The
foundations of the Ka’bah
source:
silsilat ul-ahādīth us-sahīha ~ the series of authentic
narrations ~ hadīth no. 43
On the authority of ʽĀaisha (that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه
وسلم) said to her:) “‘O ʽĀaisha, if your people had not
recently been polytheists and (if it wasn’t for) me not
having enough means that would support its construction, I
would have spent the treasure of the Kaʽbah in the path of
Allāh, and demolished the Kaʽbah to join it to the ground.
Then I would build it upon the (original) foundation of
Ibrāhīm (Abraham) and make for it two doors attached to the
ground – a door facing toward the east through which people
would enter and a door facing toward the west from which
they would exit. And I would expand (the Kaʽbah) by six
cubits[1] of al-Hijr[2] – {in one narration: I would include
al-Hijr in it} – for the Quraish had reduced (the area of
the Kaʽbah) when they (re)built (it). So if it seems good to
your people to (re)build it after me, then come so that I
could you show what they left out from it.’ Then, he showed
her about seven cubits (of area from al-Hijr).”
In another narration from (ʽĀaisha), she said: “I asked the
Messenger of Allāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) about the wall
{i.e., al-Hijr}: ‘Is it a part of the House (the Kaʽbah)?’
He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Then why didn’t they include it in
the House?’ He said, ‘The means was not enough for your
people (to do so).’ I said: ‘But what’s the matter with its
door being raised (like this)?’ He said, ‘Your people did
that to admit whoever they wished and to prevent whoever
they wished – {in one narration: (They did it) out of pride
so that no one could enter it except who they wanted.
Therefore, if the man wanted to enter it, they would call
him to climb until he would almost enter; they would (then)
push him and he would fall}. If your people had not recently
been in jāhiliyyah[3] and so I fear that their hearts would
deny (what I wish to do), I would have considered including
the wall in the House and joining its door to the ground.’
Then, when Ibn uz-Zubayr ruled, he demolished (the Kaʽbah)
and made two doors for it – {in one narration: That was what
urged Ibn uz-Zubayr to demolish it. Yazīd bin Rūmān said, ‘I
saw Ibn uz-Zubayr at the time when he demolished it, (re)built
it and included al-Hijr in it. And I saw the (original)
foundation of Ibrāhīm (‘alayhi ssalām) as stones joined
together like camel humps that are joined together.’}”
~*~*~*~
Shaykh al-Albānī comments:
“This hadīth indicates two things:
First: that it is obligatory to delay carrying out
rectification if an evil greater than (its good) results
from it. And the scholars of fiqh took their famous
principle – ‘repelling the evil (comes) before bringing the
good’ – from (this).
Second: that the noble Kaʽbah is now in need of the
reconstructions that the hadīth includes, due to the
disappearance of the reason for the sake of which the
Messenger of Allāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) left that; (the
reason) was that the hearts of those who were recently
polytheists in his time (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would have a
dislike (for these reconstructions). And Ibn Battāl has
reported from some of the scholars ‘that the dislike that he
(صلى الله عليه وسلم) feared was that they would accuse him
of boasting by himself over them.’
It is possible to list those reconstructions in the
following:
1- Expanding the Ka’bah and building it upon the foundation
of Ibrāhīm (‘alayhi ssalaat wa ssalaam) by adding
approximately six cubits of al-Hijr
2- Leveling its ground with that of the Haram (Al-Masjid
ul-Harām)
3- Opening another door for it from the Western side
4- Lowering the two doors to the ground in order to arrange
and facilitate entering it and exiting it for whoever wishes
And indeed, ‘Abdullāh bin uz-Zubayr (radiAllaahu ‘anhumaa)
had accomplished this reconstruction completely during his
rule in Makkah, but the unjust political administration
returned the Kaʽbah to its previous state after him! And the
following below is a detailed explanation of that as Muslim
and Abu Nuʽaym narrated with their authentic chain of
narration on the authority of ʽAtā, who said:
‘When the House was burnt during the time of Yazīd bin
Muʽāwiya just after the people of Shām[4] attacked (Makkah),
and whatever was meant to happen to (the Kaʽbah) happened,
Ibn uz-Zubayr left it (in that state) until the people
reached the season (of Hajj). He wanted to encourage them or
provoke them against the people of Shām. So when the people
came, he said, ‘O people, advise me about the Kaʽbah. Do I
demolish it then (re)build it, or do I repair that which has
fallen from it (due to damage)?’ Ibn ʽAbbās said, ‘An idea
has occurred to me about it; I am of the opinion that you
repair that which has fallen from it (due to damage), and
leave a House upon which the people embraced Islām, and
(leave) stones upon which the people embraced Islām and upon
which the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was sent.’ So Ibn
uz-Zubayr said, ‘If the house of one of you was burnt, he
would not be pleased until he rebuilds it, then how about
the House of your Lord?! Indeed, I will ask my Lord for
guidance three times, then I will decide on my affair.’
When the three times passed, he fixed his opinion to
demolish it. So the people kept away from it (incase)
something from the sky would befall the first people to
climb on it!, until a man climbed it and threw down stones
from it. Thus, when the people did not see anything (bad)
befalling him, they followed in succession and demolished
(the Kaʽbah) until they brought it to the ground. Then, Ibn
uz-Zubayr made pillars and placed coverings over them until
its building went up. And Ibn uz-Zubayr said, ‘Indeed I
heard ʽĀaisha saying that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
said: {he then mentioned the first part of the hadīth, then
said,} ‘Today, I have that which I will (need to) spend and
I don’t fear the people.’ So he expanded (the Kaʽbah) by
five cubits of al-Hijr until he displayed a foundation that
the people looked upon and he built the building upon (this
foundation). The height of the Kaʽbah was eighteen cubits,
so when he had expanded it (from the width), he found it to
be short; therefore, he expanded its height by ten cubits.
