(the wife of the Prophet) that Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to her, "Do you know that when your people (Quraish) rebuilt the Kaʿba, they decreased it from its original foundation laid by Abraham?" I said, "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! Why don't you rebuild it on its original foundation laid by Abraham?" He replied, "Were it not for the fact that your people are close to the Pre-Islamic Period of ignorance (i.e. they have recently become Muslims) I would have done so." The sub-narrator, ʿAbdullah (bin ʿUmar ) stated: ʿAisha 'must have heard this from Messenger of Allah ﷺ for in my opinion Messenger of Allah ﷺ had not placed his hand over the two corners of the Kaʿba opposite Al-Hijr only because the Kaʿba was not rebuilt on its original foundations laid by Abraham. (Using translation from Bukhārī 1583)   

النَّبِيَّ ﷺ قَالَ أَلَمْ تَرَيْ إِلَى قَوْمِكِ حِينَ بَنَوَا الْكَعْبَةَ اقْتَصَرُوا عَنْ قَوَاعِدِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ؟ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ أَفَلَا تَرُدُّهُ عَلَى قَوَاعِدِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ؟ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ لَوْلَا حِدْثَانُ قَوْمِكِ بِالْكُفْرِ لَفَعَلْتُ فَقَالَ عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ عُمَرَ لَئِنْ كَانَتْ عَائِشَةُ سَمِعَتْ هَذَا مِنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ مَا أَرَى رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ تَرَكَ اسْتِلَامَ الرُّكْنَيْنِ اللَّذَيْنِ يَلِيَانِ الْحِجْرَ إِلَّا أَنَّ الْبَيْتَ لَمْ يُتَمَّمْ عَلَى قَوَاعِدِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لَفْظُ حَدِيثِ الْقَعْنَبِيِّ  

[Machine] This is from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ . I believe that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not neglect to receive them except for the fact that they are not on the foundations of the house, and people do not circumambulate behind the stone except for that.  

هَذَا مِنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ إِنِّي لَأَظُنُّ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ لَمْ يَتْرُكِ اسْتِلَامَهُمَا إِلَّا أَنَّهُمَا لَيْسَا عَلَى قَوَاعِدِ الْبَيْتِ وَلَا طَافَ النَّاسُ مِنْ وَرَاءِ الْحَجَرِ إِلَّا لِذَلِكَ  

I asked the Prophet ﷺ whether the round wall (near Kaʿba) was part of the Kaʿba. The Prophet ﷺ replied in the affirmative. I further said, "What is wrong with them, why have they not included it in the building of the Kaʿba?" He said, "Don't you see that your people (Quraish) ran short of money (so they could not include it inside the building of Kaʿba)?" I asked, "What about its gate? Why is it so high?" He replied, "Your people did this so as to admit into it whomever they liked and prevent whomever they liked. Were your people not close to the Pre-Islamic Period of ignorance (i.e. they have recently embraced Islam) and were I not afraid that they would dislike it, surely I would have included the (area of the) wall inside the building of the Kaʿba and I would have lowered its gate to the level of the ground." (Using translation from Bukhārī 1584)   

سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ عَنِ الْجَدْرِ أَمِنَ الْبَيْتِ هِيَ؟ قَالَ نَعَمْ قُلْتُ فَمَا لَهُمْ لَمْ يُدْخِلُوهُ فِي الْبَيْتِ؟ فَقَالَ إِنَّ قَوْمَكِ قَصُرَتْ بِهُمُ النَّفَقَةُ قُلْتُ فَمَا شَأْنُ بَابِهِ مُرْتَفِعٌ؟ قَالَ فَعَلَ ذَلِكَ قَوْمُكِ؛ لِيُدْخِلُوا مَنْ شَاءُوا وَيَمْنَعُوا مَنْ شَاءُوا وَلَوْلَا أَنَّ قَوْمَكِ حَدِيثُ عَهْدٍ بِجَاهِلِيَّةٍ فَأَخَافُ أَنْ تُنْكِرَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لَنَظَرْتُ أَنْ أُدْخِلَ الْجَدْرَ فِي الْبَيْتِ وَأَنْ أُلْصِقَ بَابَهُ بِالْأَرْضِ  

[Machine] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "If it were not for the recent conversion of your people to disbelief, I would have demolished the Kaaba and expanded it with more stones. But since your people have recently shortened its construction, Al-Harith ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Rabiah said, 'Do not say that, O Commander of the Faithful, for I have heard the Mother of the Believers speak about this.' He said, 'If I had heard about this before I demolished it, I would have left it as it was, built by Ibn Az-Zubair.'"  

