Our prayers in it are a thousand times better than in any other, except for this al-Hajar and the corners (Clarifying that prayer in the Prophet's Mosque is better than a thousand prayers in any other mosque except the Sacred Mosque, and clarifying that al-Hajar is part of the Ka'bah, the reason for its name, and discussing the Ka'bah and its construction, and discussing the four corners of the Ka'bah)

The Shaykh : Then he said:
"And our prayers in it are a thousand times better than in any other, except for this al-Hajar and the corners"
Our prayers in it are a thousand times better than in any other, but it is better to say "better than a thousand prayers" as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. There is a difference between saying "a prayer worth a thousand" and "a prayer better than a thousand." The established hadith is and in a wording by Muslim . There is a difference between them, but what the author mentioned is a narration in *Musnad Imam Ahmad* (may Allah have mercy on him).
"A thousand times better than in any other, except for this al-Hajar and the corners" means the mosque of the Ka'bah. This al-Hajar is well known; it is the section or portion of the Ka'bah that is currently enclosed by a wall. It is part of the Ka'bah, but not all of al-Hajar is part of the Ka'bah. The amount is six cubits and something, meaning approximately three and a quarter meters. Some scholars said: From the bend of al-Hajar, the curved part of al-Hajar at its bend, this is part of the Ka'bah, and what is beyond it is not part of the Ka'bah.
It was called al-Hajar because when Quraysh built the Ka'bah, their funds ran short. They had resolved to build it only with lawful money, but the funds were insufficient. So they said, "We will build part of it." They built what is standing now and enclosed this part with this wall outside the roofed area. It was called al-Hajar because it was enclosed (muhajjar), and it was called al-Hatim because it was broken off (hatim means broken off) from the Ka'bah and separated from it.
As for what is popular among the ignorant common people that the grave of Isma'il is in it, that is a lie with no basis. Some common people now call it the Stone of Isma'il, but as I told you, this is its origin: it was not known in the time of Isma'il, and he was not buried in it. The Ka'bah was wider than this before. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to A'ishah while telling her: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away and it remained as it was in the pre-Islamic age. When 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) took charge of the Hijaz, he demolished it and rebuilt it on the foundations of Ibrahim, according to what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had desired. When he was killed (may Allah be pleased with him) and al-Hajjaj took over Makkah, and he was a governor of the Umayyads, he sent to 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and then ordered him to restore the Ka'bah to how it was in the pre-Islamic age and in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So he restored it. Then when the news reached him from A'ishah, he wished he had known about it earlier. When Harun al-Rashid took charge, he wanted to change the Ka'bah from al-Hajjaj's construction to the construction of? 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. So he consulted Malik about it, and he said: "Do not make the House of Allah a plaything for kings, so that whenever a king comes, he demolishes it and changes it" So it was left as it was. And this is truly from the mercy and wisdom of Allah the Exalted. If it had been as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) desired, it would have been a cause of destruction and death in times like these, because people fight over stoning the pillars and some are killed. What do you think if they were fighting over entering the Ka'bah through a narrow door, and the Ka'bah is roofed and narrow? Yes, but praise be to Allah, what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) desired, Allah the Exalted decreed. Al-Hajar is now open and has two doors: a door through which people enter and a door through which they exit. The one who enters with the eastern door of al-Hajar and exits through the western one is as if he entered the Ka'bah and exited from it. So, praise be to Allah, what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) desired was achieved without harm. And this indicates to you the wisdom of Allah the Exalted, and by it you always remember So, praise be to Allah, the good is in what happened with this al-Hajar. As for his saying: "and the corners", it means the four corners, for the Ka'bah has four corners, which Allah has honored. Two of them are on the construction of Ibrahim, and they are the two that are touched (istilam): the Yemeni Corner and the Black Stone. And two are not on the foundations of Ibrahim, and therefore they are not touched; they are not touched. When Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) performed tawaf in one of the years he performed Hajj, he began to touch the four corners: al-Hajar, al-Hajar, the Sham Corner, and the Iraqi Corner. So Ibn 'Abbas said to him: Mu'awiyah said: Mu'awiyah is saying: meaning none of the corners are neglected. So Ibn 'Abbas said to him: Mu'awiyah returned. Mu'awiyah wanted to oppose the text with analogy, but Ibn 'Abbas showed him that opposing the text with analogy is invalid and defective. If the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not touch except the two Yemeni corners, then it is not prescribed for us to touch the remaining corners.