Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 9 - Marriage to Khadija & Re-building Kaa'ba - Yasir Qadhi | Sept 2011
Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 9 - Marriage to Khadija & Re-building Kaa'ba - Yasir Qadhi | Sept 2011
There are two more incident pre-prophethood and then we will begin with the start of prophethood. As mentioned we have very little for the first 40 years of the life of the Prophet PBUH.
Getting to Know Khadija RA
The first incident is the Prophet's PBUH marriage to Khadija bint Khuwaylid RA. Now how did this come about? As we said before, the Prophet PBUH was a shepherd. And he would find people who owned flock, take them and get some wages. It so happened that Khadija's older sister had a flock - a herd of camels. And she hired the Prophet PBUH to take care and graze the flock outside of Makkah. She hired two people - the Prophet PBUH and another young man. Now, after the Prophet PBUH had finished the grazing, they had to go back into town to collect the wages. The young man with the Prophet PBUH said, "Now that we are done, let's go and ask our wages." So the Prophet PBUH said, "Why don't you go on my behalf, because I am too shy to go." So the person came to Khadija's sister and it so happened that Khadija was in the house at the time. Khadija asked, "Where is Muhammad [PBUH]?" and the young man said, "He was too shy to come and ask it from you." So at this Khadija's older sister said, "I have not seen any man who is more shy, honorable, noble, and chaste in his interactions than Muhammad [PBUH]." And it's narrated that this is the first time Khadija heard of the Prophet PBUH in such a manner, and something entered her heart.
Eventually later on in the year, Khadija had to send her own caravan to Syria. She owned a lot of wealth - she had been married twice and her second husband was a wealthy merchant and the two of them did not have any children. Khadija had sons from the first marriage but not the second. Now in Jahiliyyah times, women did not inherit, but in this marriage, her (second) husband did not leave any sons nor did he have any siblings, so it became a rare opportunity wherein Khadija inherited a small fortune (after her second husband died).
And over the course of the next few years, she kept on investing. She would order some goods to be purchased in the time of Hajj and sell them in Syria, and then purchase other goods from Syria and sell them in Yemen, then purchase other goods from Yemen and sell them in Makkah, so on and so forth. But because she is a woman, she cannot go herself, so she had to hire a businessman. Now in those days, you wouldn't hire a person by a wage. You would make it percentage profit (i.e. mudarabah). For example, "30% profit is yours, 70% is mine." This is legitimate [even] in Islam. So she would engage in this mudarabah, and of course because she is sending a man who is not related to her & not looking after her best interest, usually the person would steal, lie, and cheat. Thus she never managed to get the type of wealth she deserved or felt that she earned. So when she heard the praise of the Prophet PBUH, she decided to choose him even though he was inexperienced when it comes to business. He had never ever gone on a business trip himself - but because of his honesty, she decided to overlook the lack of experience, and also the lack of age - the Prophet PBUH was just around 24-25. And indeed it's human nature that when a man is decent and elegant with his interaction with a woman, automatically he must be noble and the rest of his nature must also be good. So Khadija, who was well known as the richest lady in Makkah, sent a message to the Prophet PBUH through her servant.
Khadija RA was single at the time, and this was generally rare, as nearly everyone was married at the time. A lot of men tried to marry her because of her substantial wealth and the fact that Jahiliyyah law dictates the wealth would be transferred to the husband; but Khadija turned all of them down.
So she sent a message to the Prophet PBUH asking him to take care of her caravan. The Prophet PBUH went to Abu Talib and said, "O my uncle, Khadija has sent me such and such an offer - what do you think?" This shows us that the Prophet PBUH was a very respectful young man - that he didn't just impetuously say yes, but got permission and asked his uncle for advice. And so Abu Talib said, "O my nephew, she is well known to be the richest woman. Allah has blessed you with this opportunity. Do not say no to her." And so the Prophet PBUH said yes and Khadija agreed to give the Prophet PBUH 50% of the profits, as she felt a good incentive would lead to the Prophet PBUH doing a better job. And so the Prophet PBUH accepted, and Khadija sent one of her servants along, and the Prophet PBUH took the caravan to the city of Bosra (not to be confused with Basra of Iraq or Bursa of Turkey).
Bosra is a small town outside of Damascus by ~100 km and was the typical and the most convenient location for the Arabs to do all the buying and selling. It had a huge marketplace, so many different people from all around used to go there for trade - Yemenites, Egyptians etc. It is well known to be a town of economic transactions - and to this day there are ruins of the marketplace. (Side note: Umar RA conquered Bosra and he built one of the first masjids ever built in Bosra - it's one of the oldest mosques in the world.)