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ لَوْلَا حِدْثَانُ قَوْمِكِ بِالْكُفْرِ لَنَقَضْتُ الْبَيْتَ حَتَّى أَزِيدَ فِيهِ مِنَ الْحِجْرِ فَإِنَّ قَوْمَكِ قَصَّرُوا فِي الْبِنَاءِ فَقَالَ الْحَارِثُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ أَبِي رَبِيعَةَ لَا تَقُلْ هَذَا يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فَإِنِّي سَمِعْتُ أُمَّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ تُحَدِّثُ بِهَذَا قَالَ لَوْ كُنْتُ سَمِعْتُهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ أَهْدِمَهُ لَتَرَكْتُهُ عَلَى بِنَاءِ ابْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ  

[Machine] "O Aisha, if your people did not have a recent pact of partnership, I would have demolished the Kaaba and attached it to the ground, and I would have placed two doors for it, one in the east and one in the west. And I would have added six cubits of stone to it, for Quraish had limited it when they rebuilt the Kaaba."  

ﷺ يَا عَائِشَةُ لَوْلَا أَنَّ قَوْمَكِ حَدِيثُو عَهْدٍ بِشِرْكٍ لَهَدَمْتُ الْكَعْبَةَ فَأَلْزَقْتُهَا بِالْأَرْضِ وَجَعَلْتُ لَهَا بَابَيْنِ بَابًا شَرْقِيًّا وَبَابًا غَرْبِيًّا وَزِدْتُ فِيهَا سِتَّةَ أَذْرُعٍ مِنَ الْحِجْرِ فَإِنَّ قُرَيْشًا اقْتَصَرَتْ بِهَا حِينَ بِنَتِ الْكَعْبَةَ  

[Machine] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to her, "If it wasn't for your people's recent conversion from ignorance, I would have commanded the Kaaba to be demolished and rebuilt. I would have placed in it what was taken out, and attached it firmly to the ground. I would have made two doors for it, one on the eastern side and one on the western side. But they are not capable of building it, so I extended the construction of Ibrahim to reach it." He said, "This is what Ibn Zubayr intended when he demolished it." Yazid ibn Ruman said, "I witnessed Ibn Zubayr demolishing it and I saw the stones of the construction of Ibrahim, each the size of a camel's hump, fitted together tightly or overlapping." Jarir said, "I asked him, 'Where was its location?' He said, 'I will show you now.' So he took me inside the stone and pointed to a place and said, 'Here it is.' Jarir said, 'I estimated it to be around six yards or so from the stone.'"  

رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ قَالَ لَهَا لَوْلَا أَنَّ قَوْمَكِ حَدِيثُ عَهْدٍ بِجَاهِلِيَّةٍ لَأَمَرْتُ بِالْبَيْتِ فَهُدِمَ فَأُدْخِلُ فِيهِ مَا أُخْرِجَ مِنْهُ وَأَلْزَقْتُهُ بِالْأَرْضِ وَجَعَلْتُ لَهُ بَابَيْنِ بَابًا شَرْقِيًّا وَبَابًا غَرْبِيًّا فَإِنَّهُمْ عَجَزُوا عَنْ بِنَائِهِ فَبَلَغْتُ بِهِ بُنْيَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ قَالَ وَذَلِكَ الَّذِي حَمَلَ ابْنَ الزُّبَيْرِ عَلَى هَدْمِهِ قَالَ يَزِيدُ بْنُ رُومَانَ وَقَدْ شَهِدْتُ ابْنَ الزُّبَيْرِ حِينَ هَدْمَهُ وَأَدْخَلَ فِيهِ مِنَ الْحِجْرِ وَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ بُنْيَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ حِجَارَةً كَأَسْنِمَةِ الْإِبِلِ مُتَلَاحِمَةً أَوْ قَالَ مُتَلَاحِكَةً قَالَ جَرِيرٌ فَقُلْتُ لَهُ أَيْنَ مَوْضِعُهُ؟ قَالَ أُرِيَكُمُ الْآنَ فَأَدْخَلَنِي الْحِجْرَ فَأَشَارَ إِلَى مَكَانٍ فَقَالَ هَا هُنَا قَالَ جَرِيرٌ فَحَزَرْتُ مِنَ الْحِجْرِ سِتَّةَ أَذْرُعٍ أَوْ نَحْوَهَا  

[Machine] Because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ circled around the Kaaba from behind, Allah the Almighty said: "And let them circle around the ancient House." [Al-Hajj 29]  

لِأَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ طَافَ بِالْبَيْتِ مِنْ وَرَائِهِ قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى {وَلْيَطَّوَّفُوا بِالْبَيْتِ الْعَتِيقِ} [الحج 29]