Reports on the Kaaba

Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When Allah Almighty sent Sayyiduna Adam (peace be upon him) down to the earth, he wept over Paradise for a hundred years. Then he looked at the vastness of the earth and said: 'O my Lord, is there no one besides me to inhabit Your earth?' Allah Almighty revealed to him: 'Yes indeed! Soon houses will be raised in which My name will be remembered, and I will settle you in one of them, a house which I have singled out for My honour. I have granted it My majesty, I have given it the name of My House, and I have endowed it with My majesty. I do not dwell in it, nor is it befitting for Me to dwell in houses, nor is that worthy of My glory; rather, I am upon My Throne and My Kursi. It is not befitting for anything I have created to go out of My grasp or out of My power. O Adam, as long as you live you will inhabit it; then after you, one nation after another, generation after generation, will inhabit it, until the matter reaches a man from among your descendants whose name will be Ibrahim. I will make him one who inhabits it and one who dwells in it.'"
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Isma'il bin Amr al-Bajali, and a narrator, Isma'il bin Ayyash; both of them have been criticised and both have also been declared trustworthy. The rest of the narrators of this narration are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When Allah Almighty sent Sayyiduna Adam (peace be upon him) down from Paradise, He said: "I am sending down with you a house (the narrator is unsure whether the words were:) a dwelling, around which tawaf will be performed just as tawaf is performed around My Throne, and near which prayer will be offered just as prayer is offered around My Throne." Then, when the time of the Flood came, it was raised up. The prophets used to perform Hajj to it, but they did not know its location. Then Allah settled Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) at its site, and he built it; he built it (with stones taken) from five mountains, (which) are: Hira', Thabir, Lubnan, Mount Tur and Mount Khayr. (Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said:) Benefit from this House as much as you are able.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir as a "mawquf" narration (a statement of the Companion), and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When Allah Almighty sent Sayyiduna Adam (peace be upon him) down to the land of India, he had with him plants from the plants of Paradise. He planted those plants there. His head was in the sky and his feet were on the earth. He used to hear the speech of the angels, and that would ease his loneliness for him. Then a state of distress came over him, and he was lowered until he was seventy cubits tall. Then Allah Almighty revealed: "I will send down to you a house around which tawaf will be performed just as the angels perform tawaf around My Throne, and near which prayer will be offered just as the angels offer prayer around My Throne." So Sayyiduna Adam (peace be upon him) set out towards the House. Wherever each of his feet fell, a settlement came into being, and between his two feet lay a wilderness, until he came to Makkah. He entered by the gate of al-Safa, performed tawaf of the House and offered prayer near it. Then he went from there to Syria, and he passed away there.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains a narrator, al-Nahhas bin Qahm, who is matruk (abandoned).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The House (of Allah) was placed two thousand years before the earth. The House was on a white spot, while the Throne was upon the water, and the earth beneath it was like a thin cloud; then from it (the House) it (the earth) was spread out.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Haram was placed two thousand years before the earth, and the earth was spread out from beneath it. Mujahid says: Allah Almighty has said: "So make the hearts of some people incline towards them." Mujahid says: Had Allah Almighty said "the hearts of the people", then the people of Persia and the Romans too would have crowded around it.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abu al-Tufayl (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: In the time of Jahiliyyah the Ka'bah was built of loose stones, and it was so low that a young goat could climb onto it. It had no roof; cloths were placed upon it and then let hang down. The Black Stone was placed on its wall, and it was in the shape of a ring with two corners. A ship was coming from the land of the Romans; when it came near Jeddah, the ship broke apart. Quraysh went out to obtain its wood. They found a Roman man by it; Quraysh took the wood, which he gave to them. The ship had been heading for Abyssinia, and the Roman man who was on the ship was a carpenter. When Quraysh returned, they brought the Roman back with them. Quraysh said: "We will build the House of our Lord with this wood that was in the ship." When they intended to demolish the Ka'bah, there was a snake on the wall of the Ka'bah, like a weak thing, with a black back and a white belly. Whenever anyone wanted to approach the House to demolish it, or wanted to take down one of its stones, the snake would rush at him with its mouth open. Quraysh gathered at the Maqam of Ibrahim. They implored Allah Almighty with weeping and said: "O our Lord, our only aim is to honour Your House and to adorn and beautify it. If You are pleased with this, then do whatever seems good to You." Then they heard a sound in the sky, and there was a bird with a black back and a white belly, which had two feet; it was larger than a human. It sank its talons into the snake's head and went off with it; the snake's tail was bigger than such-and-such a thing. It went off towards Ajnad. Quraysh demolished the Ka'bah and then began to build it with the stones of the valley; Quraysh would carry those stones on their necks. They raised it twenty cubits high. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) too used to carry stones from Ajnad. He was wearing a sheet, and the sheet was small. He wanted to put the sheet on his shoulder, and because the sheet was small his private parts became exposed. Then it was called out: "O Muhammad! Cover your private parts." After that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was never seen naked. Between this construction of the Ka'bah and the revelation coming down upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) there were five years, and between the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)'s going out from Makkah and this construction there were fifteen years.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir as a long narration, and Ahmad recorded a part of it; the narrators of both are the narrators of the Sahih.

