existence of statues or pictures of Jesus, son of Mary, and his mother in the Kaaba

  Al-Azraqi mentioned in Akhbar Makkah in the chapter on what was mentioned about the Quraysh building the Kaaba in the pre-Islamic era that the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, ordered the erasure of the pictures in the Kaaba except for the picture of Mary and Jesus, peace be upon them. Al-Azraqi narrated this with four chains of transmission, all of which are weak, so do not be deceived by them or rely on any of them. The first chain of transmission: He said: My grandfather told me, he said: Muslim bin Khalid Al-Zanji told us, on the authority of Ibn Abi Nujayh, on the authority of his father, he said: “Men of Quraysh sat - in the Sacred Mosque -…” Then he mentioned a long story about the construction of the Kaaba, and he said at the end of it: “And they placed on its pillars pictures of the prophets, pictures of trees, and pictures of angels. There was in it a picture of Abraham, the friend of the Most Merciful, an old man casting lots with arrows, and a picture of Jesus, son of Mary, and his mother, and pictures of the angels, peace be upon them all. When it was the day of the conquest of Mecca, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, entered the house and sent Al-Fadl bin Al-Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib, who brought Zamzam, then he ordered a cloth to be soaked in water and ordered those pictures to be erased, so they were erased. He said: And he placed his hands on the picture of Jesus, son of Mary, and his mother, peace be upon them, and said: ‘Erase all the pictures except what was under my hands,’ so he lifted his hands from Jesus, son of Mary, and his mother.” The second chain of transmission: He said: And my grandfather told me, he said: Dawud bin Abdul Rahman told us, he said: Some of them told me. Al-Hijbah narrated on the authority of Musafi’ ibn Shaibah ibn Uthman that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “O Shaibah, erase every image in it except what is under my hand.” He said: So he raised his hand from Jesus, son of Mary, and his mother. The third chain of transmission: He said: My grandfather narrated to me on the authority of Sa’id ibn Salim, who said: Yazid ibn ‘Ayyadh ibn Ja’dubah narrated to us on the authority of Ibn Shihab that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, entered the Ka’bah on the day of the conquest and in it were images of angels and other things. He saw an image of Abraham and said: “May God fight them! They made him an old man casting lots.” Then he saw an image of Mary, so he placed his hand on it and said: “Erase every image in it except the image of Mary.” The fourth chain of transmission: He said: Muhammad bin Yahya informed me, on the authority of a trustworthy person, on the authority of Ibn Ishaq, on the authority of Hakim bin Abbad bin Hanif and other scholars, that the Quraysh had placed pictures in the Kaaba, including Jesus, son of Mary, and Mary, peace be upon them. Ibn Shihab said: Asma bint Shuqran, a woman from Ghassan, said that she performed Hajj with the Arab pilgrims, and when she saw the picture of Mary in the Kaaba, she said: “May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, you are an Arab woman.” So the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, ordered that those pictures be erased, except for the picture of Jesus and Mary. These reports are rejected for several reasons: The first reason: The weakness of their chains of transmission. As for the first report,

It is disconnected because Abu Nujayh did not live during the time of ignorance or the time of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. Rather, he lived during the last days of the Companions, may God be pleased with them. And the disconnected one does not prove anything, and also in its chain of transmission is Muslim bin Khalid Al-Zanji, who was authenticated by Ibn Ma’in and weakened by Abu Dawud. Abu Hatim said: “An imam in jurisprudence, you know and disapprove, but he is not that strong. His hadith is written down but not used as evidence.” Al-Nasa’i said: “He is not strong.” This is what increases the weakness of the report. As for the second report : it is weaker than the one before it for two reasons: First: it is mursal, and mursal is not evidence, and second: there is a man in its chain of transmission who was not named, and such a person does not prove anything. Al-Bukhari mentioned it in Al-Tarikh Al-Kabir without mentioning the false addition, and he said: In the biography of Musafi’ bin Abdullah, on the authority of Shaibah bin Uthman, he said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “O Shaibah, erase every picture in the house.” As for the third report: it is weaker than the one before it for two reasons: First: it is mursal, and second: there is Yazid bin ‘Iyad bin Ju’duba - with a damma on the jim and a silent dal between them -. Al-Dhahabi said in Al-Mizan: Al-Bukhari and others said: “It is munkar.” The hadith: “And Yahya said: ‘He is not trustworthy’, and Ali said: ‘He is weak’, and Malik accused him of lying, and Al-Nasa’i and others said: ‘He is abandoned’, and Al-Daraqutni said: ‘He is weak’, and Abbas narrated from Yahya: ‘He is not trustworthy, weak’, and Yazid bin Al-Haytham narrated from Ibn Ma’in: ‘He used to lie’, and Ahmad bin Abi Maryam narrated from Ibn Ma’in: ‘He is nothing, his hadith should not be written down’. As for the fourth report: it is very weak, for two reasons: one of them is that it is disconnected, and the second is that it contains a man who was not named, and something like this cannot be proven. The second aspect: It is proven that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, ordered Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, to erase the pictures in the Kaaba, and that he, may God bless him and grant him peace, entered it and there were no pictures in it. Imam Ahmad said: Ruh told us - he is Ibn Ubadah al-Qabsi - Ibn Jurayj told us: Abu al-Zubayr told me that he heard Jabir ibn Abdullah say: The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, ordered Umar ibn al-Khattab on the day of the conquest, while he was in al-Batha’, to go to the Kaaba and erase every picture in it, and he did not enter the house until every picture in it was erased. Its chain of transmission is sound according to the conditions of the two sheikhs. Imam