Will God protect the Kabba himself?

Question

God in Sura Feel 105 talks about small birds destroying the army of Abraha by dropping small stones on them. But the black stone was stolen from Kabba in 930 and recovered after a 20 years later. Some say it has even been fragmented. How can I say that God will protect Kabba when he cannot protect the black stone.

1. Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?

2. Did He not make their stratagem go awey?

3. And He sent upon them birds in flocks,

4. Pelting them with stones of petrified clay,

5. Thus He made them like straw eaten up.

Answer 1

Does protecting Kaaba from one attack mean Kaaba protection is guaranteed by Allah?

In addition to the answer provided by @goldPseudo, what happened to Abraha army was in a unique situation, the same year that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was born (Year of Elephant - Aam Ul Fil) and in that year some unique events was happened to mention the people around the world that the last prophet has arrived (You may see a list of that events here).

So it does not necessarily mean that if the same attack to Kabba is done at a different time, the same direct protection by Allah will happen again.

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Is Kaaba damaged at any time?

Definitely Yes. We already know that during lifetime of Prophet Muhammad Kabba was damaged by flood of water after heavy raining in Mecca (the same event that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) found a way to install the Black Stone (al Hajar al Aswad) by cooperation of all tribes in Mecca).

After the Prophet, Yazid ibn Muawya army attacked Mecca and fired Kaaba by catapulting fireballs (see references). That time also a similar event did not happen to protect Kaaba by Allah.

If we look the history we may find other times that Kaaba was damaged and rebuilt later.

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So who is responsible to protect Kaaba?

We, Muslims, have the mission from Allah to protect Kaaba, exactly in the same manner that before us the small birds (swallows) were given this mission from Allah and protected it from attack of Abraha army.

Answer 2

How can I say that God will protect Kaaba...? The simple answer is, you can't. Unless He has actually revealed that He will protect the Kaaba, there's no reason at all to say that He will.

God is, of course, all powerful. Obviously, it is thus easy for Him to protect His House, as demonstrated in Surat al-Fil, but it is also just as easy for Him not to protect it. Nowhere in the Qur'an does He claim that He will protect the physical Kaaba building or the black stone from any harm whatsoever; the incident of the Elephant only demonstrates that He did so at that time.

Short of an authoritative covenant wherein God does make such guarantees, claiming that He will or will not do anything is sheer arrogance. Being mere humans, we cannot claim to know that which is unseen; this includes knowing the full extent of His plans or how He chooses to act.

If you are ever going to say that God Almighty will definitely do something, anything, then be prepared to produce your proof, if you should be truthful. Otherwise, why say it at all?

Answer 3

Kabaa had been destroyed atleast 4 time:

• The Kaaba was severely damaged by fire on 683 CE, during the first siege of mecca.
• By Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf Ath-Thaqafi during the second siege of mecca in 692 CE he also burned down and flattened mecca city.
• By Abū Tāhir ibn Sulaymān al-Jannābī During the Hajj of 930 CE, the Qarmatians (Shi'ites) attacked Mecca, destroyed the kabaa, defiled the Zamzam Well with the bodies of pilgrims and stole the Black Stone, taking it to the oasis region of Eastern Arabia known as al-Aḥsāʾ, defiled the stone and used it as toilet where it remained until the Abbasids ransomed it in 952 CE.
• By some indian worker riding a buldozer during the major reconstruction at 1996.

Answer 4

In fact Muhammad said that the Kaaba will be destroyed and that it was a sign of the last days.

AbduAllah ibn Amr said I heard the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم say: " Zul-Suwayqatayn from Al-Habasha ( Abyssinia or Ethiopia) will destroy the Ka'ba and steal its treasure and Kiswah (cover)." (Musnad Ahmad)