The story of the great jurist Imam Mālik and the rebuilding of the
Ka`bah is a lesson for Islamic workers. It shows how important it is to
take a broad, inclusive view of things and show sensitivity to people,
their feelings, and their motives. It shows the importance of preserving
the general welfare of the Muslims and upholding the sanctity of Islam
over doggedly pursuing the narrow application of a particular hadith in
isolation.
Al-Hajjāj b. Yūsuf destroyed the Ka`bah when `Abd Allah b. Zubayr took
control of Mecca. During his time in power, Ibn Zubayr rebuilt the
Ka`bah on the original foundations laid down by Abraham. Then, when
al-Hajjāj b. Yūsuf seized control of Mecca, he tore it down again and
rebuilt it on the foundations they were on before he had first destroyed
it.
Later, the Caliph heard the hadith from Mālik where the Prophet said to
his wife: “`Ā’ishah, had it not been for the fact that your people have
so recently emerged from the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, I would have
had the Ka`bah torn down and rebuilt restoring the parts of the
structure that have been lost. I would have set it firmly on the ground
with two doors, one on the eastern side and the other on the western
side, so that it would be upon the foundations laid by Abraham.” [Sahīh al-Bukhārī (1586) and Sahīh Muslim (1333)]
After hearing this, the Caliph resolved to have the Ka`bah rebuilt once
again on Abraham’s original foundations. But Mālik advised him not to,
saying: “Commander of the Faithful, I implore you, for Allah’s sake, do
not make the Sacred House a plaything for kings. Every king will want to
tear it down and rebuild it the other way. The people will cease to
revere it.”
Mālik was and insightful person. He had the foresight to know that that
each king would want to use the reconstruction of the Ka`bah to assert
his authority, to show that he was intent on reform and renewal.
Mālik envisioned a frightful future where each king would tear down the
Ka`bah and rebuild it on the alternative foundation, the first king
claiming that he sincerely wants to fulfil the Prophet’s wishes and
restore it to Abraham’s foundations as the Prophet expressed he wished,
while the next king would proclaim that he sincerely wanted to restore
it to the form that the Prophet purposefully left it in. Mālik wanted to
nip this tendency in the bud, and he persuaded the Caliph to leave the
Ka`bah alone.
Anyone other than Mālik would have jumped at the chance to get the
Caliph to carry our something for the sake of the Prophet’s Sunnah and
bring something about that the Prophet had longed to implement. However,
Mālik possessed great forethought. He knew the precedent the Caliph
would be setting for his successors. Instead of focusing on the one
hadith in isolation, he looked at all the general principles of
preserving the sanctity and strength of Islam.
No comments:
Post a Comment