وَإِذْ جَعَلْنَا ٱلْبَيْتَ مَثَابَةًۭ لِّلنَّاسِ وَأَمْنًۭا وَٱتَّخِذُوا۟ مِن مَّقَامِ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمَ مُصَلًّۭى ۖ وَعَهِدْنَآ إِلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمَ وَإِسْمَـٰعِيلَ أَن طَهِّرَا بَيْتِىَ لِلطَّآئِفِينَ وَٱلْعَـٰكِفِينَ وَٱلرُّكَّعِ ٱلسُّجُودِ ١٢٥
And ˹remember˺ when We made the Sacred House a centre and a sanctuary for the people ˹saying˺, “˹You may˺ take the standing-place of Abraham as a site of prayer.” And We entrusted Abraham and Ishmael to purify My House for those who circle it, who meditate in it, and who bow and prostrate themselves ˹in prayer˺. (2:125)
إِنَّ أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍۢ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِى بِبَكَّةَ مُبَارَكًۭا وَهُدًۭى لِّلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ٩٦
Surely the first House ˹of worship˺ established for humanity is the one at Bakkah—a blessed sanctuary and a guide for ˹all˺ people. (3:96)
The Rebuilding of the KaꜤbah
Since the beginning of time, up until now, the KaꜤbah has been built 5 times. First it was built by ꜤĀdam (AS) who was commanded by Allāh (SWT). ꜤAbdullāh Ibn ꜤUmar Ibn Al-Ās narrates that Rasūlullāh (SAW) said, Allāh (SWT) sent Jibrīl (AS) to ꜤĀdam (AS) with the command to build the KaꜤbah. When ꜤĀdam (AS) completed the building of the KaꜤbah, he was ordered to circumambulate it, meaning go around it (perform the Ṭawāf). He was told that you are the first man, and this is the first house which has been built for peoples’ worship.
When the floods came in the time of Nuh (AS), there were no remains left of the KaꜤbah. Ibrāhīm (AS) was then given the command to build the KaꜤbah for a second time. There were no signs left of the foundation, so Jibrīl (AS) came and showed him where the original foundations were. Along with IsmāꜤīl (AS), he rebuilt the KaꜤbah.
The 3rd time was 5 years before Prophethood when Rasūlullāh (SAW) was 35 years old.
The KaꜤbah was in a state of disrepair, when it rained, the water would seep inside.
The leaders of the Quraysh all got together and decided that they would take down the existing KaꜤbah and rebuild it completely. When this had been decided, Rasūlullāh (SAW) father’s uncle, Abū Wahb got up and said that all the money which is to be spent on rebuilding the KaꜤbah should only come from Ḥalāl, permissible earnings.
The Responsibilities are divided
The honour of rebuilding the KaꜤbah was so great that each clan was given a certain part to build to ensure that no one was left out from this honour.
The side of the KaꜤbah by the door was given to the Banū ꜤAbd Manāf (which was the family of Rasūlullāh (SAW)) and Banū Zuhrah.
The side of the KaꜤbah between Rukn Yamāni and Ḥajre Aswad was the responsibility of the Banū Makhzūm and some other clans from the Quraysh. The back wall of the KaꜤbah was the responsibility of the Banū Jamah and Banū Sahm.
Finally, the Ḥatīm was the responsibility of the Banu ꜤAbd ad-Dār, ibn Asad and Banū ꜤAdiyy
When the time came for rebuilding, the Quraysh heard that a trade ship had broken up off the coast of Jeddah. Jeddah is a town on the coast of the Red Sea which is about 50 miles from Makkah.
Walīd ibn Mughirah arrived in Jeddah and took some planks for the roof of the KaꜤbah. There was also a Roman builder who was on the ship called Baqūm. He was also brought back to Makkah to help with the rebuilding of the KaꜤbah.
The KaꜤbah is taken down
The time now came to take down the old building, but no one could sum up the courage to do so. Finally, Walīd ibn Mughirah stood up and said, Oh Allāh, we only have the intention of doing well, and our intention is not to do anything bad. With these words he started to take down the part of the wall which was between Rukn Yamāni and Ḥajare Aswad.
The people of Makkah were worried that something might happen to them if they took down the KaꜤbah so they said, let’s wait till night time in case some divine punishment is sent down upon Walīd. If some punishment comes down, then we will restore the KaꜤbah back to how it is, but if not, we will help Walīd to also take it down.
When the morning came, Walīd came to the Ḥaram, safe and sound so the people realised that Allāh was happy with this action. They grew in confidence and started to help Walīd.
They carried on digging until they saw the foundations of the KaꜤbah which had been laid by Ibrāhīm (AS). A Qurayshi then struck the foundation with his spade. Suddenly there was a loud noise which was heard in the whole of Makkah. The people then stopped digging and started to build the KaꜤbah upon these foundations.
The different clans started collecting stones and built the relative parts of the KaꜤbah as had been delegated.
Ḥajare Aswad
When the time came for them to put the Ḥajare Aswad back in place, there was a severe difference of opinion. Swords were drawn, people started to get ready to fight. This situation continued for 4 or 5 days.
To put an end to the dispute, Abū Ummayah who was the oldest person made a suggestion. He said that tomorrow morning, the first person who enters the door of the Masjid, make him the arbitrator so he can decide what needs to be done.
Everyone accepted this opinion and the following morning they arrived in the Ḥaram to see who was going to be the first person to enter.
It so happened that the first person to come was none other than Rasūlullāh (SAW). As soon as they saw him, they all said, this is Muḥammad (SAW) the trustworthy, we are happy for him to make the decision.
The Decision
Rasūlullāh (SAW) asked for a sheet and placed the Ḥajare Aswad in the middle of it. He then requested that the leaders of each clan should hold the sheet, so no one is left out from this honourable act. Everyone was happy with this decision and held the sheet. When the sheet was lifted to the place where the stone needed to sit, Rasūlullāh (SAW) placed the Ḥajare Aswad in its place with his own blessed hands. And this was how Rasūlullāh (SAW) helped settle an argument as well as place the Ḥajare Aswad in its position.
The Changes to the KaꜤbah
When the Quraysh rebuilt the KaꜤbah, there were a number of changes the Quraysh made to the original building. Firstly, the KaꜤbah used to have 2 doors, so people could go in and out, but now the rear door was closed off and only one door remained. The second change was that the door was raised to a high position so no one could enter it unless a stair was placed.
Finally, the side of the KaꜤbah which was towards the Ḥatīm was shortened. So, if a person reads Ṣalāt in the Ḥatīm, within the semi-circular wall, it is as if you have read Ṣalāt inside the KaꜤbah, Subhānallāh! Now going back to the times when the KaꜤbah was rebuilt. The 4th time was when ꜤAbdullāh ibn Zubayr , rebuilt the KaꜤbah when he was the Khalīfah in Makkah Finally, the 5th time, it was rebuilt by Hajjāj ibn Yūsuf who was the governor of Makkah in the time of ꜤAbdul Mālik ibn Marwān.
(Sirah of Muhammad- Part 3 Life before Prophethood by Maulana Ebrahim Noor)
