Incidents Witnessed by the Holy Ka'bah

* The enemies of Islam have tried through the ages and centuries to humiliate the Glorified House. Historic accounts mention that the first person who attempted to demolish the Holy Ka'bah was Tubba' AI-Himairi. He intended to transport the stones of the Holy Ka'bah to Yemen to distract people away from Makkah and bring the economic prosperity and growth to Yemen. Allah, the Almighty, guided him to the right path through two men of knowledge. He then held the Holy Ka'bah in high esteem, and later covered it in silk. (12)

* The story of the Companions of the Elephant was mentioned in the Holy Qur'an as well as history books. Abraha, the Abyssinian, constructed a building exactly like the Kabah in Yemen, called AIQulais. He spent huge stuns of money in building it, and tried hard to divert people from the Sacred House to his newly-built duplicate. He invaded Makkah with a large army, headed by an elephant at the charge, intending to destroy the Holy Ka'bah, but Allah, the Almighty, made his treacherous plan go astray. He sent against them flocks of birds which struck them with stones of baked clay, making the army "like green blades devoured"

* The Holy Ka'bah was burnt down during the Quraish era due to a spark that flew from a censer while a woman was perfuming the Holy Ka'bah. The spark hit the curtains of the Holy Ka'bah and burnt all the cloaks (kiswahs) which were piled one on top of the other, as the new kiswah was usually put over the previous old ones. (12)

* Makkah Al-Mukarramah had the Umm Nahshal flood, due to heavy rains, during the time of Omar Ibn AI-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). The flood swept away Abraham's Station to the bottom of Makkah, and its original site was completely wiped out. The Station of Abraham (peace be upon him) was then brought back and tied to the curtains of the Holy Ka'bah on the eastern side. This incident was reported to Omar Ibn AI-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), who came as quickly as possible and restored it to its original place, after ascertaining that it was the proper site. He re-inforced its foundations, and it is still the Station's present-day site. (12)

* The Black Stone was removed several times from its place by Jurhum, Iyad, Al-Amaliqah, Khuza'a and AI-Qaramita. It was taken back after AIQaramita had removed it from its place and kept it with them for a long time. This is one of the miracles of the Black Stone. When Abu Tahir Suleiman Ibn AI-Hasan AI-Qannati came in the pilgrimage season of the year 317 H., he plundered and killed the pilgrims. In addition to that, he took the Black Stone with him to AI-Kufa (in Iraq). The Stone was bought by AI-Mutie Lillah or AIMuqtadir and was restored to its original place in 339 H., forty camels were killed on that occasion. The young camel returning it fattened up by just carrying the Black Stone. They had taken the Black Stone with the purpose of transferring the Holy Ka'bah to Halt. (12, 14, v. 2, p. 313)

* The worst that happened to the Holy Ka'bah, at the lime of Jahiliyyah, was that a man and a woman committed adultery inside it. They were called Isaf and Naylah. They were turned into stone and then taken out of the Holy Ka'bah, and one of them was put on AI-Safa, the other on AI-Marwa. Later they were converted to idols to be worshipped as instructed by Amr Ibn Lahi AI-Khuzaic. Qusai later put one of them close to the Holy Ka'bah, the other on Zamzam. (14, v. 2, p. 24)

* The custody of the Ancient House was under the governorship of the tribe of Jurhum. When they neglected the service of the Ancient House, the tribe of Khuza'a defeated them and took over the custody of the Holy Ka'bah.

* When Quraish demolished the Holy Kabah, to reconstruct it, a dispute arose when the building reached the level of the Black Stone. They differed on the issue of who was eligible to restore the Black Stone to its original place. A civil war was about to break out. Bann Abdul Dar brought a bowl full of blood and all of the tribes inserted their hands in it, which meant that they had made up their minds to fight one another. They were, therefore, called "the Lick of Blood". But Abu Umayya Ibn Al-Mugheera Ibn Abdullah [bit Omar Ibn Mkhzum, their elder, asked Quraish to agree on the judgement of the first person to conic through Bani Shaibah's gate. They all agreed on this suggestion. The first to come through this gate was the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him). This was five years before his mission. He put the Black Stone in the middle of a piece of cloth, and asked a representative of each tribe to hold one of the edges of the cloth and raise it close to its place. Then the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) picked it up with his own noble hands and restored it to its original place. It was a wise. prudent decision that prevented a tierce and destructive civil war.

* When Quraish would not tolerate the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) any longer, they decided to punish him with what was basically an economic boycott. They wrote a document which called for the boycott of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) and all those who supported him and his family. The document was hung inside the Holy Ka'bah. This boycott lasted for three years until five of the Quraish rejected the boycott question. Abu Talib, the first to be boycotted, asked them to re-read the document because there had been an error in writing and reading it. When the document was brought, they found that white ants had entirely eaten the document except for the Name of Allah. So, the boycott was ended, and the Holy Ka'bah became the home of the white ants up to this day and age. This was an honour given to them.

* The Holy Ka'bah was struck by catapult fire by AI-Husayn Ibn Numair, the leader of the anny of Yazeed Ibn Muawiyah, during the reign of Abdullah Ibn AI-Zubair (may Allah be pleased with them). A sequence of events led to the total demolition of the Holy Ka'bah in 64 H. Then it was fired on again by catapults by AI-Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf AI-Thaqafi at the end of Dhul Hijjah, 72 H., during the siege of Ibn AI-Zubair (may Allah be pleased with them). (14, v. 3, p. 166)

* The Holy Ka'bah was burnt down to the ground during the era of Abdullah Ibn AI-Zubair (may Allah be pleased with them). He and his companions took refuge in the Holy Ka'bah during the siege by Yazeed Ibn Muawiyah. One of Ibn AI-Zubair's companions lit a fire, a spark flew off and .set alight the kiswah of the Holy Ka'bah. The wooden portions only were burnt because during the era of Quraish. the Holy Ka'bah was constructed in layers of stone alternating with layers of wood. This fire and the stones hurled at the Holy Ka'bah from the catapults outside led to its collapse and necessitated its demolition and reconstruction. (12)

* Many rains flooded the Holy Ka'bah through its long history. There were about ninety such deluges, which were known by different names, such as Umm Nahshal, AI-Jihaf, AI-Makhbal, Ibn Hanzala, Al-Qanadeel and AI-Khidaiwi, and so on. These downpours were named after persons who had died in them or according to the extent of their force and destruction. Some were also named after an epidemic that prevailed during the time of their occurrence or after the effects they made on the Holy Ka'bah. Also some were known by the name of a distinguished personality that performed Hajj that year. The average time lapse between every flooding was about thirty years. (l4, v. 2, p. 200)

* The Black Stone was torn apart at the end of Muharram, 1351 H. A man from Afghanistan pulled out a piece of the Black Stone and stole a piece of the curtain of the Holy Ka'bah. He was sentenced to death as a penalty. On 28th Rabic AI-Thani, 1351 H., King Abdul Aziz AI-Saud restored this piece of the Stone to its former place with a special adhesive paste. This was done in the presence of a group of residents and scholars. (13, 14, v. 2, p. 315).

* Al-Bukhari, Muslim and AI-Nisai reported, on the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Holy Ka'bah will be destroyed by Dhul Suwaiqatain towards the end of human existence. Abroad and others related this on the authority of Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them). It was also added that he would plunder its ornaments and steal its kiswah. "It is like I am seeing him in front of me bald. and he is striking the Holy Ka'bah with his mattock or spade". (14, v. 3, p. 244).