its height,
lowered the door to the ground,
and made two doors for the Ka'bah—
all in accordance with
what the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had desired.
'Ata' related:
"'Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr
gathered the people and said,
'O people!
Advise me regarding the Ka'bah:
should I demolish it and then rebuild
its structure,
or merely repair what has weakened of it?'
Ibn 'Abbas said,
'A distinct opinion has become clear to me
regarding it:
I think you should only repair what has weakened of it,
and leave the House
in the state upon which the people embraced Islam
and upon which the Prophet,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was sent.'
Ibn al-Zubayr said,
'If the house of one of you
were burned down,
he would not be satisfied until he rebuilt it completely anew;
so what then of the House of your Lord?
I shall seek the guidance (Istikharah)
of my Lord for three days,
and then I will resolve upon my course.'
When the three days had passed,
he made up his mind
to demolish it.
But the people feared
that the very first person
to climb atop it
would be struck by a disaster from the sky.
Then a man climbed up and threw down
some stones from the House;
and when the people saw that
no harm had afflicted him,
they followed suit and demolished the House
until they leveled it to the ground.
Then Ibn al-Zubayr erected pillars
and draped curtains over them
until its construction rose high.
Ibn al-Zubayr said,
'I heard 'A'ishah,
may Allah be pleased with her, saying:
"The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
said:
'Were it not that the people have only recently
left disbelief,
and that I do not possess the funds
to support its full reconstruction,
I would have incorporated into it
five cubits from the Hijr,
"and I would have made a door for it
through which people would enter,
and another door through which they would exit."
'Abdullah Ibn al-Zubayr said:
"Today, I possess
the means to spend,
and I do not fear the people's reaction."
So he added five cubits to it
from the Hijr, just as the Prophet,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had intended,
until he uncovered
for the people to see
the foundation laid by Ibrahim, peace be upon him.
Then he erected
the building upon it.
The height of the Ka'bah used to be
eighteen cubits,
and when he expanded its base, he felt it was too short,
so he increased its height
by ten cubits.
Thus, Ibn al-Zubayr increased both its height
and width, may Allah be pleased with him,
and he made for the Ka'bah
two doors:
one through which people entered,
and another through which they exited.
When Ibn al-Zubayr was killed
in the seventy-third year of the Hijrah
at the hands of al-Hajjaj
ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi,
al-Hajjaj wrote to 'Abd al-Malik
ibn Marwan informing him of that,
and reporting to him that
Ibn al-Zubayr had set the structure upon a foundation
that had been inspected
by trustworthy witnesses from the people of Makkah.
But 'Abd al-Malik wrote back to him:
"We have nothing to do with
the contamination of Ibn al-Zubayr in any way.
As for what he added
to its height, leave it as it is;
but as for what he incorporated from
the Hijr, restore it to its previous
structure, and seal the door
that he opened."
So he demolished it and restored it to
its earlier structure; and this is
an astonishing matter!
For 'Abdullah Ibn al-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with him,
only carried out
the instruction of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
whereas 'Abd al-Malik
ibn Marwan, when he assumed the caliphate,
assumed that 'Abdullah
Ibn al-Zubayr had merely added this
of his own accord;
so he ordered its demolition
and restored the Ka'bah to the state it was in
during the era of the Prophet, peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him.
Later, al-Harith ibn 'Abdullah came as an emissary
to 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan,
and 'Abd al-Malik remarked:
"I do not think Abu Khubayb"—
meaning 'Abdullah Ibn al-Zubayr—
"actually heard from 'A'ishah
what he claimed to have heard
from her."
Al-Harith said: "On the contrary,
I myself heard it from her."
'Abd al-Malik asked:
"What did you hear her say?"
He said:
"She said: The Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
'Your people fell short
in building the House;
and were it not that they have only recently left
polytheism, I would have rebuilt what
they left out of it. If
your people should ever decide to rebuild it after me,
then come, let me show you
what they left out of it.'
And he showed her about
seven cubits, and indeed
it was so; 'and I would have made for it
two doors level with the ground,
an eastern one and a western one.
And do you know why
your people elevated its door?'
She said: 'I said: No.'
He said:
'Out of arrogance, so that none would enter it
except whom they wished.
Whenever a man
intended to enter it,
they would let him climb up,
and just as he was about to enter,
they would push him and he would fall.'"
'Abd al-Malik said to al-Harith:
"Did you personally hear her
say this?"
He replied: "Yes."
So 'Abd al-Malik tapped the ground
for a while with his cane,
and then said:
"I wish I had left him and what he had undertaken."
And in another narration:
"Had I heard it before
demolishing it, I would have left it
as Ibn al-Zubayr had built it,
may Allah be pleased with him."
During the Abbasid era,
in the caliphate of al-Mahdi,
the Caliph wished to
rebuild the Ka'bah
and incorporate the Hijr into it once
again.
So he consulted Imam Malik, asking:
"What is your opinion?"
Imam Malik replied:
"Do not do so."
He asked: "Why?"
He said: "I fear that
kings will turn it into a plaything;
one demolishing it and another
rebuilding it." So
the Caliph left it, and
the House remained in that state down to
our present day.
Thus, if someone were to say,
"Let us restore it now
and build it as intended by
the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,"
we say:
this matter is referred back to the scholars;
they should convene and examine
the issue, and if they deem it appropriate,
the decision rests with them.
Allah Almighty said:
“And if any tidings, whether of safety or fear, come unto them, they noise it abroad, whereas if they had referred it to the messenger and to such of them as are in authority, those among them who are able to think out the matter would have known it. If it had not been for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy ye would have followed Satan, save a few (of you).” (4:83)
“And if any tidings, whether of safety or fear, come unto them, they noise it abroad, whereas if they had referred it to the messenger and to such of them as are in authority, those among them who are able to think out the matter would have known it. If it had not been for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy ye would have followed Satan, save a few (of you).” (4:83)
﴿those who can draw correct conclusions from it would know it﴾
﴿among them.﴾
Treasures of
intelligence
and discernment:
After Quraysh rebuilt
the Ka'bah, they disputed
over who should place the Black Stone
into its spot, as every clan
desired the honor of placing it.
So they said: "Let us appoint as an arbiter
among us the first person who enters
upon us." And it was decreed
by Allah, Blessed and Exalted,
that the first person to enter
upon them was the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
They exclaimed: "This is the Trustworthy one (al-Amin)!"
So he took off his cloak,
and asked the chiefs of
the clans each to hold
one of its edges,
until they carried the stone to the Ka'bah.
Then the Prophet,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, picked it up with his noble hands
and placed it
in its spot.
It has been narrated in the hadith:
"The Black Stone descended from Paradise
whiter
than milk,
but the sins of the children of Adam blackened it."
Treasures of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).