A lot of Muslims, in their great love for the Ka’bah (which is an admiral thing), make some mistakes because of their lack of understanding about barakah. We already mentioned that the Ka’bah is one of the places that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) put barakah–but what does that mean?
As a reminder, only Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) decides what things contain barakah, and what things give barakah, because all barakah is from Him.
With respect to the ka’bah, the barakah is the place, not the structure. If you think about it, you’ll realize the Ka’bah is a building–and like any building, it wears out, suffers from weathering, natural disasters (such as flooding), etc. and needs to be torn down and reconstructed. Realize that not a single stone of the Ka’bah today is more then a few years old–with the exception of the Black Stone–because in 1996, it was virtually destroyed, and they rebuilt it. Is that stone holy and blessed? No, it’s just regular stone!
So it’s not the actual Ka’bah structure that’s got barakah. You don’t gain anything by touching the sides, rubbing yourself against the walls (as some Hajjis do), etc. Similarly, there’s nothing special about the cloth that drapes it.
Because some people say “oh the cloth has barakah! Because of its close contact to the Ka’bah!” … Do you mean to say that the Ka’bah osmosizes barakah? In that case, remember that it’s touching the ground! Within a few years, wouldn’t the whole world be encompassed in barakah? But that’s not true–because it’s not the structure, but the place that has barakah! (And remember, only Allah decides what contains and what gives barakah.)
So if you get a nice piece of the cloth, say “alhamdulillah, Allah blessed me with something nice that reminds me of the Ka’bah.” But don’t sew it into your clothes or cut it up into little pieces and eat it or anything like that, and expect it to bring you any benefit.
Similarly, while the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) mentioned the virtue of praying in Masjid al-Haram, he didn’t mention the ka’bah specifically. A lot of poeple try and muscle their way into the ka’bah, but if you go inside, it’s just like a couple of stone pillars, a couple of lamps, and that’s it. (If you want to check it out for yourself, go when they’re cleaning up the inside and they’ll let you in inshallah.)
And remember–the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) only prayed two (nafl, not even fard) rakaats in the ka’bah in his entire life–after the Conquest of Mecca. Then he left, and never set foot inside again. This is despite how close he lived to it. He prayed all his prayers outside, facing it.
So what should we do? Follow his great example, like the companions and the pious generations before us. That’s the best way to increase barakah in your life.
Yasir Qadhi. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Light of Guidance. University of Toronto, Toronto. March 2006.