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Monday, March 23, 2015

Inside the Ka’bah

The diagram above shows a rare view of what the
interior of the Ka’bah looks like. The construction
made by Ebrahim (upon him be peace) contained
no roof, it was the Quraysh who raised the walls
of the Ka’bah and added a roof. Today, only a
privileged few have had the opportunity to step
inside the Ka’bah.
During the times of Jahiliyyah (Ignorance), a
man and woman from the Yemenite tribe of
Jurhum called Isaf and Na’ilah committed
adultery inside the Ka’bah. Allah (Glorified and
Exalted is He) turned them into stones. When
they were found the next day, they were
carried outside and were set up at the Ka’bah
as a warning. Over time these two stones were
worshipped along with the other idols. One of
the stones was placed right next to the
Ka’bah; the other one was set up at the spring
of Zamzam. Finally, the Quraysh ordered that
the stone next to the Ka’bah to be carried to
the other one at Zamzam. From then on,
people slaughtered their sacrificial animals at
that spot.
When Islam began to spread, the Quraysh
became more embittered and could not
tolerate the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be on him) any longer. The chiefs drew
up a document which called for the social and
economic boycott of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be on him) and all those
who supported him and his family. All of them
signed this document on 1st Muharram of the
seventh year of the Prophethood and the scroll
was hung up inside the Ka’bah to give it full
sanctity. For three long years the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and
his kinsmen were ostracized in a narrow valley
in Makkah. Food was so scarce that they had
to resort to eating leaves of trees and their
children’s cries could be heard all over the
valley. At last by the Grace of Allah, the scroll
was eaten up by white ants save for the name
of Allah and the boycott was uplifted.
When the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be on him) arrived in Makkah on the day
of victory, he made tawaf around the Ka’bah
seven times and touched the Hajar al-Aswad
with his staff. He then asked Uthman bin Talha
to open the door of the Ka’bah. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be on him)
entered the Ka’bah accompanied by Usama bin
Zaid, Bilal and Uthman bin Talha (may Allah be
pleased with them). He closed the door,
performed prayer and stayed for some time.
Inside the Ka’bah were statues of Ebrahim
(upon him be peace) and Ismail (upon him be
peace), along with pictures of angels and a
picture of Ebrahim (upon him be peace) with
divining arrows in his hand. It has also been
reported that there was an icon painting of the
Virgin Mary and the child Christ which had
been done by a Christian. The Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allah be on him) ordered all of
them to be destroyed.
The two horns of the ram which Ebrahim (upon
him be peace) slaughtered were hung inside
the Holy Ka’bah. When Abdullah bin Zubair
(may Allah be pleased with him) demolished
the Ka’bah to rebuild it, he found the horns
had disintegrated due to previous damage and
age.
The Quraysh had erected their chief idol, Hubal,
within the centre of Ka’bah. It was made of
red carnelian and shaped like a human with the
right hand broken which the Quraysh had
replaced with gold. In front of the idol were
seven arrows of fate and when the pagan
Arabs were undecided on a matter they would
go to Hubal and throw the arrows in front of
him and took ‘advice’ based on how the
arrows appeared.
Abdul Muttalib, the grandfather of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be on him) had
made a vow that if he ever had ten sons he
would sacrifice one of them to God in front of
the Ka’bah. When he subsequently fathered ten
grown up sons up he announced his vow to
them and had their names written on arrows of
fate which were mixed and then one drawn
out. Destiny fell upon Abdullah, his youngest
and dearest son, who was to become the
father of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be on him). Not wanting to sacrifice
Abdullah, Abdul Muttalib consulted a
soothsayer to see how he could be exonerated
from his vow and in return for Abdullah’s life
he gave away 100 camels. Hence the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be on him) is
called the descendant of the “two sacrificed
ones” (Ismail (upon him be peace) and his
own father, Abdullah). Similarly, he is referred
to as the descendant of the “two elders held
for ransom,” for Ismail (upon him be peace)
was ransomed for a ram and his father for a
hundred camels.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
on him) had Hubal destroyed after the
conquest of Makkah.
References: Kabahinfo.com, Symbols of Islam –
Tanja Al-Hariri-Wendel, Muhammed the last
Prophet – Sayyed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, When
the Moon Split – Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri,
Muhammad – Martin Lings



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