~c. 605 CE, when the Prophet ﷺ was around 35 (about ten years after his marriage to Khadija RA) · 17 BH
The Ka'bah was damaged first by fire, when a woman cooking nearby set its cloth ablaze, and then by a flood that destroyed its roof and part of its walls. Around this time, a Roman ship carrying fine wood, marble, and craftsmen (sent by Caesar to rebuild a church in Yemen destroyed by the Persians) was blown off course by a wind Allah sent, and wrecked at Juddah. The Quraysh traveled there, bought the cargo, and hired the Byzantine-trained craftsmen to rebuild the Ka'bah in Makkah. Fearful of demolishing the House of Allah, the Quraysh hesitated; according to one report in Ibn Ishaq, a snake that had guarded the Well of Zamzam was carried off by a bird, which they took as a sign to proceed. Still hesitant, they waited to see if al-Walid ibn al-Mughira would come to harm after volunteering to break the first wall; when he was unharmed by morning, the rest joined in. The Quraysh divided the four walls among their subtribes, with Banu Abd Manaf (which included Banu Hashim) taking the most prestigious wall and Banu Makhzum the second. When work reached the corner holding the Black Stone, a dispute broke out between Banu Abd Manaf and Banu Makhzum over who would have the honor of placing it, escalating until construction halted for five days and Banu Makhzum secretly pledged in camel blood to fight over it. On the fifth day, Abu Umayya ibn al-Mughira, the oldest man in Makkah, proposed giving the decision to whoever next entered from the main gate, and that person was Muhammad ﷺ, whom every tribe was glad to see, believing he favored them most.
The Quraysh rebuilt the Ka'bah with several lasting changes from Ibrahim AS's original structure: for lack of materials they made it square instead of rectangular (marking the missing corners with posts), doubled its height, raised the door off the ground for exclusive access, and added a water spout, features that all remain to this day; the raised door itself briefly reverted to ground level under Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr RA's rebuilding, but al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf restored it to the Quraysh's square, raised-door design when he retook Makkah, and it has stood that way since. The Prophet ﷺ's fair resolution of the Black Stone dispute is an early example of the character that would later mark his prophethood. Later reflection draws out deeper symbolism from this rebuilding: the Ka'bah is described in the Qur'an as "the first House [of worship] established for mankind" at Makkah [3:96], so its ruin and renewal in Muhammad ﷺ's own lifetime mirrors the state of the religion of Ibrahim AS; its foundation, "La ilaha illallah," preserved and unchanged, even as the sacred law built upon it would soon be renewed through him. His role in uniting the feuding subtribes by having each hold a corner of the cloth that raised the Black Stone likewise foreshadows his uniting the Arab tribes under Islam, just as his fair resolution of the dispute itself was an early sign of the honor and trust his people already placed in him.
Bring me a sheet. Let every subtribe send its representative, and we will all put the Black Stone together.
He then placed the Black Stone onto the garment himself, and had every subtribe's representative lift it together before placing it into position.
I will do it. O Allah, don't get alarmed or angry: we are just trying to help rebuild the Ka'bah.
Volunteered to be the first to break into the Ka'bah's wall, then took an ax and began.
There will be no bloodshed. We are not going to fight over this. Let us just give it over to the next person who enters from the major area.
Proposed on the fifth day of the standoff, after the Banu Abd Manaf and Banu Makhzum came near to blows over which tribe would set the Black Stone back in its place.
We are rebuilding the House of Allah, so make sure that the money you use is from your pure earnings: no cheating and no interest, no gambling or prostitution.
أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِي بِبَكَّةَ
“The first House [of worship] established for mankind was that at Makkah.”
Cited as the foundational verse establishing the Ka'bah as the first House of worship.