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Short History of the Ka`bah
Most
surely the first house appointed for men is the one at Bakkah,
blessed and a guidance for the worlds. In it are clear signs, the
standing place of Ibrahim; and whoever enters it shall be secure;
and for the sake of Allah, pilgrimage to the House is incumbent
upon men, (upon) every one who can afford the journey to it, and
whoever disbelieves, then surely Allah is Self-sufficient
(independent) of the worlds. (Qur'an 3:96-97)
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A Short History of the Ka`bah
It
is definitely known that it was Ibrahim al-Khalil, peace and
blessings be upon him, who built the Ka`bah. The residents around
it at that time were his son, Isma`il, and the tribe of Jurhum
(originally from Yemen). It is an almost square building whose
sides face the cardinal points of the compass; the winds, no matter
how strong, lose their force when they strike it - without doing it
any harm.
The
construction of Ibrahim stood intact, until it was rebuilt by al-'Amaliqah,
and later by the tribe of Jurhum (or vice versa).
When
the management of the Ka`bah came into the hands of Qusayy Ibn
Kilab - an ancestor of the Prophet - in the second century before
Hijrah, he demolished and rebuilt it on firm foundation, putting a
roof of doom palm timber and date-palm trunk on it. He also built 'Daru
'n-Nadwah' (Council House) on one side. It was the place from where
he ruled and where he held counsel with his colleagues. Then he
divided various sides of the Ka`bah. Among different clans of the
Quraysh and each clan built their houses at the side allotted to
them; and they opened their doors towards the Ka`bah.
Five
years before the start of the Prophet's mission, there came a flood
which destroyed the Ka`bah's building. The Quraysh divided among
themselves the various responsibilities connected with its
reconstruction. They hired a Roman builder to build it and an
Egyptian carpenter to help him with the woodwork. When the time
came to fix the Black Stone, a dispute erupted as to which clan
should be accorded the honor of putting the Black Stone in its
place. Then they agreed to leave the decision to Muhammad, peace
and blessings be upon him, who at that time was thirty-five years
old, because they had full faith in his deep wisdom and sound
judgment. He got his robe, and putting the Stone on it, told all
the clans to hold the sides of the robe and raise it together. When
the Stone reached the required height (on the eastern corner), he
took it in his hands and fixed it in its proper place.
But
the Quraysh found their funds exhausted. So they reduced the size
on one side - as it is today; thus a part of the original
foundation was left out, and that is the portion known as 'Hijr
Isma`il' (the Enclosure of Isma`il).
The
building remained in that condition until `Abdullah Ibn Az-Zubair
established his rule over Hijaz during the reign of Yazid Ibn
Mu`awiyah. Husain Ibn Numair, the commander of Yazid's army,
besieged him at Makkah and struck the Ka`bah with catapult. The
Ka`bah was demolished, the 'Al-Kiswah' (covering of the Ka`bah) and
some roof timbers were burnt down. The siege was lifted when news
came of Yazid's death. Ibn Az-Zubair decided to demolish the Ka`bah
completely and rebuild it on its original foundation. He got good
mortar from Yemen and constructed the new building. Hijr Isma`il
was re-included in the Ka`bah; the door was fixed at the level of
the ground; another door was fixed on the opposite side, so that
people might enter from one door and go out from the other. He
fixed the height of the House at twenty-seven arms. When the
building was ready, he covered the whole building with musk and
perfume inside out, and put silken Kiswah on it. The construction
was completed on 17th Rajab, 64 A.H.
When
`Abdul-Malik Ibn Marwan came to power in Damascus, he sent his
commander, Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf, who defeated Ibn Az-Zubair and killed
him. Entering the Sacred Mosque, he saw what Ibn Az-Zubair had done
regarding the Ka`bah. He wrote to `Abdul-Malik about it who ordered
him to return it to its previous shape. Hajjaj, therefore,
demolished six and a half arms from the northern side and rebuilt
it according to the plan of the Quraysh; he raised the eastern door
and closed the western one; he also filled the inside with the
stones that could not be re-used (thus raising the inside floor to
the new level of the door).
