Prophet Ibrāhīm: Part 1 — Coolness and Safety, Hājar and Ismāʿīl
Section 20 of 25 · Lives of the Prophets
A Place of Return for Mankind
And then he said: fa-jʿal afʾidatan min al-nāsi tahwī ilayhim wa-rzuqhum min al-thamarāti laʿallahum yashkurūn — so make flocks of people love them and come to them, and provide them with fruits.
Subḥān Allāh — that duʿāʾ that was made in the desert, in the empty desert: look at the fulfilment of the duʿāʾ of Ibrāhīm. People are coming from all over the world to that place. There is no place in the world that is more loved than Makkah, because of the attraction that Allah (swt) put in that house.
وَإِذْ جَعَلْنَا ٱلْبَيْتَ مَثَابَةً لِّلنَّاسِ وَأَمْنًا وَٱتَّخِذُوا۟ مِن مَّقَامِ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمَ مُصَلًّى ۖ وَعَهِدْنَآ إِلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمَ وَإِسْمَـٰعِيلَ أَن طَهِّرَا بَيْتِىَ لِلطَّآئِفِينَ وَٱلْعَـٰكِفِينَ وَٱلرُّكَّعِ ٱلسُّجُودِ
“When We made the House (Ka‘bah of Makkah) a frequented place for men, and a place of peace! Make from the Station of Ibrāhīm a place of prayer. We gave the (following directive) to Ibrāhīm and Ismā‘īl (Ishmael): “Purify My House for those who are to circumambulate (make Tawāf) and those who stay in I‘tikāf, and those who bow down or prostrate themselves (in prayers).” (2:125)
Allah (swt) has given an amazing description to the house of Allah. Allah says: jaʿalnā al-bayta mathābatan li-l-nās. Mathābah: when the young camel goes to play, after it plays for a while, it has to go back and see its mother. Allah (swt) says that the house of Allah is a mathābah. You go there, you get stuck. The love of the house of Allah enters your heart; and then, when you leave there — when you leave from Makkah — you're always homesick. You want to go back and see the Kaʿbah again.
And that is something that many people describe. They say that when we see the Kaʿbah for the first time, then that's it: we're hooked to it, and we can't leave it for a long time. Allah (swt) puts the love of this house in the hearts of men: a fulfilment of the duʿāʾ of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him).