The Prophet entered Makkah wearing a black turban and not in the state of Ihraam (ritual consecration). He bent his head down low to show humility to Allaah The Almighty who honored him with the Conquest of Makkah to the extent that his chin was about to touch the middle part of the saddle of his riding animal. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, recited the Chapter of Al-Fat’h as he entered Makkah. He was feeling the blessing of the fulfilled conquest, forgiveness of sins, and a great victory. Once he conquered Makkah, the heart of Arabia and its spiritual and political center, he announced all the principles of justice, equality, humility and submission. The Prophet let Usaamah bin Zayd, his freedman, ride behind him but did not allow any other child from Banu Haashim or from among the nobles of Quraysh to ride behind him. This took place on Friday, 20th of Ramadhaan, 8 AH.
Describing the entry of the Prophet into Makkah, Al-Ghazaali said,
The Muslim army was advancing and the Prophet was riding his she-camel and wearing a thick turban around his head. He lowered his head in humility to Allaah The Almighty and bent his back on his she-camel, showing great modesty. The large and solemn procession that carried him towards the bottom of the Sacred Precincts and the armored corps that surrounded him both awaited a gesture to act and end the peace in Makkah. This manifest conquest reminded the Prophet of a very eventful past; how he had been driven out of Makkah and how he returned in victory and support on that day! What a great honor Allaah The Almighty bestowed on him! The more the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, felt these blessings, the more humility and bowing he showed on his she-camel.
The Prophet was keen on insuring the safety of the internal front of Makkah on the day of the conquest. Thus, once he knew about the saying of Sa‘d bin ‘Ubaadah to Abu Sufyaan, “Today will witness a great fight, today the Ka‘bah shall not be sanctified,” the Prophet replied: “No! Today the Ka‘bah will be sanctified and covered.” He quickly ordered that Sa‘d should be stripped of the standard, and that it should be entrusted to his son, Qays. This wise action guaranteed that there would be no uncalled for fighting. At the same time, he did not make him or Sa‘d furious, because he did not take the standard from a man from the Ansaar (helpers) as Sa’d was, and hand it to another one from the Muhaajroon (emigrants); rather, he handed it to his son, and we know that a man does not wish for anyone to have the upper hand over him except his son.
After the Prophet entered Makkah and the people felt safe, he moved to the Sacred House and performed Tawaaf (circumambulation) with a bow in his hand and about three hundred and six idols around the Ka‘bah. The Prophet stabbed them with his bow one by one saying: {Truth has come, and falsehood has departed. Indeed is falsehood, [by nature], ever bound to depart.} [Quran 17:81]
and said: {The truth has come, and falsehood can neither begin [anything] nor repeat [it].} [Quran 34:49]
The idols started falling down, representing the victory from Allaah The Almighty and His great support to His Messenger that once he thrust any of the false deities surrounding the Ka‘bah with a stick in his hand, it fell down into pieces on its face or back. He also ordered some images and statues that he saw around the Ka‘bah to be knocked down. He refused to enter the Ka‘bah until those images had been removed. The Ka‘bah contained an image that was falsely said to be of Ibraaheem and Ismaa‘eel (Abraham and Ishmael), may Allaah exalt their mention, holding divining arrows in their hands. Seeing this, the Prophet said: “May Allaah kill them! They knew that they [Ibraaheem and Ismaa‘eel] had never sought decision through divining.”
Then, he entered the House and said: “Allaah is Great,” in every corner of it and performed prayer. It was narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar and his father, that the Messenger entered the Ka‘bah with Usaamah, Bilaal and ‘Uthmaan bin Talhah closed it and remained therein. Ibn ‘Umar said, “I asked Bilaal when he left about what the Prophet had done there, and he replied that the Prophet performed prayer, as he stood with two pillars on his left, one pillar on his right and three pillars behind him. The Ka‘bah stood on six pillars at that time.”
The keys of the Ka‘bah were kept with ‘Uthmaan bin Talhah before he became Muslim, and ‘Ali wanted to hold the keys along with the privilege of providing water for the pilgrims. However, the Prophet returned the keys to ‘Uthmaan, saying: “Today is a day of kindness and faithfulness.” The Prophet had asked ‘Uthmaan to give him the keys of the Ka‘bah before he migrated to Madeenah, but ‘Uthmaan spoke to him harshly and hurt him. The Prophet forgave him, saying: “O ‘Uthmaan! Perhaps you will see these keys in my hands one day, and I will place them wherever I wish.” ‘Uthmaan replied saying that the Quraysh would have to have been destroyed and humiliated by that day. The Prophet said: “Nay, it will rather have been revived and will have become glorious.” This promise greatly affected ‘Uthmaan bin Talhah and he was sure that this promise would come true. After the Conquest, the Prophet handed the keys to ‘Uthmaan, saying: “Here are the keys, ‘Uthmaan. Today is a day of kindness and faithfulness. Take them forever, and no one will extract them except an oppressor.”
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not want to keep the keys in his possession or to give them to anyone from the Banu Haashim, although some of them had the audacity to try to take them, since having the keys of the Ka’bah was desirable and meant authority. Such advantages were totally irrelevant to the mission of the Prophet . This was how the Messenger regarded the great victory; to him it was kindness and faithfulness, even to those who had betrayed, schemed and behaved insolently towards him.
The Prophet ordered Bilaal to climb the Ka‘bah and announce the Athaan (call) for prayer. Bilaal did, and the people of Makkah attentively listened to that new call as if they were in a dream. The words of the Athaan were uttered like thunderbolts that cast horror into the hearts of the devils, who had nothing to do but flee or embrace Islam.
“Allaah is the Greatest… Allaah is the Greatest… Allaah is the Greatest…”
This same voice once whispered under the lashing of a whip, saying, “Allaah is One… Allaah is One… Allaah is One.” However, today it was echoing above the Ka‘bah of Allaah The Almighty, saying, “There is no deity worthy of worship but Allaah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah,” and all the people were attentively and submissively listening.
Ref : www.islamweb.net
