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Fighting in Mecca was permitted only during those few hours that Allah made lawful for His Prophet ﷺ; afterwards its sanctity returned until the Day of Resurrection. Both al-Bukhari and Muslim relate that Abu Hurayrah said: “When Allah granted His Messenger the conquest of Mecca, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood before the people, praised Allah and extolled Him, then said, ‘Allah restrained the elephant from Mecca but gave His Messenger and the believers authority over it. It was never lawful for anyone before me; it has been made lawful for me only for one short hour of the day, and it will never again be lawful for anyone after me.’”
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The Sacred Precinct does not grant asylum to a wrongdoer. Whoever is liable to a prescribed penalty—whether flogging, imprisonment, or execution—has that penalty enforced even inside the Sanctuary. Ibn Khatal, the apostate, was killed while clinging to the curtains of the Kaʿbah by order of the Prophet ﷺ.
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The Majestic House enjoys the utmost veneration with Allah, with His Messenger ﷺ, and in the hearts of people. The unbeliever himself grasped its drapes for refuge, and the Companions hesitated to kill him in that state; yet the Prophet ﷺ had instructed on entering Mecca: “Kill Ibn Khatal, even if you find him clinging to the curtains of the Kaʿbah.” That is the ultimate place of sanctuary—yet those who first encountered him may not have heard the Prophet’s directive.
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Public interests take precedence over private ones: here, armed struggle was given priority over devotional rites, for the benefits of jihad are broader and more far-reaching.
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Ibn Khatal—his name was ʿAbd Allah ibn Khatal al-Qurashi al-Taymi—had embraced Islam. The Prophet ﷺ sent him as a tax-collector and appointed an Ansari companion to accompany him. He murdered the Ansari, then apostatized and joined the idolaters. He also kept two slave-girls who sang satirical verses against the Prophet ﷺ and the believers. The Prophet ﷺ therefore declared his blood forfeit, and he was killed—may Allah curse him—while he was clinging to the curtains of the Kaʿbah. Al-Khattabi said: “His lawful execution for crimes committed while he was a Muslim shows that the Sanctuary does not prevent the fulfillment of obligatory penalties.”
Scholarly disagreement:
Ibn al-Qayyim states in Zad al-Maʿad: “The majority of scholars are of the opinion that Mecca was conquered …”