And he also made two doors for (the Kaʽbah), one of them was
to be entered through and the other was to be exited from.
Then, when Ibn uz-Zubayr was killed, al-Hajjāj wrote to ʽAbd
ul-Malik bin Marwān informing him about that, and telling
him that Ibn uz-Zubayr had set up the structure (of the
Kaʽbah) upon a foundation which the reliable persons of the
people of Makkah had seen. So ʽAbd ul-Malik wrote to him:
‘Indeed, we having nothing to do with soiling Ibn uz-Zubayr
with disgrace in anything. As for what he added to its
height, safeguard it; and as for what he added to it from
al-Hijr, return it to its (previous) structure, and close up
the door which he opened.’ Thus, (al-Hajjāj) demolished it
and returned it to its (previous) structure.[5]’
That is what al-Hajjāj the oppressor did by the command of ʽAbd
ul-Malik the mistaken one, and I don’t think that his regret
later on justifies his mistake. Muslim and Abu Nuʽaym have
also narrated from ʽAbdullāh bin ʽUbayd who said:
‘Al-Hārith bin ʽAbdillāh came to ʽAbd ul-Malik bin Marwān as
an envoy during his Khilāfa (Caliphate), and ʽAbd ul-Malik
said, ‘I don’t think that Abu Khubayb – i.e., Ibn uz-Zubayr
– heard from ʽĀaisha that which he claimed to hear from
her.’ Al-Hārith said: ‘But of course, I (myself) heard it
from her.’ (ʽAbd ul-Malik) said, ‘What did you hear her
say?’ (Al-Hārith) said, ‘She said that the Messenger of
Allāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: {he then mentioned the
hadīth}.’ ʽAbd ul-Malik said to Al-Hārith, ‘You heard her
saying this?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ So (ʽAbd ul-Malik) scratched
the ground with his staff for a while, then said, ‘I wish
that I had left (the Kaʽbah with Ibn uz-Zubayr’s
reconstructions)...’[6]
And in one narration from both (Muslim and Abu Nuʽaym) from
Abu Qazaʽah, (it is mentioned) that:
‘While ʽAbd ul-Malik bin Marwān was going around the House,
he said, ‘May Allāh fight Ibn uz-Zubayr as he told a lie
upon the mother of the believers (ʽĀaisha), saying, ‘I heard
her say: {he then mentioned the hadīth}.’’ So Al-Hārith bin
ʽAbdillāh bin Abī Rabīʽah said, ‘Don’t say this O leader of
the believers!, for I (myself) heard the mother of the
believers narrating this.’ (‘Abd ul-Malik) said, ‘If I had
heard it before demolishing (the Kaʽbah), I would have left
it upon that which Ibn uz-Zubayr had built.’’[7]
I (Shaykh al-Albānī) say: it was obligatory upon him, before
the demolition, to make sure and ask the people of knowledge
about whether it was allowed for him to criticize ʽAbdullāh
bin uz-Zubayr and accuse him of telling a lie upon the
Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم)! And his (radiAllāhu
‘anhu) truthfulness became clear to ʽAbd ul-Malik by Al-Hārith‘s
agreeing with him, as many a group from ʽĀaisha (radiAllāhu
‘anhā) agreed. And I have combined their narrations with one
another in this hadīth, so the hadīth is detailed from ʽĀaisha.
Therefore, I fear that ʽAbd ul-Malik had prior knowledge of
the hadīth before he demolished the House, but he pretended
that he did not hear about it except by way of Ibn uz-Zubayr.
So when Al-Hārith bin ʽAbdillāh opposed him that he also had
heard (the hadīth) from ʽĀaisha, (ʽAbd ul-Malik) showed
regret for what he had done, (but) it was too late for
regrets.
On the other hand, it has reached us that there is an idea
or plan to expand the area of tawāf (circumambulation)
around the Ka’bah and transfer the Maqām Ibrāhīm[8] (‘alayhi
ssalaat wa ssalaam) to another place. So in relation to
this, I suggest to those responsible (for the Kaʽbah) that
they hasten to expand the Kaʽbah before everything (else)
and rebuilt it upon the foundation of Ibrāhīm (‘alayhi
ssalaam), fulfilling the clear, noble Prophetic wish in this
hadīth, and saving the people from the problems of crowding
at the door of the Kaʽbah that is witnessed every year and
from the domination of the guard over the door who prevents
whoever he wishes from entering and allows whoever he
wishes, for the sake of a few pennies!”[9]
~ asaheeha translations ~
[1] 1 cubit is approximately ½ a meter
[2] the area which is at present surrounded by a
semicircular wall at the northern side of the Kaʽbah
[3] the pre-Islamic days of ignorance
[4] Syria
[5] Sahīh Muslim #1333
[6] Sahīh Muslim #1333
[7] Sahīh Muslim #1333
[8] Station of Ibrāhīm
[9] Shaykh al-Albānī adds the following footnote: “I say,
then it reached us that the above-mentioned project has been
realized; so the Maqām (Ibrāhīm) has been transferred to a
place far from the Kaʽbah and it was not built upon but
rather a crystal box was placed on top of it so that the
Maqām could be seen beneath it. Thus, perhaps they will also
carry out this suggestion of ours, and Allāh is the granter
of success.”
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