Hateem / Hijr Ismail : Hateem is a crescent-shaped zone directly adjacent to the Kaaba. Part of it is also known as Hijr Ismail, since it was here that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) built a shelter for Ismail (peace be upon him) and his mother Hajra (peace be upon her).
The grandfather of the Prophet (saw), Abdul Muttalib, liked to be near the Kaaba, and he sometimes ordered to lay out a sofa for him in this place. One night, while he was sleeping, a ghostly figure approached him and instructed him, where he would find the well of Zamzam, which had been buried since the days of the Jurhum tribe.
When the Prophet (saw) was 35 years old, a devastating flood damaged the Kaaba and, since it was already weakened by an earlier fire, was in danger of collapse. Seeing that their prayer house was under threat, the Quraysh decided to restore the Kaaba. They decided not to spoil the project with resources obtained through usury (interest), prostitution or theft. They learned about a Roman ship that crashed in a nearby port, and a contingent went to buy wood of the crashed ship. They also contracted a carpenter his name Baqoom, who was one of the passengers on the ship, to come and rebuild the walls. Construction began with the fact that each tribe were assigned certain responsibilities. Nobles among them carried pieces of stone and put them in one place. The Prophet (saw) and his uncle Abbas were among those who carried stones. However, the tribes could not raise enough money to fully restore the Kaaba, so a small wall was built, showing the boundaries of the original foundation laid by Ibrahim (peace be upon him). This small wall covered the area on the north side of the Kaaba.
Hateem/Hijr Ismail: Some scholars have mentioned that the graves of Ismail (peace upon him) and his mother Hajra (peace upon her) are buried under Ismail . However, others rejected the narrative as Da^eef (weak).
Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) reports that when she asked the Prophet (saw) whether Hateemwas part of the Kaaba, he replied that this was so. When she further asked why it was not included in the walls of the Kaaba, the Prophet (saw) replied: “Because your people (Quraysh) did not have enough money.” [Bukhari]
READ MORE: Site where Ebrahim (upon him be peace) was thrown into the fire
Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says: “When I expressed a desire to perform salah in the Kaaba, the Prophet (saw) took me by the hand and led me to Hijar (Hateem), where he said:“ Perform salah here if you want to enter Kaaba, because it is part of Baitullah. ”
It should be noted here that the area of about 3 meters, adjacent to the wall on the side of Hateem, is actually part of the Kaaba, and the rest is outside the Kaaba. However, it is clear that the tawaf must be performed outside the entire area of hateem.
Another story says that Rasulullah (saw) said: “O Aisha! If your people were not yet in the Period of the Ignorance, I would destroy the Ka’bah and include the rest in its walls. I would also raise the inside of the Kaaba to ground level and add two doors: one on the east wall and the other on the west. Thus, it will correspond to the structure and foundation of Ibrahim (peace be upon him). ” In the year 65 AH, Abdullah bin Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him, build the Ka’ab according to this wish of the Prophet (SAW).
There is a drainage system that directs water from the roof of the Kaaba down to the Hateem area. It was first built by Quraysh and is known as “Meezab-e-Rahma” (drain of mercy).
