Chief of the Prophets — Page 40
Chapter Three 40 arrive there the next day. On seeing him, everyone started cheering “Amīn! Amīn!” Muḥammad sa made an amazing decision, he spread his mantle and placing the Black Stone on it with his own hands, asked the tribal chieftains to hold the corners of the mantle, and carry it to the place where the Black Stone was to be placed. When the Quraish reached the destination, Muḥammad sa lifted the stone with his own blessed hands, and placed it in its position. 1 Thus, he resolved this dangerous dispute with great wisdom. According to historians, this event took place when Muḥammad sa was 35 years old. Bukhārī has a tradition related to the construction of the Ka‘bah that when Muḥammad sa was gathering stones for the construction, his uncle ‘Abbās bin ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib told him to put his waist cloth over his shoulder to prevent being scraped by the stones. Muḥammad sa obeyed his uncle, but since it bared parts of his body, he looked away in embarrassment and nervously tripped and fell down. It seems that this event predates quite a bit the event of the placement of the Black Stone. We find out from the research of some historians that this incident dates back to the childhood of Muḥammad sa as usually the construction work spanned many years because of the unavailability of the building material. But the incident of being the arbitrator for the placement of the Black Stone certainly happened later because he was given the title of Amīn only after he became involved in business dealings. Zaid bin Ḥārithah in His Service Ḥakīm bin Hizām was a nephew of Khadījah ra. He went on a trading trip, and bought a slave whom he presented to Khadījah ra as a gift. Khadījah ra found the slave sharp and intelligent and presented him to Muḥammad sa. This was Zaid bin Ḥārithah, who was very dear to Muḥammad sa because of his loyalty. Zaid was so attached to Muḥammad sa that when his father, Ḥārithah, and uncle, Ka‘b, came 1 Ibni Hishām, Aṭ-Ṭabarī and others.