Sacred House until the appearance of Qusai bin Kilab, whose father is said to have died when he was  still a baby, and whose mother was subsequently married to Rabi‘a bin Haram, from the tribe of Bani
‘Udhra. Rabi‘a took his wife and her baby to his homeland on the borders of Syria. When Qusai  became  a young man, he returned to Makkah, which was ruled by Halil bin Habsha from Khuza‘a, who gave
Qusai his daughter, Hobba, as wife. After Halil’s death, a war between Khuza‘a and Quraish broke out  and resulted in Qusai’s taking hold of Makkah and the Sacred House.
THE REASONS OF THIS WAR HAVE BEEN ILLUSTRATED IN THREE VERSIONS:
The First: Having noticed the spread of his offspring, increase of his property and exalt of his  honour after Halil’s death, Qusai found himself more entitled to shoulder responsibility of  rulership over Makkah and custodianship of the Sacred House than the tribes of Khuza‘a and Bani
Bakr. He also advocated that Quraish were the chiefs of Ishmael’s descendants. Therefore he  consulted some men from Quraish and Kinana concerning his desire to evacuate Khuza‘a and
Bani Bakr from Makkah. They took a liking to his opinion and supported him.
The Second: Khuza‘a claimed that Halil requested Qusai to hold custodianship of Al-Ka‘bah and  rulership over Makkah after his death.
The Third: Halil gave the right of Al-Ka‘bah service to his daughter Hobba and appointed Abu
Ghabshan Al-Khuza‘i to function as her agent whereof. Upon Halil’s death, Qusai bought this right  for a leather bag of wine, which aroused dissatisfaction among the men of Khuza‘a and they tried  to keep the custodianship of the Sacred House away from Qusai. The latter, however, with the  help of Quraish and Kinana, managed to take over and even to expel Khuza‘a completely from
Makkah.
Whatever the truth might have been, the whole affair resulted in the deprivation of Sofa of their  privileges, previously mentioned, evacuation of Khuza‘a and Bakr from Makkah and transfer of  rulership over Makkah and custodianship of the Holy Sanctuary to Qusai, after fierce wars  between Qusai and Khuza‘a inflicting heavy casualties on both sides, reconciliation and then  arbitration of Ya‘mur bin ‘Awf, from the tribe of Bakr, whose judgement entailed eligibility of
Qusai’s rulership over Makkah and custodianship of the Sacred House, Qusai’s irresponsibility for
Khuza‘a’s blood shed, and imposition of blood money on Khuza‘a. Qusai’s reign over Makkah and  the Sacred House began in 440 A.D. and allowed him, and Quraish afterwards, absolute rulership  over Makkah and undisputed custodianship of the Sacred House to which Arabs from all over
Arabia came to pay homage.
Qusai brought his kinspeople to Makkah and allocated it to them, allowing Quraish some dwellings  there. An-Nus’a, the families of Safwan, Adwan, Murra bin ‘Awf preserved the same rights they used  to  enjoy before his arrival.
A significant achievement credited to Qusai was the establishment of An-Nadwa House (an assembly  house) on the northern side of Al-Ka‘bah Mosque, to serve as a meeting place for Quraish. This very  house had benefited Quraish a lot because it secured unity of opinions amongst them and cordial  solution to their problem.
QUSAI HOWEVER ENJOYED THE FOLLONG PRIVILEGED OF LEADERSHIP AND HONOUR:
1. Presiding over An-Nadwa House meetings where consultations relating to serious issues were  conducted, and marriage contracts were announced.
2. The Standard: He monopolized in his hand issues relevant to war launching.
3. Doorkeeping of Al-Ka‘bah: He was the only one eligible to open its gate, and was responsible for  its service and protection.
4. Providing water for the Pilgrims: This means that he used to fill basins sweetened by dates and  raisins for the pilgrims to drink.
5. Feeding Pilgrims: This means making food for pilgrims who could not afford it. Qusai even  imposed on Quraish annual land tax, paid at the season of pilgrimage, for food.
It is noteworthy however that Qusai singled out ‘Abd Manaf, a son of his, for honour and prestige  though he was not his elder son (‘Abd Ad-Dar was), and entrusted him with such responsibilities as  chairing of An-Nadwa House, the standard, the doorkeeping of Al-Ka‘bah, providing water and food for  pilgrims. Due to the fact that Qusai’s deeds were regarded as unquestionable and his orders  inviolable,  his death gave no rise to conflicts among his sons, but it later did among his grand children, for no  sooner than ‘Abd Munaf had died, his sons began to have rows with their cousins —sons of ‘Abd Ad-
Dar, which would have given rise to dissension and fighting among the whole tribe of Quraish, had it  not been for a peace treaty whereby posts were reallocated so as to preserve feeding and providing