Bukhari

Relationship Between the Chapter Heading and the Hadith:

The connection between the translation of the chapter heading and the hadith is as follows: In the blessed verse, the House of Allah (Baytullah) is declared a place of safety. This means that as long as Muslims continue to populate the House of Allah, it will remain a place of safety for them. However, when the believers depart from this world and there remains not a single person on earth who prostrates (to Allah), then the Ka‘bah will be demolished by a thin-legged Abyssinian. This hadith is a clear sign of the nearness of the Hour (Qiyamah).

Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah says:
“Imam Bukhari rahimahullah’s intent by the word «قياما» in the (Qur’anic) verse is «قواما». That is, as long as the Ka‘bah remains, the religion will remain established. This is the very point for which Imam Bukhari rahimahullah brought this hadith: that in the end times, the Ka‘bah will be ruined. And it is narrated from Hasan al-Basri rahimahullah that ‘People will always remain steadfast upon the religion as long as they continue to perform Hajj to the Ka‘bah and face the Qiblah.’”

Furthermore, Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah says:
«واجيب بأن ذالك محمول على أنه يعع فى أخر الزمان قرب قيام الساعة حيث لا يبقي فى الارض أحد يقول الله كما ثبت صحيح مسلم ”لا تقوم الساعة حتي يقال فى الارض الله“» [فتح الباري: ج 2 ص 589]
“This hadith refers to the very last period near the Hour, when not a single person will remain on earth who says ‘Allah, Allah.’”
As is mentioned in the hadith of Sahih Muslim: “The Hour will not be established until there remains not a single person on earth who says ‘Allah, Allah.’”
Imam Kirmani rahimahullah has also given the same explanation, that this is an issue of the nearness of the Hour, when the world will be corrupted. See: [الكواكب الداري ج 8 ص 90]

Now, a question arises here: Will this event occur before the descent of ‘Isa alayhis salam or after his passing?
Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhlawi rahimahullah says:
«اختلفوا فيه هل هو فى زمن عيسيٰ أو عند قيام الساعة حين لايبقي أحد يقول : الله ؟» [الابواب والتراجم ج 2 ص 248]
Imam Qurtubi rahimahullah, answering this, says: «إن خرابه يكون بعد رفع القرآن من الصدور والمصاحف، وذلك بعد موت عيسى - عليه الصلاة والسلام -، وهو الصحيح. انتهى.» [ذخيرة العقبي ج 25 ص 168، فتح الباري ض 4 ص 259]
“That is, this destruction will occur when the Qur’an is removed from people’s hearts and from the written copies, and this will be after the death of ‘Isa alayhis salam, and this is correct.”
That is, safety in the House of Allah will remain as long as the believers remain on earth; after them, safety will be removed from the earth, and the Abyssinian will demolish the House of Allah.

The second hadith, which is narrated from Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyidah ‘A’ishah radi Allahu anha, is related to the translation of the chapter heading in that the hadith mentions the covering (kiswah) of the Ka‘bah on the day of ‘Ashura, which establishes the greatness of the Ka‘bah, which is the main purpose of the chapter heading.

Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah writes:
«فانه يفيد أن الجاهلية كانوا يعظمون الكعبة قديماً بالسور ويقومون بها» [فتح الباري: ج 4 ص 291]
“That is, from this hadith it is known that in the days of ignorance (Jahiliyyah), people always honored the Ka‘bah by covering it and showing it respect, and it is also known that every year on the day of ‘Ashura, it would be covered. Thus, here lies the correspondence between the hadith and the chapter heading.”

Ibn al-Munir rahimahullah said:
«انما ادخل خبر ذي السويقتين تحت الترجمة بالاية ان الامر المذكور مخصوص بالزمن الذى شاء الله فيه الامان، واذا شاء رفعه عند خروج ذي السويقتين ثم شاء اعاده بعد» [المتواري : ص 142]
“The hadith of the thin-legged one is related to the verse in the chapter heading in that it clarifies that (when the thin-legged one demolishes the Ka‘bah), that will be a specific time (i.e., near the Hour) in which Allah, the Exalted, wills there to be safety, and when Allah wills, He will remove safety, and when He wills, He will return it (safety).”

A Doubt and Its Answer:

A serious doubt arises regarding the hadith: Allah, the Exalted, has said in the Qur’an: «أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا جَعَلْنَا حَرَمًا آمِنًا» [العنكبوت:67] “Do they not see that We have made the Haram a place of safety?” In this verse, Allah, the Exalted, has declared the Haram a place of safety, so how is it possible that someone could demolish this place? For the answer, we refer to Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah’s Fath al-Bari, in which he has answered this doubt in an excellent manner.

Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah says:
«ولأن الله حبس عن مكة الفيل ولم يمكن أصحابه من تخريب الكعبة ولم تكن إذا ذاك قبلة، فكيف يسلط عليها الحبشة بعد أن صارت قبلة للمسلمين ؟ وأجيب بأن ذالك محمول على انه يقع فى آخر الزمان قرب قيام الساعة حيث لا يبقيٰ فى الأرض الله ولهذا وقع قبل ذالك فيه من القتال وغزو أهل الشام له فى ذمن يزيد بن معاوية ثم من بعده فى وقائع كثيرة من أعظمها وقعة القرامطة بعد الثلاثمائة فقتلوا من المسلمين فى المطاف من لا يحصي كثرة وقلعوا الحجر الأسود فحولوه إلى بلادهم ثم أعادوه بعد مدة طويلة، ثم غزي مرارّ بعد ذالك كل ذالك لا يعارض قوله تعالىٰ ﴿أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا جَعَلْنَا حَرَمًا أمِنًا﴾ لأن ذالك انما وقع بأيدي المسلمين فهو مطابق لقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم ولن يستحل هذا البيت إلا أهله فوقع ما اخبر به النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم وهو من علامات نبوته، وليس فى الآية ما يدل على استمرار الامن المذكور فيها .» [فتح الباري، ج3، ص589]
“That is, Allah, the Exalted, prevented the People of the Elephant from Makkah and they were unable to demolish the Ka‘bah, and never before has such a thing happened. So how will the Abyssinians prevail over the Ka‘bah after it has become the Qiblah of the Muslims? The answer is that this is to be understood as referring to the end times, when this event will occur near the Hour, when there will not remain a single person on earth who mentions the name of Allah. Even before this, there have been many battles in the House of Allah, the greatest of which was the battle of the Qaramitah, which occurred after three hundred Hijri, when the Qaramitah attacked the Ka‘bah and carried out a massacre of Muslims in the area of Tawaf, the number of which is beyond count, and they took the Black Stone (Hajar al-Aswad) and carried it to their land, and after a long period it was reinstalled. After that, there were several more battles in the Ka‘bah, and all these incidents are not contrary to this verse, because all these events occurred at the hands of Muslims, not at the hands of disbelievers. (If one reflects), there is nothing in the verse that indicates that safety will always remain therein.”

Qult (I say):

The verse of the Qur’an indicates a general ruling, but the hadith is specific to the nearness of the Hour; therefore, this is a specific (i.e., particular) issue, because all previous incidents that occurred were not near the Hour, but the incident foretold by the Noble Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam will occur near the Hour. Therefore, there is no contradiction between the Qur’an and the authentic hadith.

Hadith Commentary:
However, this will occur near the Day of Judgment, at a time when not a single Muslim will remain on the earth.
Its second meaning is also that as long as there remains even a single person in the world who professes the kalimah (testimony of faith), no enemy can even look towards the noble Ka'bah with an evil eye.
It is also evident that the people of Islam, in terms of numbers, have continued to increase in every era.
All praise is due to Allah, even today there are six to seven hundred million Muslims present in the world.
May Allah increase the Ummah of Islam, Ameen.

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
Imam Bukhari rahimahullah, instead of establishing a heading of his own, has selected a Qur’anic verse as the heading. This means that Allah Ta’ala has made the House of Allah (Baytullah) a means of subsistence for the people.

(2)
According to us, (Qiyaman lil-nas) can have three meanings, the details of which are as follows:
➊ If by “al-nas” (the people) are meant the people of Makkah and its surroundings, then the meaning would be that in this barren and waterless valley, the existence of the Ka‘bah is the means of livelihood for all the people of Makkah and its neighboring areas. In exchange for providing accommodation, food, and transportation services to people coming from the farthest corners of the world, they receive such an amount of income that they continue to use it throughout the year.
➋ If by “al-nas” are meant only the people of Arabia, then these people travel with great freedom during the sacred months. The Ka‘bah has become the support of the social and economic life of the entire country.
➌ If by “al-nas” are meant all people from that era until the Day of Judgment, then the meaning would be that the existence of the Ka‘bah is a cause of subsistence and survival for the entire world. The existence of the world will remain as long as the Ka‘bah and the creation that honors it exist. When Allah wills that this system of the world be brought to an end, at that time the House of Allah (Baytullah) will be lifted. Imam Bukhari rahimahullah has preferred this last meaning. This is why he has, under this heading, narrated the hadith from Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu in which the demolition of the Ka‘bah at the hands of an Abyssinian is mentioned.

(3)
From this, it is also incidentally understood that before the impure act of this Abyssinian, no strong and powerful enemy will be able to demolish the Ka‘bah, nor will they succeed in their impure intentions, as the incident of the People of the Elephant (Ashab al-Fil) stands as a just testimony to this. In the same way, Allah Ta’ala will destroy every person, nation, or government that attempts the reprehensible act of demolishing the Ka‘bah.