The Holy Prophet was not yet more than thirty five years of age when he had to witness a grave dispute among the Quraysh, which was solved with his capable hand. The following incident shows the extent to which he was respected and admitted to be honest and truthful by Quraysh:
A terrible flood flowed down from the high mountains towards the House of Allah, and consequent upon it none of the houses of Makkah, not even the Holy Ka’bah remained safe from the damage caused by it. Many cracks appeared in the walls of the Ka’bah. Quraysh decided to reconstruct the Ka’bah, but were afraid of demolishing it.
Walid bin Mughayrah was the first person who took a pick in his hand and pulled down two pillars of the sanctuary. He was then feeling very much frightened and nervous. The people of Makkah were awaiting something to befall, but when they saw that Walid had not been subjected to the wrath of the idols they became confident that his actions had the approval of the idols.
As a result of this all of them joined in demolishing the building. By chance on that very day, a boat which was coming from Egypt and belonged to a Roman merchant capsized near Makkah (Jeddah) following a violent storm. Quraysh came to know about this incident. They therefore, sent some persons to Jeddah to purchase the planks of the boat for the construction of the Ka’bah. As regards masonry work they entrusted the same to a Copt mason, who resided in Makkah.
The walls of the Ka’bah became as high as the stature of a man. And now arrived the time for the installation of the Black Stone at its appropriate place. At this stage differences arose among the chiefs of the tribes and the tribes of Bani Abduddar and Bani Adi concluded an agreement that they would not allow anyone else to enjoy this honour. In order to strengthen the agreement they filled a container with blood and put their hands into it.
Owing to this development the construction work remained suspended for five days. The matters had reached a very critical stage. Different groups of Quraysh had gathered in the Masjidul Haram and a bloody encounter seemed imminent. At last, however, a respectable old gentleman from amongst Quraysh named Abu Umayyah bin Mughayrah Makhzumi made the chiefs of Quraysh assemble and said to them “Accept as arbitrator the person who first enters through the Gate of Safa (according to some history books Babus Salam)”. All agreed to this.
Suddenly the Holy Prophet entered the Masjid from that gate. All said in unison; “It is Muhammad, the honest one. We agree to his acting as the arbitrator!” In order to settle the dispute the Holy Prophet asked them to bring a piece of cloth.
He placed the Black Stone on the cloth with his own hands then suggested that every one of the four chiefs of Makkah should hold one corner of the cloth. When the Black Stone was brought near the pillar the Holy Prophet placed it at its proper place with his own auspicious hands. In this way he brought to an end the dispute of Quraysh which was at the verge of occasioning bloody accidents.