Hadith 219
Abd Allah ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered the House—together with Usama ibn Zayd, Bilal, and ʿUthman ibn Talhah. They closed the door behind them. When the door was later opened, I was the first to step inside. I met Bilal and asked him, “Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pray in here?” He replied, “Yes—between the two Yemeni pillars.”
Overall meaning
After Allah granted the conquest of Mecca and His House had been cleansed of idols, statues, and images, the Prophet ﷺ entered the venerable Kaʿba accompanied by his two attendants, Bilal and Usama, and by the keeper of the House, ʿUthman ibn Talhah. They shut the door so that people would not crowd around to watch how the Prophet ﷺ worshipped, distracting him from his purpose in that sacred spot: intimate discourse with his Lord and gratitude for His favors. When they had remained inside for some time, they reopened the door.
Abd Allah ibn ʿUmar was eager to trace every step of the Prophet ﷺ and to visit any place he had visited, even when no specific act of worship was involved. Accordingly, he was the first to enter once the door was opened. He asked Bilal whether the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had prayed inside. Bilal answered that he had, between the two Yemeni pillars.
At that time the Kaʿba stood on six pillars. The Prophet ﷺ placed three of them behind him, two to his right, and one to his left, leaving a gap of three cubits between himself and the wall. He then prayed two rakʿahs and offered supplications in all four corners.
Points derived from the hadith
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It is recommended to enter the Noble Kaʿba, to pray within it, and to supplicate in its corners. Ibn Taymiyyah stated that entering it is neither obligatory nor a confirmed sunnah, yet it is praiseworthy.
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Entering the Kaʿba is not one of the rites of pilgrimage; it is a virtue in its own right. Hence the Prophet ﷺ did not enter it during his Farewell Pilgrimage but only in the Year of the Conquest, and the soundest conclusion is that he entered it only that one time.
Scholarly disagreement
The majority of scholars allow voluntary prayers inside the Noble Kaʿba and on its roof, with the sole exception of a view ascribed to Ibn ʿAbbas. The dispute concerns only the permissibility of the obligatory prayer—inside the Kaʿba, on its roof, and likewise in the Hijr (the semi-circular enclosure adjoining the Kaʿba).