those who would malign Ibn al-Zubayr for anything. As for the extra height he added, let it stand; but whatever he incorporated from the Ḥijr, restore it to the original building, and block up the door he opened.’
So al-Ḥajjāj demolished that section, returned the Kaaba to its former plan, and sealed the door.
Such, then, was the deed of the tyrant al-Ḥajjāj, carried out on the basis of ʿAbd al-Malik’s misguided order—and I do not think that later remorse can excuse his mistake.
Muslim and Abū Nuʿaym also relate, on the authority of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUbayd, that:
‘Al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd Allah paid a formal visit to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān during his caliphate. ʿAbd al-Malik said, “I do not believe that Abū Ḥabīb—that is, Ibn al-Zubayr—actually heard from ʿĀʾishah what he claimed to have heard.”
Al-Ḥārith replied, “Indeed, I myself heard it from her.”
The caliph asked, “And what did you hear her say?”
He answered, “She said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said…,” and he proceeded to quote the hadith.
ʿAbd al-Malik said, “You heard her say this with your own ears?”
“Yes,” he replied. The caliph then sat for a while, turning his staff in his hand, and finally said, “I wish I had left it as he built it and not interfered.”
In another narration, likewise recorded by Muslim and Abū Nuʿaym, Abū Qazʿah reports:
‘While ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān was circumambulating the Kaaba he remarked, “May Allah fight Ibn al-Zubayr! He lies against the Mother of the Believers when he claims to have heard her say…” and he mentioned the hadith.
Al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Rabīʿah responded, “Do not say that, Commander of the Believers. I myself heard the Mother of the Believers relate it.”
The caliph said, “Had I heard that from you before I tore it down, I would have left the building exactly as Ibn al-Zubayr had made it.”’
I say: He should have verified the matter before demolishing the House and consulted the scholars, if indeed he was entitled to cast aspersions on ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr and accuse him of fabricating a hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Later, ʿAbd al-Malik realized that Ibn al-Zubayr had spoken the truth, once al-Ḥārith confirmed it—and a large number of others likewise transmit the report from ʿĀʾishah. I have collated their various chains; the hadith is well-attested from her. For that reason, I fear that ʿAbd al-Malik may already have been aware of the hadith before he razed the building, yet pretended that he knew it only through Ibn al-Zubayr. When al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd Allah confronted him and declared that he too had heard it from ʿĀʾishah, the caliph displayed remorse over