Ahmad also said: Abdullah ibn al-Harith told us - he is Ibn Abd al-Malik al-Makhzumi - on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, Abu al-Yazid told me that he heard Jabir ibn Abdullah claim that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, “forbade pictures in the house, and forbade the man who does that,” and that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, “ordered Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, during the conquest, while he was in al-Batha’, to go to the Kaaba and erase every picture in it, and he did not enter the house until every picture in it was erased.” Its chain of transmission is sound according to the conditions of Muslim. Imam Ahmad also narrated it with two chains of transmission, one of which is sound and the other is good. It was narrated by Abu Dawud in his Sunan and by Al-Bayhaqi through his chain of transmission, and its chain of transmission is good. This hadith refute what was mentioned in the four narrations, because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered the images in the Kaaba to be erased and did not exclude any of them. This is the most eloquent refutation of those who claimed that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, placed his hands on the images of Mary and Jesus and ordered them to remain and erase everything else. Also, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, while he was in Al-Batha’ to go to the Kaaba and erase every image in it. This refute what was mentioned in the hadith of Abu Nujayh, that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent Al-Fadl ibn Al-Abbas and he brought Zamzam water.












The third aspect: What Al-Zarqani mentioned about Al-Mawaahib that it was mentioned by Al-Waqidi in the hadith of Jabir, and that Omar had left the image of Abraham, and when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) entered, he saw it and said: “O Omar, did I not command you not to leave any image in it? May Allah fight them, they made him an old man who casts lots with arrows.” Then he saw the image of Mary and said: “Erase the images in it, may Allah fight a people who depict what they do not create.” This is evident in the severity of his (peace be upon him) denunciation of the images that he saw in the Kaaba, including the image of Mary. Three things indicate his severity in denunciation: First: His (peace be upon him) denunciation of Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) who was confused about leaving some images and did not erase them. Second: His order to erase the images without exception. Third: His supplication against the image-makers. There are opinions regarding the meaning of his saying: “May Allah fight them.” First: May Allah curse them, said by Ibn Abbas and chosen by Al-Bukhari. Second: May Allah kill them, said by Ibn Jurayj. Third: It is not in the real sense of fighting, but rather in the sense of astonishment, narrated by Al-Baghawi in his interpretation. Al-Raghib al-Asfahani said: “The correct view is that this is the reciprocal action, and the meaning is that he has become ready to fight Allah, for whoever fights Allah will be killed, and whoever overcomes Him will be defeated.” End quote. The fourth view: Drawing pictures and making them is one of the greatest evils, and changing evil is obligatory according to one’s ability, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever among you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand. If he is unable to do so, then with his tongue. If he is unable to do so, then with his heart, and that is the weakest of faith.” Narrated by Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi, Muslim, and the people of Sunan from the hadith of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him). Al-Tirmidhi said: “This is a good and authentic hadith.” In the narration of al-Nasa’i: “Whoever sees an evil and changes it with his hand has been absolved. Whoever is unable to change it with his hand, then changes it with his tongue, then changes it. Whoever is unable to change it with his tongue, then changes it with his heart, then changes it. That is the weakest of faith.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the most zealous of people in the prevention of transgressions of the sacred and the most vehement in denouncing and changing evils. It is impossible for someone to see evil while he is able to change it and not change it, let alone order it to remain. Whoever thinks that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered any of the pictures in the Kaaba to remain and forbade them to be erased has suspected the worst of him. The fifth aspect: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade making pictures, as in Al-Musnad and Jami` Al-Tirmidhi on the authority of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade pictures in the house and forbade a man from doing that.” Al-Tirmidhi said: “A good and authentic hadith.” Imam Ahmad also narrated, and Al-Bukhari in his history with good chains of narration on the authority of Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) “forbade making pictures.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would not forbid making pictures and then approve of some of them and order them to remain. This is the most false of falsehoods. The sixth aspect: When the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, entered upon Aisha, may God be pleased with her , and saw the curtain on which there were pictures, he tore it and his face changed color. Aisha, may God be pleased with her, said: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, entered upon me and I had covered a mistake of mine with a curtain on which there were pictures. When he saw it, he tore it and his face changed color and he said: “O Aisha, the people who will be most severely punished by God on the Day of Resurrection are those who imitate God’s creation.” Narrated by Imam Ahmad, Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah. This is the wording of Muslim. In the narration of Al-Nasa’i: “With a curtain on which there were pictures.” In the narration of Ibn Majah: “With a curtain on which there were pictures.” In a narration by Muslim, she said:The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, came to me while I was covering myself with a blanket with pictures on it. He moved it away and I made two pillows for it.



















