Did other prophets visit the Kaaba?

​Did Hz. Musa (Moses) or Hz. Isa (Christ) visit the Kaaba? Are there narrations regarding the issue?

Dear Brother / Sister,

It is a clear fact that hajj worship was performed by other prophets too and that hajj was carried out and maintained even in the Era of Jahiliyya, when idolatry was dominant.

That the concepts like Ashurun Ma’lumat, Arafat, Mashar al-Haram, Ayyam Ma’dudat, Ayyam Ma’lumat, Bayt al-Atiq and Hajj related to hajj are used in the Quran without being explained proves that hajj was known and understood by its first addressees. (see al-Baqara 158, 196-203; Aal-i Imran 96-97; al-Maida 1, 2, 95; al-Hajj 26-30)

That the Prophet (pbuh) explained that the prophets before him performed hajj confirms this truth. The Prophet (pbuh) said,

“70 prophets performed prayers in Masjid al-Khayf in Mina (where the symbols of Satan are stoned as a duty of hajj and animals are sacrificed ). One of them was the Prophet Musa.” (Majmauz-Zawaid, 3/221)

The following narration is important in that it clarifies the issue:

"The Prophets came to the Kaaba on foot and entered it barefoot. They performed hajj worship by circumambulating the Kaaba, walking barefoot." (Ibn Majah, Manasik 25)

Abdullah b. Abbas narrates:

During Farewell Hajj, we were passing through a valley between Makkah and Madinah. The Messenger of Allah asked,  

- What is the name of this valley?

- O Messenger of Allah! The Valley of Azraq.

- It is as if I can see the Prophet Musa passing through this valley by placing his two fingers in his ears and reciting talbiyah supplication aloud and begging Allah.

Abdullah b. Abbas continues as follows:

While passing through a mountain pass, the Messenger of Allah asked what the name of the pass was. When they said, it was Harsha, he said,

- It is as if I can see the Prophet Yunus (Jonah) on a red camel, wearing a woolen cloak and holding the reins of his camel, woven from palm fibers, passing through this valley, reciting talbiyah supplication. (Ibn Majah, Manasik 4; see Bukhari, Hajj 30)

The explanations made by hadith scholars about the meaning of the Prophet seeing the previous prophets Hz. Musa and Hz. Yunus in the way that is mentioned in the hadith are as follows in summary:

1. What is meant by it is the Prophet’s seeing them in that state really because prophets are alive near Allah and they are given sustenance. Therefore, it is possible for them to perform hajj though they are not in this world. There is nothing that can prevent it. As a matter of fact, the Prophet saw the Prophet Musa performing a prayer standing in his grave on the night of Miraj (Ascension). The spirits of the prophets were presented to the Prophet (pbuh) on the night of Miraj; similarly, it is possible for the spirits of those two prophets to be visible to the Prophet (pbuh). The bodies of the prophets are in their graves.

2. The forms of the deeds of the worship of the previous prophets and their hajj journeys were shown to the Prophet (pbuh) by Allah symbolically. Therefore, the Prophet (pbuh) said, "It is as if I can see."

3. The hajj journeys of the two prophets mentioned above were told to the Messenger of Allah through revelation. Since the incident he was informed about was definite, he meant to say, "Their state is before my eyes."

4. The Messenger of Allah saw the hajj journeys of the two prophets mentioned above in his dream. Then, the Messenger of Allah remembered his dream during his hajj journey and told his Companions about it. The dreams of the prophets are also regarded as revelation.

The hajj of Hz. Isa is also among the miracles of the Prophet (pbuh) about the ghayb (unseen).

According to what Abu Hurayra narrates, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"By Allah, Maryam’s (Mary’s) son Isa will utter talbiyah in the place called Fajjur-Rawha to make hajj or umrah or both." (Muslim, Hajj, 216, no: 1252)

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