Allah said,

(And (remember) when Ibrahim (Abraham) and (his son) Isma`il (Ishmael) were raising the foundations of the House (the Ka`bah at Makkah), (saying), "Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us. Verily, You are the Hearer, the Knower. Our Lord! And make us submissive unto You and of our offspring a nation submissive unto You, and show us our Manasik and accept our repentance. Truly, You are the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful.'')

Allah said, "O Muhammad! Remind your people when Ibrahim and Isma`il built the House and raised its foundations while saying,

(Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us. Verily, You are the Hearer, the Knower.'')

Al-Qurtubi mentioned that Ubayy and Ibn Mas`ud used to recite the Ayah this way,

(And (remember) when Ibrahim and (his son) Isma`il were raising the foundations of the House (the Ka`bah at Makkah), Saying, "Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us. Verily, You are the Hearer, the Knower.'')

What further testifies to this statement (which adds `saying' to the Ayah) by Ubayy and Ibn Mas`ud, is what came afterwards,

(Our Lord! And make us submissive unto You and of our offspring a nation submissive unto You).

The Prophets Ibrahim and Isma`il were performing a good deed, yet they asked Allah to accept this good deed from them. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that Wuhayb bin Al-Ward recited,

(And (remember) when Ibrahim and (his son) Isma`il were raising the foundations of the House (the Ka`bah at Makkah), (saying), "Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us'') and cried and said, "O Khalil of Ar-Rahman! You raise the foundations of the House of Ar-Rahman (Allah), yet you are afraid that He will not accept it from you'' This is the behavior of the sincere believers, whom Allah described in His statement,

(And those who give that which they give) (23:60) meaning, they give away voluntary charity, and perform the acts of worship yet,

(with their hearts full of fear) (23: 60) afraid that these good deeds might not be accepted of them. There is an authentic Hadith narrated by `A'ishah on this subject, which we will mention later, Allah willing.

Al-Bukhari recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "Prophet Ibrahim took Isma`il and his mother and went away with them until he reached the area of the House, where he left them next to a tree above Zamzam in the upper area of the Masjid. During that time, Isma`il's mother was still nursing him. Makkah was then uninhabited, and there was no water source in it. Ibrahim left them there with a bag containing some dates and a water-skin containing water. Ibrahim then started to leave, and Isma`il's mother followed him and said, `O Ibrahim! To whom are you leaving us in this barren valley that is not inhabited' She repeated the question several times and Ibrahim did not reply. She asked, `Has Allah commanded you to do this' He said, `Yes.' She said, `I am satisfied that Allah will never abandon us.' Ibrahim left, and when he was far enough away where they could not see him, close to Thaniyyah, he faced the House, raised his hands and supplicated,

(O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in an uncultivable valley by Your Sacred House (the Ka`bah at Makkah)) until,

(Give thanks) (14:37). Isma`il's mother then returned to her place, started drinking water from the water-skin and nursing Isma`il. When the water was used up, she and her son became thirsty. She looked at him, and he was suffering from thirst; she left, because she disliked seeing his face in that condition. She found the nearest mountain to where she was, As-Safa, ascended it and looked, in vain, hoping to see somebody. When she came down to the valley, she raised her garment and ran, just as a tired person runs, until she reached the Al-Marwah mountain. In vain, she looked to see if there was someone there. She ran to and fro (between the two mountains) seven times.'' Ibn `Abbas said that the Messenger of Allah said, "This is why the people make the trip between As-Safa and Al-Marwah (during Hajj and Umrah).''

"When she reached Al-Marwah, she heard a voice and said, `Shush,' to herself. She tried to hear the voice again and when she did, she said, `I have heard you. Do you have relief' She found the angel digging with his heel (or his wing) where Zamzam now exists, and the water gushed out. Isma`il's mother was astonished and started digging, using her hand to transfer water to the water-skin.'' Ibn `Abbas said that the Prophet then said, "May Allah grant His mercy to the mother of Isma`il, had she left the water, (flow naturally without her intervention), it would have been flowing on the surface of the earth.''

