# Was Ali born inside the Kaaba?

*Was Ali born in the Kaaba? Possible, uncertain, and not what makes him great*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/b1ooltqtptw/s/3/
- Date: 2021-03-02 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #204 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (15:22–21:49)
- Status: latest answer on its topic; general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1OOltqtPTw&t=922s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/b1ooltqtptw/

**Topics:** The companions; The life of the Prophet; Sunni-Shia dialogue

**Question as asked:** Please can you talk about the birth of Ali: was it in the Kaaba or not?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** It may have happened but is uncertain, and most likely means the homes of Banu Hashim attached to the Kaaba rather than the cube itself; Ali's greatness does not depend on it.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says Ali's value should not be based on whether he was born in the Kaaba or not.

**Evidence, his words at 20:35:** “so i don't think his value should be based on whether he was born in the kaaba or not” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1OOltqtPTw&t=1235s)

## Longer summary

After a joke about a chat comment, Mufti Abu Layth reads a question on whether Ali was born in the Kaaba. He asks what is meant: the cube itself, its courtyard, or the homes of Banu Hashim, which were built attached to the precinct as the Prophet's ancestor Qusayy [?] had designed it. He thinks birth inside the cube unlikely, since idols were stored there, and birth in the courtyard also unlikely, and would assume the attached homes of Banu Hashim were meant, while noting a suggestion that it was within the semicircular wall of the hatim [?]. He says such a birth was not an important event when it happened, so a story retold thirty to sixty years later is hard to verify: it may have happened and is not implausible, but it is not certain, and such stories may have been made up later to elevate him. He says Ali's greatness rests on his closeness to the Prophet, his cousin whom he followed everywhere as a child, not on where he was born, and notes that one of the major splits in Islam formed around him.

## Sources and names cited

- Ali ibn Abi Talib
- Ka'bah
- Banu Hashim
- Qusayy ibn Kilab [?]
- Khawarij
- Shia

## Transcript (machine tier, 15:22–21:49)

[15:22] where were you taking this gardening pot no no that's uh that's the lotum mate the lauter oh the letter the lotter what does the lotto do this on too much you know it do much no no do it clean the doodoo [Laughter] so anyway people what is going on talk about the please can you talk about the birth of ali was it in the kaaba or not

[16:03] people say that the birth of ali radhiallaw was in the kaaba as in when you say kaaba do you mean uh are we saying it was in that kind of precinct the homes they were in the actual uh are we saying within the actual ka'ba or within the surroundings of the kaaba or do we mean by in the kaabazin because the homes traditionally were attached as in they were made uh a row of homes

[16:41] especially of bani hashim were kind of made in within the precinct or attached to the precinct of the haram that's how hussein had originally you know the ancestor of the prophet how he had designed it based on the patron model so and i've got my whole video on that so do i think sedna ali radhilan was born in you know people they say he was born in the kaaba but what do they mean by that is it a within the actual cube i think that would be unlikely

[17:19] um i just think because people don't generally um they used to store idols in there but um was it then um was it within the um the kind of floor area the court yard that would have been i don't know it seems a bit unlikely unless because what a woman just giving birth there why i don't know it seems very unlikely that a woman would just give birth in the courtyard so i would have assumed it would mean

[17:58] the attached homes of bani hashim which are also by association linked to the kaaba that's what i would have thought okay uh some people may claim that maybe it wasn't in the kaaba it was in the you know the hating that wall that was in there that that kind of that semi-circle wall that you have within there maybe some women kind of covered up it could be i mean i i don't you see i i don't know as a matter of i think these things are very difficult to distinguish facts or even good enough facts because

[18:38] you have to remember back then these were not important events when they happened so obviously he said ali radhilan later on becomes this huge figure in islam but when he's born you know that to the people around the there's nothing spectacular is going on so they're not going to document this event as a historical event like oh like as in all the kuffar of quraish they're not gonna like they'll just think oh you know in their way okay a child's been born but it's not something so spectacular so how is that then you know maybe

[19:17] 30 years later 40 years later 60 years later this story is retold how accurate is it i don't know i i would say that it may have happened it may have happened i mean it's it's not implausible and it's not you know 100 it's not so certain that it did happen but i don't think these things are what determine the value of ali okay um is obviously a great uh one of the greatest people within sunni within all islam

[19:56] except for i suppose the khawarij but he and and that is because of his position that is because of his proximity to the prophet his closeness him being amongst the earliest people to always uh you know stick side by side with the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to kind of he was very young compared to the prophet but he was his cousin so because of that he would tail the prophet along everywhere and kind of follow him along and he would uh you know in his own way even though he's just a child but in his own way kind of be there with the prophet wherever he could so he unquestionably has you know one of

[20:35] the greatest machamps in islam so that's and so i don't think his value should be based on whether he was born in the kaaba or not um those things may be kind of even made up later on stories just to further elevate you know exaggerate but i think regardless it makes no difference he would still be and you know one of the greatest figures of islam whether he was born in the kaaba or not so that's my opinion on all of this it is a shame really because you know he's gone on to become

[21:15] um you know he's such a powerful figure within islam and surrounding him then you know one of the major [Music] splints within islam has occurred so it's interesting isn't it like i suppose a personality that can do that because obviously you've got the whole shia thing is based on ali

[21:48] i just feel that look in my i personally people who you know whether people are shia whether they are sunni with kind of shiite inclinations as in they prefer said ali over other companions i mean to me this is their personal preference i you know it doesn't bother me and i'm not trying to convince people uh that you need to be believing that you know uthman was better than ali or omar was better than ali or i don't believe that really i think all of this is in my opinion all

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment b1OOltqtPTw/s/3. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/b1ooltqtptw/s/3/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.