When the Ottoman Sultan Sulaiman ascended the throne in 960 A.H., he changed the roof of the Ka`bah. Sultan Ahmad (who came to power in 1021 A.H.) made some other repairs and alterations. Then came the great flood of 1039 A.H. which demolished parts of its northern, eastern and western walls. Therefore, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV got it repaired. And the same building continues till this day and it is the year 1375 by lunar Hijri calendar, and 1338 according to the solar one.
The
Ka`bah is nearly square in shape, built with hard dark bluish-grey
stones. It now rises to sixteen meters; but was much lower at the
time of the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, as may be
inferred from the fact that, on the day of conquest of Makkah, the
Prophet raised `Ali Ibn Abu Talib on his shoulders so that `Ali
could remove and break the idols that were placed on the roof of
the Ka`bah.
The
wall [the northern one that faces the Enclosure of Isma`il and]
over which is placed the water trough and the one on its opposite
side [the southern one] are ten meters and ten centimeters long;
while the [eastern] wall which has the door and the one opposite to
it are twelve meters long. The door is placed at a height of two
meters from the ground level.
The
Black Stone is fixed in the [east-south] corner, so that if one
wants to enter the door, the Stone would be on his left. This Stone
is one and a half meters above the ground level, that is, above the
level of the circumambulation area. The Black Stone is a hard rock
of irregular oval shape, black with some reddish tint; it has red
dots and yellow wavy lines which appeared when some broken pieces
were soldered and joined. It has a diameter of about thirty
centimeters.
The
Ka`bah's corners, since ancient days, are called "Al-Arkan
(pl. of "Ar-Rukn" pillar); the northern one is called,
the Iraqi Rukn; the western, the Syrian; the southern, the
Yemenite; and the eastern (wherein the Black Stone is fixed), is
named the Black. The area between the door and the Black Stone is
called "al-Multazam" (lit.: the place where one clings
to) because when one circumambulates one adheres to it for
invocation and prayer.
The
trough fixed over the northern wall, which is called the Trough of
Mercy, was an innovation of Al-Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf; in 954 A.H. Sultan
Sulaiman changed that with a silver one; that too was replaced by
Sultan Ahmad in 1021 A.H. with another one of enameled silver with
golden designs. In 1273 A.H. Sultan `Abdul-Majid replaced it with
another one made of gold, and it is the present one.
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Facing
the northern wall is a wall-half circle in shape. It is called, Al-Hatim.
It is like a bow whose two ends face the northern [Iraqi] and the
western [Syrian] Rukns; there is a gap of two meters and three
centimeters between the ends of the bow and the said Rukns. The
wall, Al-Hatim, is one meter high and one and a half meters wide.
It is paneled with carved marble. The distance between the center
of Al-Hatim and the center of the northern wall of the Ka`bah is
eight meters and forty-four centimeters. The area covered by al-Hatim
and the northern wall is known as Hijr Isma`il [Enclosure of
Isma`il]. About three meters of this space was included in the
Ka`bah built by Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him
The
changes and alterations that were done inside the Ka`bah, and the
rituals and Sunnah rites connected with the House are not so
necessary to be described here.
As
for the covering of the House itself, it is said that the first to
cover it was the Tubba [Tubba' - was the title of the Kings of
Yemen.] Abu Bakr As'ad, who hang on it the sheets embroidered with
silver threads. His successors followed this custom. Then people
started covering it with sheets of various kinds - putting one upon
the other. Whenever a covering looked old, a new one was put over
it. This continued until Qusayy came on the scene. He imposed a tax
on the Arabs for putting a new covering every year. This system
continued in his descendants. Abu Rabi`ah Ibn Al-Mughirah used to
put a covering one year and all the clans of Quraysh did so the
next year.
The
Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, covered the House with
Yemenite sheets. This custom continued. When the `Abbaside caliph
Al-Mahi went for pilgrimage, the attendants of the House complained
to him about the coverings that had accumulated on the roof of the
Ka`bah. They said there was a danger of the roof collapsing down
because of that load. The King ordered that all the old coverings
should be removed and that every year a new covering should replace
the old one - and that custom is followed up till now.
The
Ka`bah is draped from inside too. The first to do so was the mother
of `Abbas, son of `Abdul-Muttalib - she had done so because of a
vow she had taken regarding her son- `Abbas.
