People reported to be born in the Kaaba

Muslim sources report of an early Muslim being born in the Kaaba, the cubical structure that is the focus of a Muslim's daily prayers and the holiest structure in Islam.

1 Introduction
2 Reports
- 2.1 Ali
- 2.2 Hakim
3 See also

[edit] Introduction

The reports differ in nature. Some report that the birth happened within the premises of the Kaaba, while others report of a birth being made inside it.

The reports are extraordinary in nature, due to the perceived holiness of the place; however, both Shi'a and Sunnis believe that two or more persons were born there at the time of Mohammad.

The events could gain some credibility considering that the Kaaba have undergone many renovations.

Also, some people believe in miracles, and may consider the event as such. There are also present days reports of the Kaaba displaying a crack in it, believed by some to be the result of it being opened miraculosly. They strengthened their belief in that explanation with the observation that the crack reopens and needs to be repaired every few years. An alternative explanation, offered by critics is that the Kaaba is structurally unsound and therefore needs regular repairs and maintenance.

The reports themselves do not appear in any of the Islamic collections that are regarded as "early" by some, in the same way that many detailed accounts of many events do not. Some Non-Muslim Islamic scholars are known to believe that the credibility of an event is less if it was included only in "later" collections; however, no scholars- Muslim or non-Muslim- are known to have contradicted or commented negatively on the narrations regarding childbirth in the Kaaba. Non-Muslim Islamic scholars are generally prone to not mention the topic at all- something that some interpret as the scholars being dismissive or even skeptical of the issue.

[edit] Reports

[edit] Ali

One of the candidates is Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law, was born in the Kaaba.

Both Shia and Sunnis follow this report with the one about Ali being given a name derivade from Al-Ali, one of the 99 names of God, rather than Asad, as her mother Fatima bint Asad suggested.

[edit] Sunni

Many Sunni do not accept this tradition; non-Muslim historians do not discuss it.

[edit] Sunni sources of Ali

The Sunni scholar Hakim al-Nishaburi accepted it as authentic in his Mustadrak.

Nuru'd-din Bin Sabbagh Maliki in his Fusulu'l- Muhimma, Fasl I, p.14:

"No one before Ali was born in the Ka'ba. This was a distinction given to Ali in order to enhance his honor, rank, and dignity." [1]

Masudi, writes on page 76 of Volume II of his book, Murooj-udh-Dhahab (The Golden Meadows), that one of the greatest distinctions that Ali enjoyed was that he was born in the House of Allah

1.Muhammad ibn Talha el-Shafei in Matalib-us-saool, page 11.

2.Hakim in Mustadrak, page 483, Vol. III.

3.El-Umari in Sharh Ainia, page 15.

4.Halabi in Sira, page 165, Vol. I.

5.Sibt ibn al-Jauzi in Tadhkera Khawasil Ummah, page 7.

6.Ibn Sabbagh Maleki in Fusoolul Mohimma, page 14.

7.Muhammad bin Yousuf Shafei in Kifayet al-Talib, page 261.

8.Shablanji in Nurul Absar, page 76.

9.Ibn Zahra in Ghiyathul Ikhtisar, page 97.

10. Edvi in Nafhatul Qudsia, page 41.

Among the modern historians, Abbas Mahmood al-Akkad of Egypt writes in his book Al-'Abqarriyet al-Imam Ali, (Cairo, 1970), that Ali ibn Abi Talib was born inside the Kaaba.

Another contemporary historian, Mahmood Saeed al-Tantawi, of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Arab Republic of Egypt, writes on page 186 of his book, Min Fada-il al-‘Ashrat al-Mubashireen bil Janna, published in 1976 by Matab’a al-Ahram at-Tijariyya, Cairo, Egypt:

"May God have mercy upon Ali ibn Abi Talib. He was born in the Kaaba. He witnessed the rise of Islam; he witnessed the Da’wa of Muhammad, and he was a witness of the Wahi (Revelation of Al-Qur’an al-Majid). He immediately accepted Islam even though he was still a child, and he fought all his life so that the Word of Allah would be supreme."

An Arab poet composed the following distich on the birth of Ali:

He (Ali) is the one for whom the House of Allah was turned into a maternity home; And he is the one who threw the idols out of that House; Ali was the first and the last child ever to be born in the Kaaba.

The following are excerpts from the book 'Hadrat Ali, r. a.' by Prof. Masud-ul-Hasan.

Birth of Hadrat Ali Hadrat Ali was born in unusual circumstances. On the 13 th day of the holy month of Rajab, Fatima, the mother of Hadrat Ali, visited the Ka'bah to perform the pilgrimage. During the course of the pilgrimage and while circumambulating the Ka'bah, Fatima felt the pangs of childbirth. She retired to a secluded place in the precincts of the holy Ka'bah, and there Hadrat Ali was born. Hadrat Ali has thus had the unique honour to be born in the House of God. This unparalleled honour had endowed Hadrat Ali with a halo of sanctity that has become the subject of many legends. A hundred years later, Zain-ul-Abidin, a grandson of Ali (son of Hadrat Hussein), met an Arab woman at Najaf who told him that her grandmother had helped Fatima on the occasion of Hadrat Ali's birth. She narrated that according to the account of her grandmother, the child was beautiful; a smile played on his lips; he did not cry like other children; and his birth did not cause any pain to his mother.

[edit] Sunni Online biograpies of Ali

witness-pioneer.org:

however, some other biographies make no mention of his birth place of:

anwary-islam.com

[edit] Shi'a

This narration is regarded as authentic by all Shia scholars and viewed as a greater honor for Ali. The Shi'a narration depicts a miracle, the wall of the Kaaba opening miraculously, allowing Ali's mother to enter. She is said to have spent three days there.

Shi'a usually compare this report to the report of Mary, the mother of Jesus being told to not give birth in a synagogue, but was denied entrance by an angel, implying the superiority of Ali over Jesus. Furthermore, Shi'a refer to their Imams as being superior to prophets other than Muhammed to the prophecy of Mohammed accepted by both Sunnis and Shi'a of Jesus praying behind the Mahdi.

In addition Shi'a also relate a hadith where Hasan or Husain (when they were children) stepped on a Qur'an, and when some Sahaba invoked Muhammad's attention, he answered that putting a Qur'an above another would not be a problem, implying that they had the same status. Also, Shi'a quote Ali as saying "I'm the living Qur'an" at the battle of Siffin.

Islamically when a woman gives birth to a child she is not supposed to pray for 40 days for Nifas. But when fatima gave birth to Hussein, she prayed on the same day. All of this is taken as signs of the purity of the Ahl al-Bayt, as told in the Hadith of the Cloak.

Sources: It is widely publicized in numerous Shi'a biographies.