al-Bayt al-Maʿmūr, a Qurʾānic compound term which literally means ‘the Flourishing House’ or ‘the Much-Frequented House’. According to most commentators, it is the heavenly counterpart of al-Bayt al-Ḥarām, the ‘Sacred House’ or Kaʿba. The term occurs only once in the Qurʾān (52:4), where God swears by it that the divine wrath will certainly descend (upon disbelievers) and that no one will be able to ward it off (52:7–8).

The use of the term al-Bayt al-Maʿmūr in the Qurʾān without comment or explanation has naturally—like that of many other expressions—attracted …