سورة البقرة

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Some of them asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the Kaaba: "Was hajj performed there before the mission [of the Prophet] as well?" His Eminence (peace be upon him) said: "Yes! As Allah said: Indeed, the first House set up for [the worship of] the people is the one at Makkah, blessed, and a guidance for the nations. And He also said: وَإِذْ یرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهیمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَیتِ وَإِسْمَاعِیلُ [And when Ibrahim and Ismail raised the foundations of the House]."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Abu al-Warqa said: I said to Ali (peace be upon him): "What was the first thing that came down from the sky?" His Eminence said: "The first thing that came down from the sky to the earth was the House of Allah in Makkah, which Allah sent down like a red ruby; because the people of Nuh (peace be upon him) committed transgression and immorality on the earth, and Ibrahim (peace be upon him) raised it up; as Allah says: وَإِذْ یرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهیمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَیتِ وَإِسْمَاعِیلُ [And when Ibrahim and Ismail raised the foundations of the House]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Muawiya ibn Ammar said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Is the Hijr of Ismail (peace be upon him) considered part of the Kaaba? Or is some portion of the area of the Hijr of Ismail (peace be upon him) part of the Kaaba?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "No! Not even to the extent of a nail-clipping is it connected to the Kaaba. Rather, the story is this: Ismail (peace be upon him) buried his mother in that area, and since it was distressing to him that his mother's grave should be trampled underfoot, he placed stones around his mother's resting place so that the visitors to the House would not step on it. In this area, several of Allah's prophets are also buried."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): الْقَواعِدَ مِنَ الْبَیْتِ [the foundations of the House] — that is, the foundations of the House which existed before that.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): In the time of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), the Kaaba was nine cubits (936 centimetres) and had two doors.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The height of the Kaaba was nine cubits, and it had no roof; and the Quraysh roofed it to the height of eighteen cubits.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah the Mighty and Majestic sent down the Black Stone from Paradise for Adam (peace be upon him). The House of the Ka'bah was originally a bright white pearl which Allah the Mighty and Majestic raised up to the heavens, leaving its foundations in place at the site [now occupied by] the House of Allah. Every day seventy thousand angels enter it and never come out of it again. Then Allah commanded Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and Ismail (peace be upon him) to build this House upon its foundations.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah commanded Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to perform the Hajj together with Ismail (peace be upon him) and to settle Ismail (peace be upon him) in the Sanctuary. So they performed the Hajj mounted on a red camel, with no one beside them but Jibrail (peace be upon him)... The Lord gave Ibrahim (peace be upon him) permission for the Hajj and for building the Ka'bah, and the Arabs used to come to it for Hajj. [At that time] only the foundations of the Ka'bah were visible and the rest was all rubble. When the people had performed the Hajj and dispersed and returned, Ismail (peace be upon him) picked up the stones (the rubble) and placed them inside the Ka'bah. When Allah gave him permission to build the Ka'bah, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) came forward and said: "O my son! Allah has given us permission to build the Ka'bah." They (cleared away the stones and earth and) uncovered the foundations of the Ka'bah; it was a single red stone. Allah told Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to place the structure of the Ka'bah upon it. Allah sent four angels to him to gather stones; while the angels were carrying the stones and handing them to the two of them, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and Ismail (peace be upon him) placed them one upon another up to a height of twelve cubits [and built the Ka'bah], and made two doors for it, one for entering and the other for exiting, and for the doors they set a threshold and handles of iron.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Ismail (peace be upon him) was the first whose tongue was loosened in Arabic. While the two of them were building the House of the Ka'bah, his father would say to him: "O Ismail (peace be upon him), my son! Give me a stone!" And Ismail (peace be upon him) would say to him in Arabic: "Here you are, dear father! Take this stone!" And Ibrahim (peace be upon him) built the House while Ismail (peace be upon him) handed him the stones.