Q: What does Baytullaah (house of Allaah) mean?
A: Baytullah refers to the Ka’bah Sharif.
إِنَّ أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِي بِبَكَّةَ مُبَارَكًا وَهُدًى لِّلْعَالَمِينَ ﴿آل عمران: ٩٦﴾
Q: What I meant was that why we say baytullaah house of Allah? Because it can’t be like how we say house of a person which means that he stays there in that house.
A: The Hadith refers to the Ka’bah Sharif as the house of Allah Ta’aala. By saying ‘the house of Allah Ta’aala this does not mean that Allah Ta’aala resides in it as the case of man. Instead, the Ka’bah Sharif being called the house of Allah Ta’aala is in order to show its great honour and sanctity.
عن علي قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم من ملك زادا وراحلة تبلغه إلى بيت الله ولم يحج فلا عليه أن يموت يهوديا أو نصرانيا وذلك أن الله يقول في كتابه { ولله على الناس حج البيت من استطاع إليه سبيلا }. (الترمذي رقم 812)
Answered by:
Mufti Zakaria Makada
Checked & Approved:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)