In one narration the words are: That Roman man's name was Bul'um. And in this narration the words are: It was called out: "O Muhammad! Cover your private parts." This was the first time the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was called out to; and Allah knows best. Abu al-Tufayl narrates: Quraysh used some of the wood.

Sayyiduna Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When Quraysh were building the Ka'bah, we were carrying stones to the House. The men of Quraysh would carry stones in pairs, and the women would carry water (for making mortar and the like). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and I were carrying stones on our necks, with our sheets under the stones; when people came near, we would tie them on as waist-wrappers. Once I was walking and Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was ahead of me, with no waist-wrapper on his body. Meanwhile Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) fell down. I put the stone aside and came running, and he was looking upwards towards the sky. I said: "What has happened to you?" He stood up, took his waist-wrapper and said: "I have been forbidden to walk about naked." (Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) says:) I used to keep this hidden from people, fearing that they would say: "He is mad", until Allah Almighty made his prophethood manifest.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and al-Bazzar recorded something similar; its chain contains a narrator, Qays bin al-Rabi', whom Shu'bah, al-Thawri and al-Tayalisi declared thiqah (trustworthy), and a group declared da'if (weak).

Marthad bin Shurahbil, who was present on that occasion, narrates: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) sent some of the notables and elders of Quraysh to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) told them that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Were your people not close to the time of shirk, I would have built the Ka'bah upon the foundations of Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and Sayyiduna Isma'il (peace be upon him). Do you know why they cut short the foundations of Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and Sayyiduna Isma'il (peace be upon him)?" I replied: "No." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Their funds ran out." The narrator says: The building of the Ka'bah had become weak because of the burning by the people of Syria, so Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) had it demolished. I was in Makkah in those days. In the Hatim he uncovered the foundations, whose parts were joined to one another. He left that place uncovered for three days so as to have people witness it. The narrator says: I saw it; it was like a camel's hump, five stones: on one side one stone, on one side one stone, on one side one stone, and on one side two stones. The narrator says: Then I saw a man who inserted a crowbar and moved it from the side of one corner, and the corner on the other side shook. So Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) built it upon those foundations and made two doors in it, level with the ground, one on the east side and one on the west side. When Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was martyred, al-Hajjaj demolished the portion on the side of the Hatim and restored it to how it was before. Abd al-Malik wrote to him in a letter: "I wish you had left Ibn al-Zubayr and what he did as it was." Marthad narrates: I heard Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) say: "Had I been put in charge of what Ibn al-Zubayr was put in charge of, I would have brought the whole of the Hatim into the House, for if it were not part of the House, tawaf would not be performed around it."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. This narrator Marthad has been mentioned by Ibn Abi Hatim, who did not mention any criticism of him. The rest of the narrators of this narration are thiqat (trustworthy).

