How Do Scholars Explain the Prophet Fainting During Ka‘ba Rebuilding?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
How should the hadith be understood in which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) fainted while helping rebuild the Ka‘ba after briefly uncovering his waist sheet, and what does this incident signify?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
Hadith scholars suggest that his private parts were never seen; they imply that he was only partially uncovered or distressed about losing his privacy. They cite narrations where an angel fastened his waist-wrap, and Allah caused him to faint to protect his modesty.
The consensus is that divine intervention kept him covered, and any mention of “exposure” refers to his upper body or a brief moment corrected by an angel’s intervention.
Chapter: The Building of the Ka‘ba
Jabir bin Abdullah (Allah be pleased with her), When the Ka‘ba was rebuilt, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and ‘Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) went to carry stones. ‘Abbas said to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace),
“(Take off and) put your waist sheet over your neck so that the stones may not hurt you.” (But as soon as he took off his waist sheet), he fell unconscious on the ground with both his eyes towards the sky. When he came to his senses, he said, “My waist sheet! My waist sheet!” Then he tied his waist sheet (around his waist). [Bukhari]
“And there is nothing in the Hadith, as Ibn Jawzi stated, to indicate the exposure of the private parts (‘awra); rather, it indicates the exposure of the (upper) body, which is the apparent meaning. Furthermore, in another narration, it is mentioned that the Angel descended and (immediately) fastened his waist-wrap (izar) for him.” [ِIbn Mulaqqin, al-Tawdih; Ibn Adam al-Atyubi, al-Bahr al-Muhit al-Thajjaj fi Sharh Sahih al-Muslim]
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received a traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Currently, he resides in the UK with his wife and is interested in reading and gardening.
