itself, or any part of it, can have any beneficial or harmful effect of its own accord is guilty of idolatry, which Islam will always fight with all its might to eradicate.
The Kaʿbah continued to be revered and sanctified by the Arabs, even at the height of their polytheism. Indeed, the Arabs who lived far from Makkah used to make the trip to visit the holy place. The Quraysh derived much of their prestige as the master tribe in Arabia from the fact that they were the custodians of the Kaʿbah.
God also answered Abraham’s and Ishmael’s prayer to send among their offspring a messenger to instruct them in the pure faith based on total submission to God. That messenger was Muhammad, the last of all Prophets.1
The building of the Kaʿbah and the regular pilgrimage to it gave Makkah a special importance in Arabia. In time, other tribes came to settle there. The authority in Makkah, however, belonged to the tribe which looked after the Kaʿbah and held its custody. They held the keys to it and led the pilgrimage, showing the pilgrims how to perform their rituals. That was a position of great honour and the Arabian tribes competed among themselves to win over the custody of the Kaʿbah. When any tribe had the upper hand in Makkah, its nobility enjoyed that honour for as long as they could keep it in the face of constant opposition from other tribes.
Naturally, the custody of the Kaʿbah belonged at first to Ishmael and his offspring. It continued in their hands until it was later taken over by the Jurhum tribe. The takeover was completed without violence, since the Jurhum were considered the ‘maternal uncles’ of the Ishmaelites, because Ishmael was married to a Jurhum woman. The Jurhum continued to be custodians of the Kaʿbah for a long while. As time passed, however, they allowed changes to creep into the rituals of pilgrimage and their rule became tyrannical. Always, in the history of Makkah, whenever the custodians of the Consecrated Mosque, that is, the Kaʿbah, allowed corruption to spread, God would cause them to lose the honour of the custody of the Kaʿbah to some other tribe. Thus the Jurhum ceded to the Khuzāʿah the supreme honour of holding the custody of the Kaʿbah. The Jurhum, however, did not surrender willingly. When they realized that they were unable to defend their position, they collected all the treasures which were dedicated to the Kaʿbah and buried them in the well of Zamzam, the spring which had gushed forth between Ishmael’s feet when he was a very young boy. They levelled the well and removed all traces of its position. When they had made sure that no one would be able to discover the position of the well, they left Makkah for some other place.2
For a long time the Khuzāʿah continued to be the custodians of the Kaʿbah. They were the rulers in Makkah until the Quraysh took over. The Quraysh enjoyed the noblest lineage in Arabia because they were the direct descendants of Ishmael and Abraham (peace be upon them both). The man who gained that honour for the Quraysh was Quṣayy ibn Kilāb,3 the fifth grandfather of our Prophet Muhammad ibn ʿAbdullāh.
It is important to mention here that these political changes were matched by far-reaching changes in the beliefs of the people of Arabia. Over the years, the concept of God’s oneness weakened its hold on people’s minds. The introduction of a physical symbol of the Divine power was the beginning of idolatry. As symbols increased in number, they came to be viewed as deities and partners with God. By the time Quṣayy was master in Makkah, pagan beliefs had spread throughout Arabia.
Quṣayy Assumes Leadership in Makkah
The story of Quṣayy’s ascendancy is worth telling. His father died when he was very young. His mother married a man from the tribe of Quḍāʿah, called Rabīʿah ibn Ḥarām. Rabīʿah took his wife and her young son to live with his tribe in the north of Arabia, close to the border with Palestine. Quṣayy lived there thinking that he was Rabīʿah’s own child. When he was a young man he learned that he belonged to the Quraysh and that his brother Zuhrah was the chief of the Quraysh. He therefore travelled to Makkah, where he joined his brother.
It was not long before the whole of Makkah recognized that Quṣayy was a young man of great promise. He combined a serious character with great sagacity and a noble heart. He made many friends. When he wanted to marry, his choice was none other than Ḥubbā, daughter of Ḥulayl ibn Ḥubshiyyah, chief of the Khuzāʿah and Master of Makkah who held the position of the custodian of the Kaʿbah. Ḥulayl recognized the qualities of leadership in Quṣayy and was very fond of him. He treated him like his own son. On his deathbed, Ḥulayl made it known that Quṣayy was his choice to succeed him as custodian of the Kaʿbah and ruler of Makkah. The transfer, however, was not completed without resistance from the Khuzāʿah. Quṣayy sought help from his brothers in the tribe of Quḍāʿah and they came over with speed and a large army to support him. He soon subdued the Khuzāʿah and was Master of Makkah.
Fighting broke out between the two sides, leading to much bloodshed. Arbitration was then agreed and the arbiter, Yaʿmur ibn ʿAwf, ruled in Quṣayy’s favour. When Quṣayy was the undisputed leader of Makkah, he called in all the clans of the Quraysh, which were scattered all over the place, to come and resettle there. He assigned to each clan their district so that they were in complete control of the whole city. All the Quraysh were extremely happy with Quṣayy’s leadership. They called him the Assembler because he had caused the Quraysh to regroup. They felt that he was a man of good omen. They honoured him to the extent that no man or woman from the Quraysh would be married, no consultation in any public matter and no declaration of war could be made unless it was done in his home. His request was an order and his word was a religion to them. He built a big hall close to the mosque to serve as a meeting-place for the Quraysh and called it Dār al-Nadwah. They assembled there for any occasion of joy or distress, held their consultations and arranged their parties and social events. Dār al-Nadwah was associated with Quṣayy and continued to serve its purpose after his death.
One of Quṣayy’s noble acts was the initiation of a practice which came to be known as Rifādah. He noted that pilgrims were always coming to Makkah from distant places. By the time they arrived they were weary, their camels or horses in a state of utter exhaustion. They were ill-fed and ill-clothed, especially those who were of limited means. He recognized that Makkah must be much more hospitable to them. He therefore called in the Quraysh notables and said to them:
People of Quraysh, you are God’s neighbours and the custodians of His House who live in this consecrated city. God has chosen you for this honour. In the pilgrimage season you welcome those pilgrims who have come to visit God’s House, revering its sanctity and performing its rituals. They are God’s guests in His House. The guests most worthy of hospitality are God’s guests. You must be hospitable to them. Let us, then, provide them with food and drink in the days of pilgrimage until they have left our city to return to their homes and families.
The Quraysh responded well to Quṣayy’s appeal and approved his suggestion. Every family subscribed a specific quantity of food and drink according to their means. They put it all at Quṣayy’s disposal and he supervised the arrangements by which all pilgrims were given enough to eat and drink. Quṣayy himself took part in the work and offered the pilgrims whatever the Quraysh prepared for them – bread, meat and various dishes. This increased the Quraysh’s prestige and enhanced Quṣayy’s honour. He in effect combined all the symbols of honour and leadership. No one could enter the Kaʿbah unless Quṣayy himself opened the door for him. During the pilgrimage season no one ate or drank anything except what Quṣayy provided. His honour was the Quraysh’s honour; they loved and revered their leader.
When Quṣayy died, the institutions he had established continued to prosper. The leader of the Quraysh was the most respected chief in Arabia. The Quraysh itself commanded a position of great respect.4
Quṣayy was succeeded by a number of able chiefs from his own offspring. They continued his traditions of looking after the tribe and taking care of pilgrims. That latter concern and the custody of the Kaʿbah were matters of great honour for the Quraysh. Hāshim, Quṣayy’s grandson, put hospitality to pilgrims
