I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about the Hijr, and he said, "It is part of the House."I asked, "What prevented them from including it within the House?"He replied, "Their funds ran short."I asked, "Why is its door so high that one can only reach it with a ladder?"He said, "That was done by your people so they could admit whomever they wished and exclude whomever they wished. Were it not that your people are still close to the era of disbelief, and I fear their hearts would recoil, I would consider altering it, restoring to it what was left out, and setting its door at ground level."
حدثنا أبو بكر بن أبي شيبة حدثنا عبيد الله بن موسى حدثنا شيبان عن أشعث بن أبي الشعثاء عن الأسود بن يزيد
سألت رسول الله ﷺ عن الحجر فقال هو من البيت قلت ما منعهم أن يدخلوه فيه فقال عجزت بهم النفقة قلت فما شأن بابه مرتفعا لا يصعد إليه إلا بسلم قال ذلك فعل قومك ليدخلوه من شاءوا ويمنعوه من شاءوا ولولا أن قومك حديث عهد بكفر مخافة أن تنفر قلوبهم لنظرت هل أغيره فأدخل فيه ما انتقص منه وجعلت بابه بالأرض
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Hajj, in the chapter "The Merit of Makkah and Its Construction," etc., hadith no. 7243 and 1584, from the hadith of Ashath, through this route. Muslim also narrated it in the Book of Hajj, in the chapter "The Wall of the Kaaba and Its Door," hadith no. 1333/406, from Ibn Abu Shayba, through this route.