So Khadija sent her servant, Maysara, with the Prophet PBUH, and when they returned, Maysara told Khadija of the care & concern that the Prophet PBUH had shown, and of the honesty in his dealings and transactions. It's been narrated that there was always a cloud sheltering the Prophet PBUH (no doubt this can happen by the will of Allah; but there is no authentic reports so we have to be a little bit careful when narrating pre-prophethood miracles.) The Prophet PBUH made double or triple the profit anyone else made before. And this is of course for two reasons: (i) he is being honest, and (ii) because whatever he does has barakah and Allah will bless it. Indeed even when the Prophet PBUH was with Halimah as a baby, everything got barakah. So there is no question that whatever the Prophet PBUH is doing, it will have extra blessings.
So the caravan came back with double, triple profits. This thus increases the emotions Khadija RA has for the Prophet PBUH. And note that there is nothing wrong with feeling such emotions - she is a single lady and the Prophet PBUH is an eligible bachelor. (Falling in love is not haram, it's what you do with that love that can make it halal or haram. Falling in love is a natural emotion.) First Khadija RA is hearing the Prophet PBUH being praised so highly by her own sister, then she sees his honesty, then sees the barakah etc. so it's only natural. And thus there is nothing wrong with her desire now to marry the Prophet PBUH. In fact what lady would not have desire to marry the Prophet Muhammad PBUH.
______________
Marriage to Khadija RA
The details differ about how the proposal came about, but they agree that Khadija RA was the one who instigated it and arranged it. Normally the man proposes; however, if the women expresses an interest, this is permissible (with certain guidelines), even in Islam.
So in one version, Khadija RA told a servant of hers who was an elderly lady by the name of Nafisa, about marrying the Prophet PBUH. And so Nafisa went to the Prophet PBUH and said, "O Muhammad [PBUH], why don't you get married?" But the Prophet PBUH smiled and said, "Who will marry me? I am an orphan and I'm poor." Then Nafisa said, "What if Khadija wanted to marry you?" The Prophet PBUH was quiet and then said, "Why would she want me?" Notice he didn't say no, but was just wondering why would she want him; so the implied message is: he is interested. And so Nafisa went back and told Khadija RA and the matter went to the next stage.
Ibn Ishaq said, this marriage took place 3 months after he returned from Bosra, in the month of Safar. So for 3 months, there was this back and forth.
The second version to the story which is not authentic is that Khadija's father opposed the marriage, and so he was caused to become drunk, and it was made to appear to him that the marriage had taken place, so when he became sober, it was too late to say no. But this narration contradicts other known fact, as Ibn Hajar and others say, Khadija's father had died long ago - which makes sense, because if he was alive, he would've taken the money - so straight away this version is not true.
The more authentic version is that her uncle Amr ibn Assad did the nikah, and Abu Talib came with the Prophet PBUH, and Abu Talib performed the khutbah which is recorded in the early books: He started by praising Allah, and then talked about the lineage and the blessings of the Quraysh, that they are the caretakers of the Ka'bah, and are the blessed people of Makkah etc., and then continued, "My nephew is the one who is no comparison with any other young man in all of Makkah, in his manners, nobility, and lineage. And he has proposed to your noble lady with a mahr of 12 uqiya and nishan (12 nuggets of silver with a little bit of coins of silver - modest and respectful amount ~$400)." And then Khadija's uncle stood up and said, "This is a young man who cannot be refused, we accept the proposal."
Khadija had been married twice before. Her first marriage gave her a son named Hala. (And Hala eventually accepted Islam and lived a noble life alongside the Prophet PBUH.)
So the question is how old was Khadija when she married the Prophet PBUH? The common opinion that everybody is aware of is that she was 40 years old, and she died when she was 65. This is the opinion of one of the classical scholars of Islam, al-Waqidi. Scholars unanimously agreed that they were married for 25 years, and that the Prophet PBUH was 25 years old when he got married. However, there are more authentic reports that Khadija's age was not 40 when she got married. Academically speaking, there are two problems with this age:
1. Al-Waqidi is not of the caliber as other scholars who report a different age. So we have al-Bayhaqi, Ibn Kathir and others who report that she died in her 50s. Thus this changes everything, as it implies she was around 25-35 when she was married. Another early authority, Hisham al-Kalbi says: Khadija married when she was 28 years old. And we have from al-Hakim that Ibn Ishaq says: She was 28 years old. The people reporting she was 28 are more in quantity and in quality in terms of knowledge. Ibn Ishaq is THE authority when it comes to seerah. So did Ibn Kathir, al-Bayhaqi etc.
