The Flood That Cracked the Kaʿbah

An important event occurred during the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him). A flood affected the structure of the Kaʿbah. The Kaʿbah is located in a low valley between mountains, and Makkah was once flooded, and the flood caused cracks in the walls of the Kaʿbah. So the people of Quraysh felt the need to rebuild the Kaʿbah again.

The Kaʿbah in total has been built and rebuilt five or four times, depending on who was the first to build it. There's a difference of opinion on whether Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) was the first to build the Kaʿbah. Some scholars refer to our father Ādam (peace be upon him) as the first one to build it. However, the majority opinion is that it was Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) who first built it. The ones who say that Ādam is the one who built it say that this doesn't contradict the Qur'an, because the Qur'an says:

They say that the Qur'an states that Ibrāhīm was raising the foundations of the House, meaning there was already something there for him to raise above it. So they say that the house, the foundations of it, were established in the time of Ādam. But the common belief among the scholars is that it was Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) who first built it. However, there's no dispute in the holiness of the place since the earth was created—the scholars say that even if it wasn't Ādam who first built it, the place was sacred, was holy, and was visited by the prophets of Allah. So they say it used to be like a small hill which was destined as a sacred and holy place, and the anbiyāʾ of Allah would visit it. And there are references to quite a few anbiyāʾ visiting the House of Allah. There's a hadith that states that Hūd visited the Kaʿbah. There's a hadith that says that Ṣāliḥ visited Nūḥ. And there's a saying attributed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) that ʿĪsā, when he comes down again, when he descends to earth in his second coming, he will make Ḥajj. So it's either Ādam or Ibrāhīm who first built the Kaʿbah. But it is well known that it was the first house built for the remembrance of Allah—the first house established for worship was the one in Bakkah. Bakkah is also another name for Makkah. So there is Ādam and Ibrāhīm—counting from Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him): so Ibrāhīm is the first. The second time was this flood just described, when Makkah was flooded.