Ibrahim AS, one of the prophets sent to the Arabs, sanctioned religious practices that endured for thousands of years until the coming of the Prophet ﷺ: treating Makkah as sacred (al-Haram), so that what is otherwise halal (hunting animals, plucking a leaf) becomes forbidden within its bounds; showing honor to the Ka'bah; instituting the four Sacred Months (Dhu al-Qa'dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab), during which all hostility and warfare had to cease; and the hajj with its rites; tawaf, sa'i, the sacrifice and decoration of animals.
Because Ibrahim AS taught pure monotheism (tawhid), these practices were not, as some later researchers claim, adopted by the Prophet ﷺ from surrounding pagan culture. Rather, the Prophet ﷺ adhered to the original religion of Ibrahim AS and cleansed it of the paganism that had crept in over the centuries between them.
These Ibrahimi rites are the reason Makkah's sanctity, the Sacred Months, and the hajj were already familiar to the Arabs before Islam: the Prophet ﷺ restored their original monotheistic meaning rather than inventing them. Makkah was also the site of the first House ever built for the worship of Allah, established here by Ibrahim AS and Ismail AS [Quran, 3:96]. Unlike other messengers sent to a specific nation (Musa AS to the Children of Israel, Isa AS to the Children of Israel) it was fitting that the first universal call to all of mankind would come from the very city that held humanity's first house of worship.
O our Lord! Send amongst them a prophet of their own, who shall recite to them Your signs, and teach them the Book and wisdom, and purify them.
Ibrahim AS made this du'a while building the Ka'bah with Ismail AS, asking Allah to send a prophet from Ismail AS's descendants.
A person would see the murderer of his father doing tawaf, and he would not touch a hair on his head, because Makkah is sacred.
وَمَن دَخَلَهُ كَانَ آمِنًا
“Whoever enters it [i.e., the Haram] shall be safe.”
This ayah's declaration that "whoever enters it shall be safe" is part of the Qur'an's confirmation of the sanctuary status Ibrahim (AS) established for Makkah at this event.
أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِي بِبَكَّةَ
“The first House [of worship] established for mankind was that at Makkah.”
Cited as the first House ever established for mankind, making Makkah the fitting origin of the first universal call.
“Our Lord, send from amongst them a messenger.”
Ibrahim (AS)'s prayer recorded in this event's post is the same dua preserved in this ayah (Q2:129), asking Allah to send a prophet "of their own" to his descendants.