Al-Hajj Al-Mabroor

Allah, all praise and glory be to Him, ordered Ibrâhîm to raise the
foundations of the House (the Ka‘bah at Mecca); to raise a
construction high on the earth to guide people to the place of the
House, so that people know that this is the Sacred House of Allah
and that is its whereabouts.
The Ka‘bah…the sign of the Sacred House
People should know that the Sanctified Ka‘bah is not the Sacred
House of Allah, but the sign indicating that in this place stands the
Sacred House of Allah, as established by the Qur’anic verse in
which The Most Exalted says (what means):
“And (remember) when Ibrâhim (Abraham) and (his son) Ismâ'il
(Ishmael) were raising the foundations of the House (the Ka‘bah
at Makkah).” (Al-Baqarah, 2: 127)
Allah, all praise and glory be to Him, made Ismâ‘îl help his father,
Ibrâhîm, in raising the foundations of the House. Thus, Ibrâhîm
only built up the foundations when Ismâ‘îl grew up, to be a
helping hand to his father.
Some people believe that the Sacred House is the Ka’bah, which is
incorrect. The Sacred House is the place where the Ka‘bah was
built. There is a difference between the place and the sign
indicating it, a sign firmly established. Every space has length,
width, and then comes the third dimension, the height. What
Ibrâhîm did was to raise the foundations, i.e., to establish the
height. At the place of the Sacred House, Ibrâhîm made his wife
Hâjar and their infant son, Ismâ‘îl, dwell.
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