The Three Written Documents

When the Prophet ﷺ reached the age of thirty-five, a severe flood struck Makkah.

The Quraysh had built a barrier to protect themselves from floods, but this flood was so powerful that it broke through the barrier and entered the Kaaba.

Because of the powerful flow of water and the accumulation of water inside, cracks appeared in the walls of the Kaaba.

Before this, the walls had once become weakened because of a fire. The incident happened in this way: once, a woman was burning incense around the Kaaba when a spark from the fire flew onto the curtains of the Kaaba. The curtains caught fire, and even the walls were burned.

In this way, the walls became very weak. This was why the flood caused cracks in the already weakened walls.

People used to bring offerings and gifts for the Kaaba. These offerings consisted of clothes, perfumes, and other things.

All these offerings were placed into a well inside the Kaaba. The well was on the right side of the interior. It was called the treasury of the Kaaba.

Once, a thief tried to steal the treasure of the Kaaba. The thief died inside the well.

After that, Allah Almighty appointed a snake to protect it. The snake used to sit on the edge of the well and would not allow anyone to come near the treasure.

The Quraysh themselves were also afraid of it.

Now, when cracks appeared in the walls of the Kaaba and the matter of rebuilding it arose, Allah Almighty sent a bird. It carried the snake away.

(Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah)

Seeing this, the people of Quraysh became very happy.

They now decided to rebuild the Kaaba from the beginning. They planned to make the foundations stronger and raise the walls higher.

In this way, the door would also be made higher so that no one could enter the Kaaba. Only the person whom they permitted would be able to enter.

They then began collecting stones.

Every tribe was collecting the stones for its own portion separately.

They also collected donations.

For the donations, they contributed pure and lawful earnings. They did not contribute unlawful earnings.

For example, the income of prostitutes, earnings from interest, and wealth obtained by usurping other people’s property were not included in the donations.

They did not avoid giving lawful earnings without a reason. A particular incident had occurred because of which they reached the conclusion that only pure and lawful wealth would be used for this work.

The incident was as follows:

A Qurayshi chief named Abu Wahb Amr bin Abid picked up a stone when they began this work.

The stone slipped from his hand and returned to exactly the same place from which he had picked it up.

The Quraysh became astonished and worried.

Finally, Wahb himself stood up and said:

“O group of Quraysh! Do not include any wealth other than pure and lawful wealth in the foundations of the Kaaba.

Do not, under any circumstances, include in the construction of the House of Allah the earnings of an immoral woman, earnings from interest, or wealth obtained by force.”

This Wahb was the maternal uncle of the Prophet’s ﷺ father, Hazrat Abdullah, and was a noble man among his people.

When the people of Quraysh were carrying stones for the construction of the Kaaba, the Noble Prophet ﷺ also participated with them in carrying stones.

You ﷺ would carry the stones on your neck and bring them.

Before beginning the demolition, the people of Quraysh became afraid that some calamity might descend upon them if they demolished the walls.

Finally, one of their chiefs, Walid bin Mughirah, said:

“By demolishing the walls of the Kaaba, is your intention to repair and improve it, or is your intention to destroy it?”

The people replied:

“Obviously, we want to repair and improve it.”

Hearing this, Walid said:

“Then understand that Allah Almighty does not destroy those who seek to reform.”

Then Walid himself began the work of demolition.

However, he demolished only one portion so that it could be seen whether any disaster would befall them.

When the night passed safely, everyone joined him the next day and demolished the entire structure.

They continued until they reached its foundation.

This foundation had been laid by Ibrahim عليه السلام.

Hazrat Ibrahim عليه السلام had placed green-colored stones in the foundations.

These stones were shaped like the humps of camels and were joined together with one another.

It proved very difficult for these people to break them apart.

From beneath the right corner, the Quraysh found an inscription.

The inscription was written in the Syriac language.

They did not know the Syriac language.

Finally, a Jew was found and brought to them. He read the inscription and translated it for them.

The inscription said:

“I am Allah, the Lord of Makkah, whom I created on the day when I created the heavens and the earth, on the day when I created the sun and the moon.

I have surrounded it—that is, Makkah—with seven angels. Its greatness will not come to an end

as long as mountains exist on both sides of it.

One of these mountains refers to Mount Abu Qubays, which is opposite the hill of Safa, and the other is Mount Qaiqa’an, which is near Makkah and faces Mount Abu Qubays.

And this city is very blessed and beneficial for its inhabitants in terms of water and milk.”

This was the first inscription.

The second inscription was found at Maqam Ibrahim.

It said:

“Makkah is a sacred and honored city of Allah Almighty. Its sustenance comes into it through three routes.”

The three routes referred to the three trade routes of Quraysh. Caravans used to travel back and forth along these routes.

The third inscription was found some distance away from this.

It said:

“Whoever sows goodness, people will admire him, that is, they will try to become like him.

And whoever sows disgrace will receive disgrace and regret.

You commit evil deeds and yet hope for goodness.

Yes! This is just like looking for grapes in a thorny tree, that is, a thorn bush.”

This inscription was found engraved on a stone inside the Kaaba.

In connection with the construction of the Kaaba, the Quraysh needed wood in addition to stones.

Wood was required for the roof and walls.

The problem of obtaining wood was solved in the following way:

A ship came and crashed against the coast of Arabia.

Today, this place is called the coast of Jeddah. Previously, it was called the coast of Makkah because it was the nearest coast to Makkah.

The ship broke apart after striking the coast.

The ship belonged to a Roman merchant.

It was carrying marble, wood, and iron materials for the King of Rome.

When the Quraysh came to know about this ship, they went there and bought the wood from the people.

In this way, the wood was used in the construction of the roof.

Finally, the construction of the Kaaba reached the Black Stone (Hajar al-Aswad).

Now a new problem arose.

The question was: Who would lift the Black Stone and place it in its proper position?

Every tribe wanted to have this honor for itself.

The dispute grew to such an extent that it reached the point of killing and being killed.

The people became determined to kill one another.

The tribe of Abd al-Dar, together with the tribe of Adi, filled a vessel with blood. They dipped their hands into it and said:

“We will place the Black Stone.”

In the same way, the other tribes also became adamant.

The swords were drawn from their sheaths.