2. Muhammad and Rebuilding the Ka'ba by 'Quraish

another anecdote, i said.

i'm listening, father stephano replied.

  five years before the revelation, when muhammad was about thirty five, the 'quraish tribe embarked on renovating the ka'ba building. the 'qurashi people considered participation in this endeavour the greatest honour of all, and in order not to fight among themselves they divided the work. each sept of the tribe dismantled a section of the building then used the same stones to rebuild it. the work went on well till they reached the stage where the prestigious black stone had to be put in place. 'quraish revered this stone and each sept wanted to have the honour of lifting it back to its place. the squabbling turned into a feud and near battle, with different septs forming alliances against each other. one alliance, called the blood lickers, went as far as bring a bowlful of sacrificial blood and dipped their hands in it, in a symbolic gesture signifying their pledge to fight to death if others tried to win the honour of lifting the black stone back to its place in the corner of al-ka'ba. things got worse and for four, five days 'quraish was almost torn apart with internal fighting. the elders gathered by the ka'ba to discuss the impending danger. a wise man among them suggested that they resort to arbitration. 'qurashi people, he said, let the first man coming from this side of town adjudicate on your dispute and settle the issue as he thinks fit and you accept his verdict. everybody agreed to the suggestion and they waited for the first comer.

guess who the person was, father stephano, i said?

you tell me. who?

  muhammad bin abdullah was the first man to come from the direction they chose.

and did everyone accept him to arbitrate between them?

  cries of approval rose from all sides. that's him, the trusted one, muhammad, and we all accept his judgment.

  muhammad didn't know what the people had agreed on. he asked about the reason for their shouting and screaming. they told him and demanded that he arbitrates between them.

and what was muhammad's verdict, father stephano asked?

  he hastened to ask for an ordinary arab gown, and they brought him one. he spread it on the floor, lifted the black stone with his hands and put in the middle, then asked every sept leader of 'quraish to take hold of one end of the dress and lift the stone together. again he took the stone with his own hands, put it back in its rightful place in the corner of the ka'ba then built over it.^([1])

  a wise man like that, father stephano said, couldn't have been rough, hardhearted or cruel. his own people wouldn't have accepted his judgment or agreed to have him as judge and arbiter in the first place.