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): When Allah the Mighty and Majestic commanded Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and Ismail (peace be upon him) to build the House and its construction was completed, He commanded him to ascend one of its corners (pillars) and then call out among the people [who would perform the Hajj]: '[O people!] Hasten and come to perform the Hajj [towards Mecca]!' For had that call to the Hajj [and Ibrahim's (peace be upon him) proclamation] not taken place, no one would have performed the Hajj except those who had already been created on that day (the time of Ibrahim (peace be upon him)). But Ibrahim (peace be upon him) called out: '[O people!] Hasten and come to perform the Hajj [towards Mecca]!' So the people who were [still] in the loins of the men responded to the call of the Hajj and said: 'Labbayk, O caller of Allah! Labbayk, O caller of Allah!' So whoever [at that time, in the loins of his fathers] said labbayk ten times, performed the Hajj ten times (this became his destiny and decree); and whoever said labbayk five times, performed the Hajj five times; and whoever responded more than that, likewise... and whoever said labbayk once, performed the Hajj once; and whoever did not say labbayk did not perform the Hajj [in the course of his life].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed to Jibrail (peace be upon him): "I am Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. I had mercy on Adam (peace be upon him) and Hawwa (peace be upon her) when they opened their lips in complaint. So take down to them a tent from the tents of Paradise. Truly I had mercy on them because of their weeping, fear, dread and loneliness. So set up the tent in the valley that lies between the mountains of Makkah." And he said: that valley is the very place of the House of the Ka'bah and its foundations, which the angels raised before Adam (peace be upon him). So Jibrail (peace be upon him) came down to Adam (peace be upon him) with a tent the size of the place of the House and its foundations, and set it up. And Jibrail (peace be upon him) brought [Adam (peace be upon him)] down from Safa and Hawwa (peace be upon her) down from Marwah, and they gathered together in the tent... Then Allah the Exalted revealed to Jibrail (peace be upon him) after that: "Come down to Adam (peace be upon him) and Hawwa (peace be upon her), and move them away from the place of the foundations of the House, and raise the foundations of My House for My angels and for My creatures who are of the children of Adam (peace be upon him)." So Jibrail (peace be upon him) came down to Adam (peace be upon him) and Hawwa (peace be upon her), took them out of the tent, moved them away from the path of the House of the Ka'bah, and removed the tent from there... He raised the foundations of Bayt Allah al-Haram with a stone from Safa, a stone from Marwah, a stone from Mount Sinai, and a stone from Mount Salam which lies behind the city of Kufa. Then Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed to Jibrail (peace be upon him): "Build it and complete it." So Jibrail (peace be upon him), by the command of the Lord, tore those four stones from their places with his wings and, as the Lord had commanded, set them in the corners (arkan) which Allah the Compeller had [previously] measured out and marked. Then Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, commanded Jibrail (peace be upon him): "Build the Ka'bah using the stones of Abu Qubays and complete it, and make for it two doors, one on the east and one on the west." So Jibrail (peace be upon him) finished it; and when he was done, the angels performed tawaf around it. And when Adam (peace be upon him) and Hawwa (peace be upon her) saw the angels performing tawaf around the House, they too rose and performed tawaf seven times, then went out in search of food. When Ismail (peace be upon him) reached the age of manhood, Allah commanded Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to build the House [of the Ka'bah]. He said: "O Lord! In which spot and land [shall I build it]?" He said: "In the land upon which that tent [and pavilion] was sent down to Adam (peace be upon him), and by whose sanctity He illumined the Haram. The tent which Allah sent down to Adam (peace be upon him) remained standing until the time of Nuh (peace be upon him), when the flood broke out and the world was being drowned; then Allah raised that tent up, and the whole world was drowned except the place of the Ka'bah. And that House was called Bayt al-Atiq (the ancient House), because it was set free (atiq) from drowning." So when Allah commanded Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to build the House, and Ibrahim (peace be upon him) did not know in which place to build it, Allah sent Jibrail (peace be upon him) and he marked out the boundaries of the House for him. Allah sent down the foundations for him from Paradise. The stone (Hajar al-Aswad) which Allah sent down to Adam (peace be upon him) was whiter than snow, and after the disbelievers ran their hands upon it, it turned black. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) built the House, and Ismail brought the stone from Dhu Tuwa; so he raised it (the walls of the Ka'bah) up into the sky to a height of nine forearm-cubits, and [then Jibrail (peace be upon him)] showed him the place of the stone. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) took it out and set it in its present place. After the building, he placed two doors for it, one east and one west, and the western one is called "al-Mustajar." Then he covered the top of the door with plants and shrubs, and Hajar hung on its door a cloak she had with her, and they would go beneath it... [and the hadith is lengthy...].

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): "al-Sakinah" is the name of a wind that comes out from Paradise; it has a face like the face of a human being and a pleasant fragrance, and it is that which descended upon Ibrahim, and it began circling around the House while he was laying the foundations.