If the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) tore the curtain in Aisha’s house (may Allaah be pleased with her) because of pictures, how can one think that he would approve of pictures in the House of Allaah and order them to remain? The seventh aspect: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the picture-makers and said that they will be the most severely punished people on the Day of Resurrection, as in the hadeeth of Abu Juhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) “cursed the picture-makers.” Narrated by Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawood at-Tayalisi. And on the authority of Aisha (may Allaah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The most severely punished people before Allaah on the Day of Resurrection will be those who imitate Allaah’s creation.” Agreed upon. And on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas, he said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Every picture-maker will be in the Fire, and for every picture he made he will be given a soul that will torment him in Hell.” Narrated by Muslim. There are many hadeeths about the severe threat to picture-makers, and I have mentioned them in (I’laan an-Naaqir ‘ala al-Mutawwateen bi al-Tasweer), so please refer to it there. If the seeker of knowledge contemplates what has been proven from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, about cursing the image-makers, and what has also been proven from him about the severe warning against them, he will not doubt the falsehood of what came in the four reports that Al-Azraqi mentioned in his history and which were mentioned above, because the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, does not contradict his words with his actions, and he does not approve of the evil that is from the most unjust of injustices and from the major sins. The eighth aspect: The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, informed in several authentic hadiths that the angels do not enter a house in which there is a picture. Imam Ahmad, Al-Bukhari and Al-Nasa’i narrated on the authority of Ibn Abbas that he said: “The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, entered the house and found in it a picture of Abraham and a picture of Mary. He, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘As for them, they have heard that the angels do not enter a house in which there is a picture. This is Abraham who is pictured, so why should he ask for an oath?’” This hadith clearly indicates that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, disapproved of the picture of Abraham and Mary when he saw them in the Kaaba. This refutes the statement of those who claim that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, placed his hands on the picture of Mary and Jesus and ordered that it be kept and that everything else be erased. If the angels do not enter a house in which there is a picture, how can it be thought that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, would leave the picture of Mary and Jesus in the House of God, which is the most honorable and most sacred of houses, and order that it be kept and everything else be erased? This is the worst of assumptions and the most false of falsehoods. The ninth aspect: What Abu Dawud Al-Tayalisi narrated in his Musnad with a good chain of transmission on the authority of Usamah bin Zaid , who said: I entered upon the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, in the Kaaba and he saw pictures. He said: So he called for a bucket of water, so I brought it to him and he made it. He erases and says: “May Allah curse a people who depict what they do not create .” This hadith clearly shows his (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) denial of what he saw of images in the Kaaba and that he did not exclude any of them. This is a response to those who claimed that he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) suckled his hands on the images of Mary and Jesus and ordered that they be kept and that everything else be erased. The tenth aspect: What was narrated by Ibn Majah with a saheeh chain of narration on the authority of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: “I made food and invited the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he came and saw images in the house so he went back.” Al-Nasa’i narrated it with the following wording: “I made food and invited the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he came and entered and saw a curtain with images on it so he went out and said: ‘The angels do not enter a house in which there are images.’” If the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) left the house of Ali and Fatima














He refused to eat their food because of the curtain that had pictures on it, so how could he be expected to accept the pictures of Mary and Jesus in the Kaaba? There is no doubt that this is a lie attributed to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. The eleventh aspect: What Imam Ahmad, Muslim and the people of Sunnah, except Ibn Majah, narrated on the authority of Abu Hayaj al-Asadi, who said: Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said to me: “Shall I not send you on what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent me on? ‘Do not leave any image without obliterating it, nor any raised grave without leveling it.’” This is the wording of one of the narrations of Muslim. This authentic hadith indicates that images must be obliterated wherever they are found and in whatever they are. It contains the most eloquent response to those who claim that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, placed his hands on the image of Mary and Jesus and ordered that they be kept and that everything else be erased. As for what al-Azraqi narrated on the authority of his