that Allah sent Gabriel to Adam and Eve and ordered them to build the Kaʿbah. Adam built it, was then commanded to circumambulate it, and was told: “You are the first of humankind, and this is the first House set up for humankind.”

As you can see, this report is one of Ibn Luhayʿah’s lone narrations, and he is weak. What seems more likely—Allah knows best—is that the report is merely a statement ascribed to ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr, originating from the two leather scrolls he obtained at Yarmūk that contained material from the People of the Book.

Among the rulings unique to the Sacred Mosque, unlike any other mosque, is that one may perform supererogatory prayers there at any time, even during the periods normally disliked. This is based on the Prophet’s words: “O sons of ʿAbd Manāf! If authority remains with you, let me never find that you have prevented anyone from praying in this House whenever he wishes, night or day.”

The ḥadith is narrated from the Prophet by Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim. Al-Dāraqutnī recorded it in his Sunan, and Aḥmad transmitted it through the route of Ibn Jurayj, who said: “Abū al-Zubayr informed me that he heard ʿAbd Allah ibn Babiyyah relate it from him.”

This chain is sound, continuous with direct audition, and meets Muslim’s criteria. Ibn Ḥibbān also cited it in his Ṣaḥīḥ, as noted in al-Talkhīṣ. The four authors of the Sunan and others likewise reported it from Ibn ʿUyaynah, from Abū al-Zubayr, with a similar wording. Al-Tirmidhī and al-Ḥākim declared it authentic, and we shall mention it, God willing, together with its corroborating chains in the appropriate place.

Here ends volume one of al-Thamar al-Mustaṭāb. The second volume follows, opening with a discussion of the merits of the Prophet’s Mosque. —Publisher