- Why was the Sacred House (Kaaba) built?
- Why did God enjoin pilgrimage to the Sacred House?
- What is the relation of Kaaba with the Vicegerent of God (Khalifa Allah)?
- What is the importance of the Black Stone (Hajar al-Aswad)?
- What is the significance of Imam Ali’s birth inside the Kaaba?
Why was the Sacred House built?
The Kaaba or the Sacred House of God is a manifestation and appearance of the Constructed House* which was placed in the sky for the angels to circumambulate (Tawaf), and seek the forgiveness of God after their objection to Him regarding the matter of His Vicegerent (Khalifa), Adam PBUH.
When Adam transgressed over the tree of knowledge of the progeny of Muhammad pbut, or the tree of allegiance—“And We did not find him to have the intense ability.” Surat Taha: 20—the intense ability, which is bearing the allegiance to the progeny of Muhammad PBUT, he PBUH was descended to the earth and was commanded to circumambulate the Sacred House, in order for God to forgive his shortcoming.
Why did God enjoin pilgrimage to the Sacred House?
God prescribed pilgrimage to His Sacred House so that people demonstrate their allegiance to the proof of God (Hujjatullah) of their time, and so that they acknowledge their shortcoming towards his right. Moreover, God commanded the Muslims to make the Sacred House a Qiblah (direction) unlike the previous nations, for which the Qiblah was Baytul Maqdis.
What is the relation of Sacred House with the Vicegerent of God?
The Sacred House is strongly bonded with the allegiance, as the pilgrimage to it was made for the sake of meeting the Vicegerent of God, and for the people to demonstrate their allegiance to him and ask forgiveness for their shortcoming towards his right.
The Sacred House is a direction for the prayer and prostration to God, even though the prostration before it was to Adam PBUH, the Vicegerent of God and His proof. Rather, the prostration was for the light which was within Adam, which is the light of the Prince of Believers Ali PBUH. So the first Qiblah towards which the angels directed their face is Ali bin Abi Talib PBUH. The real Qiblah is not the Sacred House or the stones, rather the Qiblah is the gem to which the Kaaba gave birth, which is the Vicegerent of God and His complete proof Ali bin Abi Talib PBUH.
What is the importance of the Black Stone?
The black stone is the Book of the Covenant which God made with His people for the allegiance to Ali bin Abi Talib PBUH. Therefore, whoever turns to the Sacred House acknowledges by his action the allegiance to Ali bin Abi Talib PBUH by compulsion, even if he disbelieves in it by his word and heart.
And to God prostrates whoever is within the heavens and the earth, willingly or by compulsion.—Surat Ar-Rad (The Thunder) 13. Willingly for those who acknowledge the allegiance, and compulsion for those who do not acknowledge it.
Do you not see that to God prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth, and the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the moving creatures and many of the people? But many have earned the torment. And he whom God disgraces- there is none to give him honor. Indeed, God does what He wills. —Surat Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage): 18.
So those who prostrate to God and yet earned the torment are those who do not acknowledge the allegiance of Ali PBUH, neither by their words nor by their heart but are compelled to acknowledge it by their actions and prostrating to the matter which gave birth to Ali PBUH which is the Sacred House. God disgraces them by this prostration, and it will be a cause of remorse for them. ‘And he whom God disgraces- there is none to give him honor.’
What is the significance of the birth of Imam Ali PBUH in the Sacred House?
It remains that the Qiblah is the direction to God, and by which you come to know God. So the real Qiblah is the complete human. By him, God is known, and he is the face of God by which God faced His creation, so turning to him is turning to God. The complete human is Ali bin Abi Talib PBUH, the Master of the Successors and Supporters, and God brought him out of the Sacred House to tell people that this human is your Qiblah and your pilgrimage is to him, and for God to say, “I have not created the Sacred House for other than the sake of Ali PBUH, and for Ali PBUH to be born in it. So if I had a son, he would have been the one born in My House.”
Say, “If the Merciful had a son, then I would be the first of the worshippers.”—Surat Az-Zukhruf (Ornaments of Gold): 81.
So who is more worthy of being taken as a Qiblah, the stones or the one who made the stones sacred by being born within them? Jesus PBUH said, ‘Woe to you, clerics of evil! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred?’—Gospel of Matthew Chapter 23:16-17.
The Allegories Volume 3, Imam Ahmed Al-Hasan,
*The Constructed House is the manifestation and appearance of Al-Thirah. Al-Thirah is in the sixth sky and was created only after the response of the angels to the Almighty, when He, may He be exalted, informed them of the creation of the Vicegerent ( Khalifa or the Successor) on earth- Adam, upon him peace. The angels circumambulated around it so that God would forgive them and accept their repentance, after their offense and objection upon Him, may He be exalted. Al-Thirah also manifested in the five skies lower than the sixth sky, so in each sky, there was a house suitable according to its status for the angels of that sky to circumambulate around, so that the Almighty would forgive them and accept their repentance. It manifested as the Constructed House in the fourth sky, and so on until it manifested on the earth as the Sacred House of God or the Kaaba. (Q 40, The Allegories Volume 2)