Urwah narrates: When the Ka'bah was burned, it became weakened (that is, its building became weak). Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "If the dwelling of any one of you were in this condition, he would not be content until he repaired it. I have firmly resolved that it should be pulled down and rebuilt." He also consulted the people about this. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Leave it in the state in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) left it." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "You are being miserly with regard to spending; I will spend on it from my own wealth." The narrator says: Then he made up his mind and pulled it down. Some people left Makkah. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) climbed onto the Ka'bah, and with him was a black Abyssinian slave of his. They began to pull it down, and some people helped the two of them, and before the sun had risen high they had levelled it with the ground. Then he asked: "From where were its stones brought in the time of Jahiliyyah?" He was told which mountain they had been brought from. He had the stones brought from that same mountain. Then he said: "I bear witness, stating that I heard Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) say that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'O Aishah! Were your people not close to the time of Jahiliyyah, I would have had the Ka'bah pulled down and made it level with the ground. Your people raised it only so that they could let in whomever they wished. And I would have made a western door for it as well.'" After this he mentioned something else which I do not remember; in it are these words: "'A person would enter through this door and go out through that door. And I would have joined it to the foundations of Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him), for your people cut short those foundations and left out the portion of the Hatim from it.'" The narrator says: Then he dug the foundations until he reached the foundations of Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him). He would insert a crowbar on one of its sides, and all of its sides would shake. Then he built it, adding the portion of the Hatim, and he raised it as well. On the day it was demolished its height was eighteen cubits; when he enlarged it, it seemed too short. His son said to him: "Add nine cubits to it", and he added three pillars to it. When Abd al-Malik had Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) killed, al-Hajjaj wrote to him that he should block the door which Ibn al-Zubayr had added, restore it to how it was before, and remove the addition which Ibn al-Zubayr had made from the side of the Hatim. So he did that. Its building as it stands today is the building of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both), except for what al-Hajjaj changed on the side of the Hatim, and its covering is the one with which al-Hajjaj clothed it.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Ikrimah narrates: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) passed through the Mosque at a time when the people of Syria were hurling stones at it (the Ka'bah) with a catapult from Mount Abu Qubays. Allah Almighty sent a thunderbolt upon them which burned their catapult, and forty-four men beneath it were also burned. Some people from Banu Umayyah said: "Do not be alarmed; thunderbolts strike here often." Then Allah Almighty sent another thunderbolt upon them; it burned their catapult and burned forty men beneath it. The narrator says: While they were in this state, news of the death of Yazid bin Mu'awiyah reached them, and the people of Syria scattered.
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: After this he mentioned the hadith which will come later in the Book of Tribulations (fitan), if Allah wills.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains a narrator, Hilal bin Khabbab, who is thiqah (trustworthy), though he has been criticised.

Mujahid reports from his master that he told him that he was among those who took part in building the Ka'bah in the time of Jahiliyyah. He narrates: I had a stone which I had carved with my own hand, and I used to worship it instead of Allah Almighty. I would bring thick milk, which I would deny myself and set aside for the idol, and pour it over it. A dog would come and lick it, then lift its leg and urinate on the idol. Then we built the Ka'bah until we reached the place of the Black Stone, and no one could see the Black Stone; then suddenly it was there in the midst of our stones, like a man's head, with a man's face almost visible in it. The men of one clan of Quraysh said: "We will put it in place." Others said: "We will put it in place." Then someone said: "Appoint an arbiter between you on this matter." They said: "The first person to come by this path (will be the arbiter)." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived. The people said: "The trustworthy one (al-Amin) has come to you." They spoke to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)) had the Black Stone placed in a cloth, then called all the clans of Quraysh and had them take hold of the corners of the cloth, and then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) himself put it in its place.
Ahmad recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Hilal bin Khabbab, who is thiqah (trustworthy), though he has been criticised; the rest of its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.