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Companions · Keeper of the Kaaba's key

عثمان بن طلحة

Uthman ibn Talha

The key was taken from him at the Opening, and returned to him forever.

The account

His house of Banu Abd ad-Dar held the hijabah, custody of the Kaaba's key, from the age of Qusayy. In Jahiliyya he once refused the Prophet ﷺ entry; the Prophet said: "O Uthman, perhaps you will one day see this key in my hand, to place it where I will." At the Opening, the Prophet took the key, entered, prayed, and as Abbas and Ali each hoped the custody would pass to their house, the verse descended: "Allah commands you to render trusts to their owners" (4:58). He called Uthman back: "Take it, O Banu Talha, eternally, none shall take it from you except an oppressor." The key remains in that family's hands to this day: conquest, in Islam, restores trusts.

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