"Isma`il's mother started drinking the water and her milk increased for her child. The angel (Gabriel) said to her, `Do not fear abandonment. There shall be a House for Allah built here by this boy and his father. Allah does not abandon His people.' During that time, the area of the House was raised above ground level and the floods used to reach its right and left sides.

Afterwards some people of the tribe of Jurhum, passing through Kada', made camp at the bottom of the valley. They saw some birds, they were astonished, and said, `Birds can only be found at a place where there is water. We did not notice before that this valley had water.' They sent a scout or two who searched the area, found the water, and returned to inform them about it. Then they all went to Isma`il's mother, next to the water, and said, `O Mother of Isma`il! Will you allow us to be with you (or dwell with you)' She said, `Yes. But you will have no exclusive right to the water here.' They said, `We agree.''' Ibn `Abbas said that the Prophet said, "At that time, Isma`il's mother liked to have human company.''

"And thus they stayed there and sent for their relatives to join them. Later on, her boy reached the age of puberty and married a lady from them, for Isma`il learned Arabic from them, and they liked the way he was raised. Isma`il's mother died after that.

Then an idea occurred to Abraham to visit his dependents. So he left (to Makkah). When he arrived, he did not find Isma`il, so he asked his wife about him. She said, `He has gone out hunting.' When he asked her about their living conditions, she complained to him that they live in misery and poverty. Abraham said (to her), `When your husband comes, convey my greeting and tell him to change the threshold of his gate.' When Isma`il came, he sensed that they had a visitor and asked his wife, `Did we have a visitor' She said, `Yes. An old man came to visit us and asked me about you, and I told him where you were. He also asked about our condition, and I told him that we live in hardship and poverty.' Isma`il said, `Did he ask you to do anything' She said, `Yes. He asked me to convey his greeting and that you should change the threshold of your gate.' Isma`il said to her, `He was my father and you are the threshold, so go to your family (i.e. you are divorced).' So he divorced her and married another woman. Again Ibrahim thought of visiting his dependents whom he had left (at Makkah). Ibrahim came to Isma`il's house, but did not find Isma`il and asked his wife, `Where is Isma`il' Isma`il's wife replied, `He has gone out hunting.' He asked her about their condition, and she said that they have a good life and praised Allah. Ibrahim asked, `What is your food and what is your drink' She replied, `Our food is meat and our drink is water.' He said, `O Allah! Bless their meat and their drink.''' The Prophet (Muhammad) said, "They did not have crops then, otherwise Ibrahim would have invoked Allah to bless that too. Those who do not live in Makkah cannot bear eating a diet only containing meat and water.''

"Ibrahim said, `When Isma`il comes back, convey my greeting to him and ask him to keep the threshold of his gate.' When Isma`il came back, he asked, `Has anyone visited us.' She said, `Yes. A good looking old man,' and she praised Ibrahim, `And he asked me about our livelihood and I told him that we live in good conditions.' He asked, `Did he ask you to convey any message' She said, `Yes. He conveyed his greeting to you and said that you should keep the threshold of your gate.' Isma`il said, `That was my father, and you are the threshold; he commanded me to keep you.'

Ibrahim then came back visiting and found Isma`il behind the Zamzam well, next to a tree, mending his arrows. When he saw Ibrahim, he stood up and they greeted each other, just as the father and son greet each other. Ibrahim said, `O Isma`il, Your Lord has ordered me to do something.' He said, `Obey your Lord.' He asked Isma`il, `Will you help me' He said, `Yes, I will help you.' Ibrahim said, `Allah has commanded me to build a house for Him there, ' and he pointed to an area that was above ground level. So, both of them rose and started to raise the foundations of the House. Abraham started building (the Ka`bah), while Isma`il continued handing him the stones. Both of them were saying, `O our Lord ! Accept (this service) from us, Verily, You are the Hearing, the Knowing.' (2.127).''' Hence, they were building the House, part by part, going around it and saying,

(Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us. Verily, You are the Hearer, the Knower.)