2. The Prophet PBUH and Khadija RA had at least 6 children, maybe more. And a woman in her 40s, it would be very difficult to do this. But for a woman at 28, this is very reasonable and makes a lot more sense. Academically, it seems to be the more correct opinion.
______________
What We Learned So Far
1. It shows the importance of honesty and good etiquette (akhlaq). It's appreciated by all of humanity. The noble conduct of the Prophet PBUH as a shepherd upgraded his position and pay rank. Because he was honest, trustworthy, modest, and humble, opportunities were created that raised in his ranks. Indeed Khadija RA overlooked his lack of experience.
2. It shows the intelligence and status of Khadija RA. Because she saw the Prophet PBUH as being an ideal and perfect husband. This shows the permissibility of, not just natural feelings of desire/attraction, but pursuing it in a permissible manner. It's not haram to be in love - it's what you do with it that makes it halal or haram.
3. Also, the Prophet PBUH needed support and comfort for his future mission. And so Allah chose for him a woman that would give him this. Behind every successful man there is a good woman. The fact is, men need a loving and supporting woman in their lives. In private they need this comfort. Otherwise it's difficult to be successful. And Allah chose Khadija RA to be this.
4. The blessings of Khadija are just too numerous to mention:
- She was the first to believe in the Prophet PBUH
- She comforted him as soon as revelation began
- She took the Prophet PBUH to see Waraqa ibn Nawfal
- She was the only one whom Jibril would come in the household (Jibril did not go in the house of any other wife). One time, the Prophet PBUH told Khadija, "O Khadija, here is Jibril, and he is sending Allah's salam upon you, and he is giving you his salam, and is giving you the glad tidings of a house in Jannah where there will be no noise or struggling." So Khadija RA responded in such an intelligent way, she didn't say "Wa'alaykassalam, ya Allah," rather, "Allah is al-Salam, and may salam be upon Jibril, and may salam be upon you, ya Rasulullah." (Side point: Likewise, when something good happens to us, we're not supposed to say "Jazak'Allah, ya Allah" - because Allah's jazaa comes to us, and we are nobody to give jazaa back to Allah. [So say, "Alhamdulillah," instead.])
(Aisha RA, who was the most favorite wife of the Prophet PBUH in the Madinah phase said, "I was never more jealous of any woman than I was of Khadija RA." Even though the Prophet PBUH married nine wives - "I never felt the amount of jealousy I did for Khadija RA even though I never saw her, because I knew how much the Prophet PBUH loved her." And once, when the Prophet PBUH was talking about Khadija, Aisha had enough and said some things she shouldn't have said, "For how long are you going to mention an old [...] when Allah has given you a young fertile ground instead?" Then the Prophet PBUH got irritated so he told Aisha, "No, by Allah! Allah did not give me anyone better than her. She was the first to believe in me when everyone rejected me. And she gave me her money when everyone abandoned me. And she supported me when the community left me. And Allah blessed me with children only through her." And after this, Aisha learned her lesson and said, "I never mentioned her again." And one of the reasons why Aisha RA got jealous is that whenever the Prophet PBUH got gifts, money, or meat, he would send part of it to Khadija's RA friends - showing how much the Prophet PBUH is thinking of Khadija RA. And once, Khadija's older sister came to visit the Prophet PBUH in Madinah and Aisha was in the house, and when the sister was walking outside the door, the Prophet's PBUH demeanor changed, because it reminded him of Khadija's footsteps. And when she asked permission to enter, Aisha could see the paleness on his face, he knew that it isn't Khadija, but because the memories of Khadija were so strong, even after so many years later, still he will be moved to tears almost. When Khadija passed away, one of the sahaba said, "We did not see him smile for months.")
And we can go on and on with regards to her blessings.
5. This also shows the Prophet PBUH was not a lustful man. If he wanted to, he could have married a younger lady who's a virgin, but rather, he married someone with nobility, even though she was twice widowed, with children. And he remained faithful to her until she passed away. And then one after the other he married in his 50s. So the Prophet PBUH is remaining loyal to her, which shows that he was not a man who was lustful, and that he could control his desires.
