-VOLUME 3- · 94 – THE CHAPTER ON PRAYER IN THE ḤIJR
2028 – It is narrated from ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: I very much wished to enter the Kaʿba and pray inside it. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) took me by the hand, led me into the Ḥijr, and said: “When you wish to enter the Kaʿba, pray in the Ḥijr, for indeed the Ḥijr is a part of the Kaʿba. When your people, the Quraysh, rebuilt the Kaʿba, they made the building smaller and left the Ḥijr outside of the Kaʿba.” [69]
EXPLANATION
The Ḥijr: This is the name of the semicircular area in front of the Kaʿba, where the water from the golden spout falls. When the Prophet was thirty-five years old, the Kaʿba was demolished and rebuilt by the Quraysh. At that time, due to the Quraysh’s insufficient financial means, the Ḥijr was left outside the Kaʿba. Praying in the Ḥijr is like praying inside the Kaʿba.