grandfather, he said: Dawud ibn Abd al-Rahman narrated to us on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Sulayman ibn Musa al-Shami asked Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah while I was listening: Did you find a statue of Mary and Jesus in the house? He said: Yes, I found a statue of Mary decorated in her lap, and her son Jesus was sitting decorated. He said: “And there were six columns in the house, and the statue of Jesus and Mary was in the column next to the door.” Ibn Jurayj said: So I said to Ata’ when did he die? He said: “In the fire during the era of Ibn al-Zubayr.” I said: “Did it happen during the era of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace?” He said: “I do not know, but I think it was during the era of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace.” Sulayman said to him: “Have you seen the statues and pictures that were in the house that were obliterated?” He said: “I do not know, except that I found two of those pictures that were obliterated and I see them obliterated.” Ibn Jurayj said: “Then I went back to Ata’ after a while and he drew for me six columns and then said: ‘The statue of Jesus and his mother, peace be upon them, in the middle of those who are next to the door that is next to us when we enter.’ Then Al-Azraqi said: My grandfather told me that Dawud ibn Abd al-Rahman told us on the authority of Amr ibn Dinar who said: ‘I was in the middle of the Kaaba before the statue of Jesus, son of Mary, and his mother was demolished.’” The answer to that is: It can be said that it has been proven that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, ordered Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, to go to the Kaaba and erase every image in it and he did not exclude any of the images. It has also been proven from the hadith of Ibn Abbas who said: The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, entered the house and found in it the image of Abraham and the image of Mary. He, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘As for them, they have heard that the angels do not enter a house in which there is an image. This is Abraham who is depicted, so why is he asking for lots?’ It has also been proven from Usamah ibn Zayd who said: I entered upon the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, in the Kaaba and he saw images. He said: So he asked for a pot of water and I brought it to him and he began to erase them and said: ‘May God fight a people who depict what they do not create.’” These three hadiths were mentioned shortly. Also mentioned was what Al-Zarqani mentioned on Al-Mawaahib that it was mentioned by Al-Waqidi in the hadith of Jabir that Omar had left the image of Abraham, and when the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, entered, he saw it and said: “O Omar, did I not command you not to leave any image in it? May God kill them. They made him an old man who casts lots with arrows.” Then he saw the image of Mary and said: “They erased the images in it. May God kill a people who depict what they do not create.”










Based on this, it is possible that the image of Mary and Jesus was engraved on the pillar of the Kaaba so that washing with water would not remove them, and for this reason it remained until the Kaaba burned down during the reign of Ibn al-Zubayr. It is possible that it was painted with a permanent dye that would not be removed by water, or that some of the dye was removed when it was washed with water during the time of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and some of it remained from which the image could be seen. It was mentioned earlier from Ata’ that he also saw two of the images that were in the Kaaba and that they had been destroyed and that he saw them obliterated. Perhaps the image of Mary and Jesus was like that. It is possible that something was stuck on them that prevented them from being seen, so they were hidden from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs and other Companions, and Ata’ and Amr ibn Dinar saw them after what prevented them from being seen had been removed. It is possible that some Christians created it after the time of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and after the time of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, especially during the time of the strife that took place during the time of Yazid ibn Muawiyah. Some Christians may claim to be Muslims in a way that prevents them from entering Mecca and the Kaaba, so they depict images of Mary and Jesus to mislead the Muslims and make them believe that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, approved of their images. It is possible that this was done by some Christians who converted to Islam after the time of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the time of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, may God be pleased with them, and God knows best. The fact that the images of Mary and Jesus remained in the Kaaba after the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) does not indicate that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of that, because he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) does not approve of evil or accept it. Allaah the Most High said about him: “Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel. He enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them from what is wrong.” (al-A’raf 7:157) What is meant here is that it is not permissible to think that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of any images or ordered them to remain. Whoever thinks that has thought of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in a way that is not befitting of him. Allaah knows best. May Allaah’s prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and his companions. Hamoud bin Abdullah Al-Tuwaijri 4/15/1398 AH