6. All of the children of the Prophet PBUH were through Khadija. There were at least six. The first child was al-Qasim (hence the Prophet's PBUH kunya was Abu al-Qasim). And it was said that he was born in the days of Jahiliyyah, and he had reached the age where the boys could ride on the camel (7-8 years old) and then he passed away. That's all we know. And then the Prophet PBUH had Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Ummi Kulthum and Fatima. And then his final son with Khadija, Abdullah. Some people add two more, but the stronger position is that Abdullah had two nicknames: al-Tahir and al-Tayyib i.e. the names of the supposed two extra children. Abdullah was born after the revelation began, and died in infancy. The four daughters all lived to maturity and married; three of them died in his own life time. Only Fatima outlived him. When the Prophet PBUH was on his deathbed, he told Fatima something and she cried. When he saw her crying he called her and whispered something in her ear and she then laughed. Months later Aisha asked, "Can you tell me what the Prophet PBUH told you?" Fatima said, "My father told me that he is about to die, and I couldn't bear but cry. But then he told me, 'You will be the first of my family to meet me, (i.e. you are going to die soon),' so I laughed [out of joy]." And Fatima only lived a few months after the Prophet PBUH.
(It's interesting to comment that subhan'Allah the Prophet PBUH is facing the most traumatic problems after problems. Indeed there is no greater difficulty than losing parents or children. And the Prophet PBUH had to go through both. Our Prophet PBUH is multiple times orphaned. And then multiple times lost children; first al-Qasim, then Abdullah and then Ibrahim (who was born of his maid servant). So it's as if Allah is giving him the most difficult tragedies, such that Allah is telling him that your purpose in life is to be tested and afflicted - because through these trials that one's relationship with Allah is established. Also, living through these trials develops the utmost patience, and the Prophet PBUH needed this to fulfill his mission. Also, Allah tested him through these hardships so that the Prophet's PBUH heart becomes soft. So Allah puts all the trials in the life of the Prophet PBUH so that when he grows older, he can bear his own trials and be a merciful person. Even though Allah tried him, Allah did not try him beyond his capacity - Allah blessed him with both sons and daughters to give him a taste of fatherhood and to silence those who tried to mock him. Indeed if he didn't have any children, people could have said many things. And subhan'Allah, when the Prophet PBUH lost his son; when Abdullah died, how crude and callous al-As ibn Wa'il was when he cheered for joy, that he is so happy that the Prophet's PBUH progeny has been cut off. And he is screaming this through Makkah. Can you imagine the pain of losing a son, and on top of that your worst enemy is running through Makkah crying for joy? So to this, Allah revealed Surah al-Kawthar, and these three short ayahs were so beloved to the Prophet PBUH: "Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-Kawthar. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him alone]. Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off." [108:1-3] Allah is saying that, 'We have given you plenty, so do not worry, We have taken away one thing, but given you al-Kawthar (al-Kawthar means many things: the Paradise, everything in Paradise, and the river of Paradise). Pray to Allah, and those who oppose you will be the ones who are cut off from everything.' And indeed the only people who mention the name of al-As ibn Wa'il and the likes are those who hate and despise them. Look at how Allah has kept His promise and disgraced the enemies of the Prophet PBUH. What legacy have they left?)
(There are also theological wisdoms that the Prophet PBUH was not allowed to have sons. He had Ibrahim when he was 59 or 60, and the child lived for only around 18 months. [And indeed this is the most loved and tender age of a child. And so Allah gave the Prophet PBUH the blessing of being a father of a child at this age, but then Allah took Ibrahim away from him - and of course the Prophet PBUH cried a lot and grieved.] In Ibn Majah, the Prophet PBUH said, "Had Ibrahim lived, he would have been a prophet." That is, it's not possible that the son of Rasulullah PBUH to not be a prophet. But because the Prophet PBUH was the last prophet, so theologically, Allah had to seal the prophethood. So it's clear why the Prophet PBUH had no sons. The Prophet PBUH knew this. And indeed look at what the ummah has done with the sons of the Prophet's PBUH DAUGHTERS. What groups were formed exaggerating their status. Imagine if there was a direct MALE progeny, the ummah would have made them into prophets/gods walking on the earth. So it was a mercy and blessing by Allah that the sons of the Prophet PBUH didn't live long.)
