>

The Index of Some Unusual Anecdotes
About the Holy Ka'bah

The Holy Ka' bak in the bright night

  • "It is baser than the bargain of Abu Ghabshan." The key of the Holy Ka'bah was in the possession of Abu Ghabshan AI-Ghuzaie. He sold it to Qusai Ibn Kila for a bottle of liquor. This happened while Abu Ghabshan was completely intoxicated with wine. The above saying. "It is baser than the bargain of Abu Ghabshan", was said to refer to this incident. (I I)
  • Mujahid Ibn Jabr Abu AI-Hajjaj Al-Makki, the Sheikh of Qur'anic reciters and interpreters, died in 104 H. He said that, if there was anything that people could not do in worshipping, Ibn Zubair did it. It happened that flooding completely covered up the Sacred House, and due to this people stopped performing tawaf. Ibn AI-Zubair, therefore, circurnambulated the Holy Ka'bah swimming. (12)
  • Al-Jalal AI-Siyouti said that, when Al-Mutie Lillah, the ruler of the time, bought the Black Stone from Abu Tahir AI-Qarmati, Abdullah Ibn Okayym, the narrator, said: "There are two miracles in our stone: it floats on water and it does not heat in fire." A stone was brought. It was perfumed and covered with silk brocade so as to deceive him.
  • When it was put in water, it sank, and when it was exposed to fire, it was about to crack. Another stone was brought and the same thing happened to it. Then the Black Stone was brought and when put in water, it floated, and when exposed to fire, it did not heat. Abdullah then said: "This is our stone." At this, Abu Tahir AI-Qarmati was amazed and asked about the source of the information they uttered. Abdullah replied that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) was reported to have said: "The Black Stone is the right hand of Allah on earth. It comes on the Day of Judgement with a tongue to bear witness for those who kissed it with respect or falsity. It does not sink in water; it does not heat in fire". Abu Tahir then said, "This is a true religion verified by oral and written transmission." (12) This, in fact, means that, if the Black Stone is stolen, the thief cannot counterfeit it.
  • The property of the Holy Ka'bah is called AI-Abrab (The Lightning). Perhaps this may mean that if one encroaches upon this property, one should be punished as quickly as lightning. (12)
  • When the workers of Ibn AI-Zubair used crowbars in digging up the foundations of the Holy Ka'bah, the House moved and the whole of Makkah shook. They found intertwined stones and so they left the foundations as they were. (12. 14, v. 3)
  • When Abdullah Ibn AI-Zubair (may Allah be pleased with them) completed the construction of the Holy Ka'bah on the 17th of Rajah, 64 or 65 H., he painted its interior and exterior walls with musk and ambergris. He curtained the inside and outside with raw silk and spread all remaining stones around it. He performed his Umrah from Al-Taniem and asked people to do the same. He asked people to slaughter camels, if they could afford it, as charity in praise and gratitude to Allah, the Almighty. Makkans still perform this particular Umrah in Rajab every year. (12)
  • The first woman to cover the Holy Ka'bah with Kiswah was Umm AI-Abbas Ibn Abdul Muttalib who vowed to do so if she found her lost young son. She made a vow and she fulfilled it when she finally found her son. (l2)
  • When Quraish wanted to pull down the Holy Ka'bah in order to rebuild it, they were faced by a huge snake exposing its fangs. Allah, the Almighty, sent a predatory bird bigger than the eagle which picked up the snake with its talons and threw it towards Ajyad. Quraish were then able to pull down the Holy Ka'bah. (12, 14, v. 3, p. 133)
  • The time lapse between the construction by Abraham (peace be upon him) and the re-construction by Quraish was about 2645 years, and between the renovation by Quraish and Abdullah Ibn AI-Zubair (may Allah be pleased with them) was 82 years. The time lapse between the construction by Ibn AI-Zubair and AI-Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf was 10 years, and between the works of AI-Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf and AI-Sultan Murad, 569 years. The time lapse between the construction by Al-Sultan Murad and the comprehensive renovation by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz was 377 years. (13, 14, v. 3, p.241)
  • When Quraish decided to demolish the Holy Ka'bah and reconstruct it, Abu Wahb Ibn Omar Ibn Ayyz Al-Makhzmni, the paternal great-uncle of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) picked up one of the stones of the Holy Ka'bah. The stone jumped from his hand and returned to its original place. At this point, he asked Quraish to utilize only good, lawful money in constructing the Holy Ka'bah. So, they resolved not to finance the building of the Holy Ka'bah with money obtained from prostitution, usury or ill-gotten gains. After this agreement they continued pulling down the Holy Ka'bah. (13, 14, v. 3, p. 241)
  • Several historical accounts mentioned that, when Quraish demolished the Holy Ka'bah, they came across some inscriptions on stones written in Syriac. A Jew read these inscriptions to them. On one of the stones, the following inscription was found, "I am Allah, the Owner of Bakkah. I created it when I created the Heavens and the Earth, the Moon and the Sun. I surrounded it with seven true believing Angels. It will never vanish until its two mountains vanish. Its Water and Milk will be blessed to its inhabitants". (13 - many references consulted)
  • The two horns of the ram which Abraham (peace be upon him) slaughtered were hung inside the Holy Ka'bah. When Abdullah Ibn At-Zubair (may Allah be pleased with them) demolished the Holy Ka'bah to rebuild it, the horns disintegrated due to previous damage and age. (13)
  • The Hijir is called Al-Hateem for several reasons, one of which was that the Arabs used to throw on it the clothes they wore during circumambulation and they remained there until the clothes decomposed and fell apart. (13)
  • When Abraham (peace be upon him) finished the construction of the Holy Ka'bah, Gabriel (peace be upon him) instructed him in all the rituals. Then Abraham (peace be upon him) asked people to perform pilgrimage because it is a duty mankind owes to Allah. He made those in the loins of men and the wombs of women hear His call and those unborn responded to Him, all believers, and those destined in the knowledge of Allah will perform Hajj until the Day of Resurrection. (Here I am O Allah, at Your Service). (13 - Fath AI-Bari)
  • Quraish knew that usury was unlawful long before the time of Islamic legislation. On constructing the Holy Ka'bah, they decided not to finance the building with money obtained by unlawful means. Because they were short of lawful money, they preferred to reduce the building area of the Holy Ka'bah.
  • Quraish erected the door of the Holy Ka'bah at such a height that stairs were needed for entering the Sacred House. This was intentionally made to control entry to it. (13 - Sahih Al-Bukhari)
  • Abraham (peace be upon him) had been directed to the location of the Holy Ka'bah by a wind called AISakeena, which was in the form of a winged snake.The wind uncovered the original foundation stones of the first Sacred House. Abraham and his son (peace be upon them) dug to the level of those foundations and then raised the building. (13, 14, v. 3) Abraham (peace be upon him) did not fix the door of the Holy Ka'bah in the middle of the eastern wall but fixed it close to the corner so that a place for supplication might exist between them. (14, v. 3, p. 44)
  • When Al-Hajjaj hit the Holy Ka'bah with stones from the catapults, a groan like that of a sick person was heard when the first stone hit it. (14, v. 3, p. 172)
   
The Holy Ka'bah information center | www.kabahinfo.net | Contact web master here