The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 103
III - Makkah, the Ka ‘ bah & the Quraish 103 instructed by God the Almighty: “And keep My House clean for those who perform the circuits, and those who stand up and those who bow down and fall prostrate in Prayers. And proclaim unto mankind that they come for the Pilgrimage. They shall come to thee on foot, and on every lean camel, in other words upon camels who have travelled long distances, coming by every distant track. ” 1 This proclamation is the basis upon which the Ka‘batullah became a centre. We clearly see that after this, the Ka‘bah quickly became the religious centre of the Arabs and people began to flock to it from far off places in Arabia. Custodianship of the Ka‘bah It has already been mentioned that the first tribe to settle in Makkah was the Jurhumuth-Thān ī yah. The daughter of this clan’s chieftain named Maḍāḍ bin ‘Amr was married to Ishmael as and twelve sons were born of this wedlock. Among these children the eldest was Nebaioth and the next was Kedar. The people of Arabia are primarily the children of Kedar son of Ishmael as and the Quraish are also his descendants. As long as Ishmael as was alive it was he who supervised the Ka‘bah, but after his death, the eldest of his sons, named Nebaioth became its custodian. After his death, the custodianship of the Ka‘bah was entrusted to his maternal grandfather, Maḍāḍ bin ‘Amr, and for an extended period in time it remained with the tribe of Jurhum. However, after the passing of an extended period in time, a branch of the Banū Qaḥṭān, the tribe of Khuzā‘ah gained supremacy over the Jurhum and snatched the custodianship of the Ka‘bah from them. The tribe of Jurhum was deeply grieved on account of their exile from Makkah, and immigrated to Yemen. However, prior to departing from Makkah, their chieftain, ‘ Amr bin Al-Ḥārith, buried his national wealth in the fountain of Zamzam and sealed its opening. In this manner, when the tribe of Khuzā‘ah entered Makkah, this sacred water 1 Al-Ḥajj (22:27-28)