The Building of the Ka’bah

 

When Ibrahim (AS) next came to Mecca, he found his son by the Well of Zamzam sharpening arrows. He told his son, ‘O Ismael, Allah has ordered me to build a house near here. Will you help me?’

Of course, Ismael (AS) replied, ‘I will help you.’

So they both went to place where the Ka’bah was to be built, and began to build it out of large stones. Ismael (AS) brought the stones to his father, while Ibrahim (AS) built the actual structure. While they built, they both made du’a, ‘O our Lord, accept this from us. You are the All-Hearing and All-Knowing.’

Eventually, the walls got so high that Ibrahim (AS) could no longer reach to place the next layer. So Allah caused the rock that Ibrahim (AS) was standing on, known today as Maqam Ibrahim, to rise up like an elevator so that he could place his stone on top of the walls, and then go back down so that he could get another stone from Ismael (AS). At some point, Maqam Ibrahim softened for a second and the footprint of Ibrahim (AS) was left in it. To this day the rock is kept in Mecca and we can still see his footprint in it.

Eventually, the entire Ka’bah was built except for one corner. Neither Ibrahim nor Ismael (AS) could find a stone to fit well in that corner. So Allah sent down a stone from Jannah, known today as the famous Black Stone which is still there to this day.

After this, Allah taught Ibrahim (AS) how to make hajj, and He told him to teach this to the people and call them to worship Allah by making pilgrimage to the Ka’bah. The Ka’bah was created as the first house of worship for all of humanity, in the sacred valley of Mecca, and to this day millions and millions of people visit it every year in order to worship Allah.