Ibrahim (AS) migrated to Makkah: QURAN AL FAJR:“And when We made the house a (sacred) resort for men, and a place of peace! And make from the station of Ibrahim a place of prayer. And We gave direction to Ibrahim and Ismail: Purify My House for those who are to circumambulate (make Tawaf) or stay in seclusion (do Itikaf) or bow and prostrate (in prayer)!” (Verse 125) THE QURAN ILLUSTRATED 5TH DECEMBER 2013:“Ibrahim (AS) migrated to Makkah: an Ibn Kathir report from Mujahid etc. that Sayyidna 1brahrm (AS) was living in Syria when he received the revelation that Allah was going to indicate to him the site of the Kabah, which he was required to build and keep clean for those who should assemble there for performing the Hajj and offering the Salah. In connection with the earlier verse, we have already told the story how he was led by the archangel Jibrail (AS) to the desert where the city of Makkah is now situated and where the remains of the earlier structure of the Ka’bah stood only in the shape of a mound, and how he was commanded by Allah to leave his wife and infant son behind and to return to Syria. He immediately started on the journey, but was naturally anxious about his wife and child. So, when he was out of ear-shot, he prayed to Allah for them, as has been reported in the Surah Ibrahim: My Lord, make this city a place of peace, and keep me and my sons away from worshipping idols. (14:35) And he prayed further: Our Lord, I have made some of my offspring dwell in a valley which is in cultivable, close to Your Holy House that they may, Our Lord, be steadfast in the prayers. So, make the hearts of men tender towards them, and provide them with fruits, so that they may be thankful. (14:37) In the earlier commandment which had brought him to his place, Allah had asked him to keep His House clean. He knew that Allah intended the House to be kept clean not only from external dirt but also from internal filth -namely, association (Shirk) and infidelity (Kufr).So, while departing from this barren desert where he was leaving his family but where a town was to grow, he prayed to Allah, firstly, to make it a place of safety and peace, and, secondly, to protect him and his children from idol-worship and association. The Friend of Allah had attained that degree of knowledge where one sees oneself as a mere nothing, and one makes no movement without a full realization of the truth that nothing happens independently of Divine Will, and that all ones actions and even inclinations rest in the hand of Allah. So, he turned to Allah Himself for help in being able to carry out the command to keep the House of Allah clean from association and infidelity. There is another subtle suggestion in this prayer. Allah had commanded that due respect should be paid to His House. Now, there was a likelihood that some people might begin, out of sheer ignorance, to worship the Kabah itself. That is why Sayyidna Ibrahim (AS) specially prayed for him and his children to be protected from association (shirk). Then, out of his love for his wife and son, he prayed to Allah to provide them, in His grace, with fruits in this barren and uncultivable land where he was leaving them under divine command. A Hadith in Bukhari tells us in detail how the archangel Jibrail appeared and made the spring of Zam-Zam flow in the desert, how some people from the tribe of Jurhum came and settled there, and how Sayyidna 1smail (AS) was married to a lady of this tribe. We also learn from different Traditions (ahadith) of the Holy Prophet (SAW) that the command to settle near the Ka’bah and to keep it clean (mentioned in Verse 26-27 of the Surah Al-Hajj) was at that time addressed only to Sayyidna 1brahim (AS) , for his son was yet an infant. And in those circumstances the intention of the command was not to start the reconstruction of the Kabah but only to place the wife and the son of Sayyidna 1brahim(AS) in this locality so that a human settlement should begin to take shape. On the other hand, the verse we are dealing with (2:125) repeats the same command to keep the House clean, but is addressed as much to Sayyidna 1smail (AS) as to his father, for the son had now grown into a young and married man, and could be included in the command to rebuild the Kabah. A Hadith reported by Al-Bukhari says that, on one of his periodic visits to his wife and son at Makkah, Sayyidna 1brahim (AS) found his son sitting under a tree, making arrows. He informed the son that Allah had entrusted him with a special task, and asked him if he would help his father. The son was, of course, as ready to obey and to serve as ever. Allah had already indicated the spot and also the area where the Kabah was to be rebuilt. When they started digging the ground, the earlier foundations became visible, and it was on them that they began to raise the walls. The next verse speaks of this event When 1brah;m was raising up the foundations of the House, and 1smail (too). The order of the names indicates that the builder of the Kabah is Sayyidna 1brahim (AS), while the role of Sayyidna 1smail (AS) is that of a helper. All the verses of the Holy Qur’ān on the subject of the Kabah either say that the location had been indicated by Allah Himself, or report the divine command to keep the House clean, but never suggest that a new House was to be built in a new place. This in itself shows that the Kabah already existed in some form. Indeed, the Ahadith, and history too, confirms this fact, and from these sources we learn that the earlier structure of the Kabah had either been destroyed at the time of the Deluge of Sayyidna Nuh (Noah (AS) or raised into the heavens, leaving the foundations buried in the ground. Hence, Sayyidna 1brahim and Sayyidna 1smail (AS) were not the original founders of the Kabah, but had raised a new building on the earlier foundations. As to who founded the Kabah for the first time and when, there is no fully authenticated Ahadith which could clarify this point. Certain narrations coming from the people of the Book, however, tell us that it was founded by the angels even before Sayyidna Adam (AS) came down to the earth. He built the Kabah a second time, or renovated it. This structure remained intact upto the time of the Deluge, which destroyed it, and left it a mere mound -the shape in which Sayyidna Ibrahim and Sayyidna 1smail (AS) found it. And they constructed a new building on the site. Since then, the Kabah has undergone certain alterations, but has never been demolished completely. Before the Holy Prophet(AS) assumed the prophetic functions, the Quraysh of Makkah built the Kabah afresh, and he himself took part in this renovation.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Dec 2013 04:00:21 +0000
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