The
Ka`bah was held in high esteem by various nations. The Hindus
respected it, believing that the spirit of Siva, the third person
of their Trimurty, entered into the Black Stone, when he was
accompanied by his wife visiting Hijjaz.
The
Sabaeans of Persia and Chaledonia counted it as one of their seven
holy sanctuaries [The seven sanctuaries were: (1) The Ka`bah; (2)
Mars - on the summit of a mountain in Isfahan; (3) "Mandusan"?
in India; (4) Naw Bahar in Balkh; (5) House of Ghamdan in San`a;
(6) Kawsan in Farghana, Khurasan; and (7) a House in Upper China.
Many of them said that it was the House of the Saturn - because it
was the most ancient, and the longest in existence.
The
Persians too respected the Ka`bah, believing that the spirit of
Hormoz was present therein; they sometimes went for its pilgrimage.
The
Jews honored it and worshipped God there according to the religion
of Ibrahim. There were many pictures and images in the Ka`bah,
including those of Ibrahim and Isma`il which had divining arrows in
their hands. Also there were pictures of the virgin Mary and Christ
- which indicates that the Christians too respected the Ka`bah like
the Jews.
The Arabs held it in the highest esteem; they believed that it was the House of Allah, and came to its pilgrimage from every place. They believed the Ka`bah to be built by Ibrahim and the hail to be a part of his religion which had come to them as his legacy.
The
trusteeship was in the hands of Isma`il; and after him it remained
in his descendants. Then the Jurhumites became more powerful and
took over the trusteeship. They in their turn were vanquished -
after several wars - by the `Amaliqah, who were a part of Banu
Karkar. The `Amaliqah resided at the lower section of Makkah while
the Jurhumites had settled in its upper section. They had their own
kings.
Later
on, the Jurhumites defeated the `Amaliqah and regained the
trusteeship, which remained with them for about three hundred
years. They extended the area of the House and increased its
height.
Gradually
the Isma`ilites grew in number and gained power and they found the
place too congested and over-populated. Then they fought the
Jurhumites, defeated and expelled them from Makkah. The leader of
the Isma`ilites at that time was `Amr Ibn Lahiyy, the chief of the
clan of Khuza`ah. He became over-lord of Makkah and took over the
trusteeship of the Ka`bah. It was he who put idols in the Ka`bah
and called people to worship them. The first idol he put there was
Hubal which he had brought from Syria; then he brought others.
Gradually there were a lot of idols, and idol-worship spread among
the Arabs; the upright religion of Ibrahim was discarded.
Shahnah
Ibn Khalaf Al-Jurhumi refers to this episode, when he addresses `Amr
Ibn Lahiyy in the following ode:
O
`Amr! You have invented various gods; At Makkah - idols around the
House.
And
there was for the House One Lord from ever; But you have made for
it several lords (which are now worshipped) by the people.
Surely
you should know that soon He will choose for (His) House stewards
other than you.
The
trusteeship remained in the clan of Khuza`ah up to the time of
Halil Al-Khuza`i. He nominated his daughter (who was married to
Qusayy Ibn Kilab) to succeed him, and gave the right of opening and
closing the door to a man from his clan, Abu Ghabshan Al-Khuza`i by
name. Abu Ghabshan sold his right to Qusayy Ibn Kilab for a camel
and a skinful of liquor. The proverb, "More loss incurring
than the deal of Abu Ghabshan", alludes to this sale.
The
trusteeship was thus transferred to the Quraysh. Qusayy rebuilt the
House, as we have mentioned above. The things continued as they
were, until the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, conquered
Makkah, and entering the Ka`bah ordered the pictures to be effaced,
and the idols to be thrown down and broken.
The
Standing Place of Ibrahim - the stone with the imprints of
Ibrahim's feet - was at first put in a kneading trough near the
Ka`bah; then it was buried in the place where it is at present. It
has a dome on four pillars where the people offer their prayers
after the circumambulation.
There
are a lot of details of various aspects of the Ka`bah and other
religious buildings attached to it. We have described here only the
things which are necessary for understanding the verses of Hajj and
the Ka`bah.
One
of the specialties of this House - which Allah has blessed and made
a guidance - is that no Muslim group has ever disagreed about it or
its prestige, honor and respect.