______________
Rebuilding of the Ka'bah
The incident of the rebuilding of the Ka'bah took place when the Prophet PBUH was around 35 years old, so after 10 years of marriage with Khadija RA. It was damaged by a fire and a flood. A woman was cooking close to the Ka'bah - in those days the houses were 5-10 feet away from the Ka'bah. (In our times, the Ka'bah is separated from places by hundreds of feet. Back then we didn't have 10,000s people coming to do tawaf. Even in the recent 70s, there were houses just outside Safa and Marwa. This is how small the Haram was. We had to walk outside the Ka'bah area and re-enter the Safa and Marwa area.) So a lady was cooking outside of her house, close to the Ka'bah, and one of the embers sparked and it set the cloth of the Ka'bah ablaze. And the Ka'bah was thus damaged and weakened, but not destroyed. Later on, a massive flood came into Makkah. As Makkah is in the basin of a lot of mountains, it is prone to floods once every 10 years or so. (In 1947/1948, people were swimming for tawaf, as the Ka'bah was flooded. In our times, there are now gutters and measures in place to stop this.) So a massive flood happened and the flood destroyed the roof and some of the walls of the Ka'bah. And so they decided they needed to rebuild the entire Ka'bah as the structure was more or less gone.
When the Ka'bah was destroyed, there was a news of a sale going on in the city of Juddah (now Jeddah). The Caesar of Rome had sent supplies to one of the cities of Yemen to rebuild a church destroyed by the Persians. He got the best wood, marble, craftsmen etc. and sent them all to Yemen on a ship. But Allah had another plan - the books of seerah mention that Allah sent a wind off the coast of Juddah causing the ship to crash. The ship was damaged, but it made it to Juddah. So all of the cargo - the most expensive marble, wood etc. is now in Juddah - subhan'Allah it's amazing when you think about it. Note that Arabia didn't have such building material or craftsmen at all. So the people of the ship decided to sell the material as they had to raise enough money to go back to Rome. So when the Quraysh heard about this, they gathered all of their wealth, went to Juddah, and purchased all of this merchandise, along with hiring the craftsmen, who had been educated in the palaces of Caesar. They bring all of the goods back to Makkah.
Now they are wondering, "Shall we destroy the House of Allah?" According to one report in Ibn Ishaq, a large snake came out of the Well of Zamzam, and whenever they approached the Ka'bah, the snake hissed at them. So while they were wondering what to do, Allah sent a big bird to pick up the snake and remove it. So they took this as a sign that they should approach the Ka'bah, but of course they are still scared. Finally al-Walid ibn al-Mughira (who is the nobleman mentioned in the Quran and became an enemy of the Prophet PBUH later on), said, "I will do it," and he took the axe and broke down one of the walls of the Ka'bah. Nobody lifted a finger to help. Word got around of what happened and the inhabitants of Makkah decided to use al-Walid ibn al-Mughira as a 'litmus test.' They thought if he survives the night, they will join him the next day. So they basically didn't help him until the next morning al-Walid ibn al-Mughira woke up just fine. It's narrated in one report in Ibn Ishaq that al-Walid lifted his axe and said, "O Allah, don't get alarmed or angry, we are just trying to help rebuild the Ka'bah." So the next day, everyone helped him tear the Ka'bah down and rebuild it. They divided all of the subtribes of the Quraysh into four groups. Each group gets one wall. The Banu Abd Manaf, the great subtribe of the Quraysh, the branch that contains the Banu Hashim, was given the most prestigious i.e. the side of the wall. And they are the most prestigious as they had Abdul Muttalib, the great legend of the Quraysh. The second most prestigious was the Banu Makhzum, Abu Jahal is from them, they get the second most prestigious wall.
