When Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr assumed authority over the Hijaz, he demolished the Ka‘bah and rebuilt it upon the foundations of Abraham. This was because the reason that had prevented the Messenger ﷺ from rebuilding it upon Abraham’s foundations had ceased to exist, and faith had become firmly established in people’s hearts. He therefore demolished it, brought people to witness the original foundations—which were the foundations of Abraham—and rebuilt it upon the foundations of Abraham, peace be upon him. He also gave it two doors: one through which people entered and another through which they exited.

It was then demolished during the reign of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and restored to the form it had had in the Age of Ignorance, after Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with him, was martyred. (1) When al-Rashid became ruler, he wished to restore it upon Abraham’s foundations, so he consulted the scholars. They said: “Do not make the House of Allah a plaything for kings: whenever a king comes to power, he will say, ‘I shall alter it in such-and-such a way.’” So he abandoned the idea, and it has remained as it is until this day, praise be to Allah.

Thus, if one performs tawaf upon the wall of the Hijr, his tawaf is invalid, because he has not encompassed the entire Ka‘bah. If he performs tawaf inside the Hijr, passing within its wall, then it is invalid all the more so.

The apparent meaning of the author’s words, may Allah have mercy on him, is that if one performs tawaf upon the wall of the Hijr that is not part of the Ka‘bah, it is invalid. This is because what cannot be established independently may be established as subsidiary to something else, and because distinguishing between the side that is within the Ka‘bah and the side that lies outside it involves some difficulty, since not all of the Hijr is part of the Ka‘bah,