The Treasure of the Kaaba

When Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) built the Kaaba, he made a deep pit like a well on the right side of the Kaaba. Its depth was three cubits, and gold, silver, jewelry, and perfume were put in it.

When Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) built the Kaaba, he made a deep pit like a well on the right side of the Kaaba. Its depth was three cubits, and gold, silver, jewelry, and perfume were put in it.

This pit is called the Treasure of the Kaaba, and Jab, Ghabbaghb, and Akhsaf are also called the same. The wealth of the Kaaba was called Abraq.

When the Quraysh built it five years before the Prophet (peace be upon him) was sent, they left this cave intact and erected the idol Hubal on it. This was the biggest idol of the Quraysh. Amr ibn Luhay had brought it (the idol) from the land of the island and had it erected on this pit. He told the people to worship it. This incident was before the Quraysh built it.

When the Quraysh built it, they placed the idol in its place according to the custom.

We see that no historian mentions this cave in the construction of Ibn Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him). Nor is there any mention in the construction of Hajjaj whether he left it or closed it.

Our opinion is that the cave was closed during the construction of Hazrat Abdullah ibn Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him). It was also closed during the construction of Hajjaj. And it is still like this because the inner ground of the Kaaba is higher than the outer ground and is as high as the threshold of the Kaaba, and inside is the stone floor from the time of Hajjaj.

The first marble floor was made by Walid ibn Abdul Malik.

When this pit was closed, this treasure was transferred to the house of Shaybah ibn Uthman ibn Abi Talha. After that, the gifts were kept in his house. This house was near the Masjid al-Haram. As is known today, this was the Bab al-Bani Shaybah.

When Hazrat Abdullah bin Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) intended to build the Kaaba, he took out the treasury of the Kaaba and placed it in the house of Shaybah bin Uthman.

When a Tibetan king embraced Islam, he sent his idol that he used to worship to the Kaaba as a gift. This idol was made of pure gold, had a crown of jewels or power on its head, and was sitting on a moon throne. When all these things reached Mecca, they were kept there for three days for public display. Then they were given to the custodian of the Kaaba. He placed the treasury in the house of Shaybah bin Uthman.

We will tell this story at the end of the book.

Muhammad bin Ja'far bin Muhammad borrowed five thousand dinars from the neighbors of the Kaaba to quell the rebellion of Ibn Muqna, which was repaid by the Commander of the Faithful, Ma'mun al-Rashid. The neighbors received these dinars and deposited them in the treasury of the Kaaba.

Banu Abdul Dar bin Qusay bin Kilab were the owners of Dar al-Nadwa, and the house of Shaybah bin Uthman was equal to Dar al-Nadwa.

The treasury of the Kaaba was in this house.

In fact, the treasury of the Kaaba had been in the cave of the Kaaba since the time of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS). Hazrat Abdullah bin Zubair (RA) closed it and transferred the treasury to the house of Shaybah bin Uthman. Therefore, the gifts of the Kaaba began to be stored there.

Nowadays, the Kaaba is neither a treasury nor a property. Only the gifts related to its roof remain. For a long time, we have not heard that anyone sent any gifts to the Kaaba. We think that the last gift came in 1094 AH. These were five lamps that were attached to the ceiling.