When the House was burned during the time of Yazid bin Muawiya, when the people of Syria attacked it, and what happened to it happened, Ibn Zubayr left it as it was until people came for the pilgrimage season, intending to incite them, or to rouse them to war, against the people of Syria. When the people had completed their rites, he said, "People, advise me about the Kaabah. Should I demolish it and rebuild its structure, or should I repair what has weakened of it?"Ibn Abbas said, "I have formed an opinion about it. I think you should repair what has weakened of it and leave the House upon which the people accepted Islam, and the stones upon which the people accepted Islam, and upon which the Prophet ﷺ was sent."Ibn Zubayr replied, "If one of you had his house burned, he would not be content until he renewed it. So what about the House of your Lord? I will seek my Lord's guidance for three days, then I will resolve upon my course."When the three days had passed, his view settled upon demolishing it. The people kept away from it, fearing that whoever first climbed up to it would have something descend upon him from the sky, until one man climbed up and threw down some of its stones. When the people saw that nothing harmful befell him, they followed him in succession and demolished it down to the ground. Then Ibn Zubayr set up pillars and draped curtains over them around the wall until the building rose up.Ibn Zubayr said, "I heard Ayesha say that the Prophet ﷺ said, 'Were it not that the people are recent in their abandonment of disbelief, and I do not have the means to strengthen its construction, I would have included within it five cubits from the Hijr, and I would have made for it a door through which people enter and a door through which they exit.'" He continued, "Today I have what I can spend, and I do not fear the people."So he added to it five cubits from the Hijr until he revealed the foundation that the people could see, and built the structure upon it. The Kaabah had been eighteen cubits in height, and when he added to it, he considered it short, so he increased its height by ten cubits, and made for it two doors, one to enter through and the other to exit through.When Ibn Zubayr was killed, Hajjaj wrote to Abdul-Malik bin Marwan informing him of this and telling him that Ibn Zubayr had placed the structure upon a foundation that the trustworthy men of Mecca had witnessed. Abdul-Malik wrote back to him, "We have no concern with anything of Ibn Zubayr's tampering. As for what he added to its height, leave it. As for what he added to it from the Hijr, return it to its original construction, and seal up the door he opened." So he demolished it and restored it to its original construction.
لما احترق البيت زمن يزيد بن معاوية حين غزاها أهل الشام فكان من أمره ما كان، تركه ابن الزبير حتى قدم الناس الموسم يريد أن يجرتهم- أو يحربهم- على أهل الشام، فلما صدر الناس، قال: يا أيها الناس أشيروا علي في الكعبة أنقضها ثم أبني بناءها أو أصلح ما وهى منها؟ قال ابن عباس: فإني قد فرق لي رأي فيها، أرى أن تصلح ما وهى منها وتدع بيتا أسلم الناس عليه، وأحجارا أسلم الناس عليها، وبعث عليه لنبي ﷺ. فقال ابن الزبير: لو كان أحدكم احترق بيته ما رضي حتى يجده فكيف بيت ربكم؟ إني مستخير ربي ثلاثا ثم عازم على أمري، فلما مضى الثلاث أجمع رأيه على أن ينقضها فتحاماه الناس أن ينزل بأول الناس يصعد فيه أمر من السماء، حتى صعده رجل فألقى منه حجارة، فلما لم يره الناس أصابه شيء تتابعوا فتقضوه حتى بلغوا به الأرض، فجعل ابن الزبير أعمدة فستر عليها السور حتى ارتفع بناؤه. وقال ابن الزبير: إني سمعت عائشة تقول: إن النبي ﷺ قال: لولا أن الناس حديث عهدهم بكفر، وليس عندي من النفقة ما يقوي على بنائه لكنت أدخلت فيه من الحجر خمس أذرع، ولجعلت لها بابا يدخل الناس منه، وبابا يخرجون منه. قال: فأنا اليوم أجد ما أنفق ولست أخاف الناس. قال: فزاد فيه خمس أذرع من الحجر حتى أبدى أما نظر الناس إليه، فبنى عليه البناء وكان طول الكعبة ثماني عشرة ذراعا، فلما زاد فيه استقصره فزاد في طوله عشر أذرع، وجعل له بابين أحدهما يدخل منه والآخر يخرج منه. فلما قتل ابن الزبير كتب الحجاج إلى عبد الملك بن مروان يخبره بذلك ويخبره أن ابن الزبير قد وضع البناء على أس نظر إليه العدول من أهل مكة، فكتب إليه عبد الملك: إنا لسنا من تلطيح ابن الزبير في شيء! أما ما زاد في طوله فأقره، وأما ما زاد فيه من الحجر فرده إلى بنائه، وسد الباب الذي فتحه. فنقضه وأعاده إلى بنائه.
Muslim narrated it in the book of Hajj (1333: 402), from Hannad bin Sari, who said, Ibn Abu Zaida narrated to us, Ibn Abu Sulayman informed me, from Ataa, who said (then he mentioned it).His saying, "yujarrihum," is from jaraah, meaning he emboldens them to fight against them. His saying, "yuharribuhum," is from harb, meaning he angers them by what they see done to the House. In Qurtubi's copy of al-Mufhim, it reads "yuhazzibuhum," from tahzib, meaning gathering together, as found in the copies of Ibn Saeed, Farsi, and others. The meaning of that is that he wanted to embolden them, or to unite them against the people of Syria by exposing the ugliness of their actions toward the Kaaba. End of quote.As for Ibn Abbas's saying, "an opinion became clear to me regarding it," it means it became revealed and manifest, similar to the saying of Allah Most High, "and a Quran which We have divided into parts, that you may recite it to the people at intervals, and We have sent it down in successive revelation" [Isra 17:106].His saying, "as for what was added to it from the stone, he returned it to its original construction," means the earlier construction that preceded Ibn Zubayr's construction, which is what stands now. The caliph Harun Rashid had wanted to restore it to what Ibn Zubayr had built, but Malik bin Anas said to him, "I implore you by Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, do not make this House a plaything for kings, where no one wishes anything except to tear down the House and rebuild it, so that its awe departs from the hearts of the people." So he abandoned what he had intended, and the people approved of this from Malik, and acted upon it, so it became like a consensus that it is not permissible to interfere with it by demolition or alteration. Al-Mufhim (3/438-439).Thus the House remained on Ibn Zubayr's construction from the year 64 AH to the year 75 AH, and during this period the Muslims touched all four corners of the House. Then Hajjaj demolished it and rebuilt it as it had been in pre-Islamic times. So now, on the Yemen side, the south, it is from Ibn Zubayr's construction, and on the Syria side, the north, it is from the construction of Hajjaj bin Yusuf.As for the Hatim being circular, this is how it was in pre-Islamic times, and perhaps they made it in the shape of a circle to make things easier and more convenient for those performing tawaf.