Now Banu Abd Manaf and the Banu Makhzum are both raising the corner that has the Black Stone. So when they get there, trouble occurs because they are rivals, and so they both said, "The Black Stone belongs to our side! [not yours]" etc. Then the other tribes also said, "Why should you get the privilege?" And the fighting/anger between them reached such a level that construction of the Ka'bah stopped for five days - because they needed to resolve who is going to put the Black Stone in. The Banu Makhzum secretly put together an agreement with the other tribes that they would fight to death to put the Black Stone in. And they dipped their hands in [camel] blood as a promise/signature to make a pact. Look at this Jahiliyyah - you are going to kill yourself and leave your wife widow and children orphan just for the pride and honor of putting the Black Stone in?! So they were almost about to reach into a big fight until Abu Umayya ibn al-Mughira, the oldest person alive in Makkah, said, "There will be no bloodshed. We are not going to fight over this. Let's just give it over to the next person who enters from the 'major door.'" Now this meant that it's the luck of the draw - whoever walked in would obviously choose his own tribe; so whoever walks in, whatever tribe he belongs to will basically win. And we all know that the Prophet PBUH walked in, but what is amazing is that when the Prophet PBUH walked in, all the tribes became happy because each tribe thought that "Muhammad [PBUH] likes me so much he will choose my tribe!" Even the Banu Makhzum, Banu Abd al-Dar, etc. felt such a liking for the Prophet PBUH, and all were overjoyed that they felt the Prophet PBUH will choose them. Subhan'Allah this shows the beautiful character of the Prophet PBUH. (Fast forward 50 years later, in a hadith, it's narrated that Amr ibn al-As said, "The Prophet PBUH was so gentle and nice to me that I knew he loved me the most, so one day I asked the Prophet PBUH, 'Who do you love the most?' And the Prophet PBUH said instantly, 'Aisha [RA].'" Then Amr ibn al-As said, "No, no! I meant amongst the men." Then the Prophet PBUH said, "Her father." Then Amr said, "After him?" and the Prophet PBUH said, "Umar." And Amr kept on asking until he got the point [his name never came up] and stopped asking. But this shows the way the Prophet PBUH dealt with people, everybody felt loved - this is subhan'Allah amazing. And it's the same in the times of Jahiliyyah.) And we all know that the Prophet PBUH said, "Bring me a sheet/garment and let every subtribe send its representative and we will all put the Black Stone together." So they all lifted it, including Banu Makhzum (so they didn't break their promise); and as we all know, the Prophet PBUH himself was the one who put it into that particular location.
Now they changed the structure of the Ka'bah, and Allah had willed that this change will become permanent:
1. Either the marble or the wood (we don't know which), they didn't have enough supply to rebuild the original rectangular Ka'bah (as it was built by Ibrahim AS) - because they were using the expensive stuff for the foundations. So they built a square instead; and to mark the other two corners, they used two posts. It was not their intention to make it permanent, but of course Allah willed it would be.
2. The Ka'bah was not as high as it became. (Of course now it's much much higher than it used to be). According to one report, the Ka'bah at the time of the Prophet's PBUH early life was just the height of around 10 feet (the height of when you sit on a camel). But they doubled this height and this began the concept of making it even taller.
3. Banu Abd Manaf made the door of the Ka'bah in the middle of the wall (not on the ground where people could go in) because they wanted to be elite and have access to who can go in and who can't. They have the key and the ladder, so only those whom approved by Banu Abd Manaf can go into the Ka'bah - and to this day the door is high and in the center.
4. They built a water spout (logically this was a necessity) and to this day we have a water spout.
(The Prophet PBUH, when he conquered Makkah 25 years after this, said to Aisha RA, "Were it not for the fact that your people are still new to Islam, I would have rebuilt the Ka'bah in its original structure of Ibrahim AS, and made the door accessible to everybody." But doing this might cause problems to the new Muslims. In the time of the early Umayyad dynasty, one group led by Abdullah ibn Zubayr RA broke away from the Umayyad empire, and founded his own mini caliphate in Makkah. This was in the time of the infamous Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (the most tyrant ruler ever seen in the ummah). So when this hadith reached the pious sahabi, Abdullah ibn Zubayr RA, he destroyed the Ka'bah, made it into a rectangle shape, and he lowered the door down to the earth. Then Hajjaj ibn Yusuf overtook Makkah again by throwing catapults into the Ka'bah - and it destroyed the Ka'bah itself. And then he crucified Abdullah ibn Zubayr RA, a companion, the son of a companion, the brother of a companion, in front of the Ka'bah! Look at how evil this Hajjaj was. Hajjaj then rebuilt the Ka'bah as it was before i.e. square shaped, with a raised door etc. Then it is reported that in the time of Imam Malik, the khalifa asked Imam Malik, "Shall we rebuild the Ka'bah as it was built by Ibrahim AS?" Imam Malik told him, "No, I don't want the Ka'bah to become a toy that kings come along and do what they want with it" - this is what you call true fiqh (understanding). So from the time of Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, it's remained as the pre-Islamic Quraysh built it, in a square shape with a raised door.)
Notice how everything is planned by Allah - the Arabs are in the desert, they have no fancy wood or marbles etc., yet Allah sent them the choicest materials from the palace of the Caesar, so Caesar himself is 'financing' the building of the Ka'bah when he thought he is building a church. Subhan'Allah. Indeed Allah is the best of planners.