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'''Balad al-Amin''' (The Secure City) is one of the Quranic names for [[Mecca]], which God swears by in [[Surah al-Tin]]. According to some Quranic verses, [[Abraham (a)|Prophet Ibrahim (a)]] prayed to God to make [[Mecca]] a secure city. Some narrations attribute the security of Mecca to his supplication, while others consider it to have been secure since the beginning of creation.  

Scholars differ in interpreting the meaning of the security of the Haram. Some consider it to be a creational security, meaning protection from natural disasters and safety from killing and hostility. Others view the security of the Haram as legislative, referring to the sanctity and inviolability of Mecca through specific rulings, such as the prohibition of harming pilgrims, animals, cutting trees, and other acts, which ensure the safety of plants, animals, and humans. Some Shia narrations also interpret "Balad al-Amin" as referring to the [[Prophet(s)]] and the [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]], as faith in them ensures safety from misguidance.  

==Etymology==

In most interpretive and historical sources of Muslims, the term "Balad al-Amin" is considered one of the names and characteristics of the city of Mecca.<ref>Akḥbār Makka, al-Fākihī, vol. 2, p. 281; Majmaʿ al-Bayān, vol. 1, p. 387; al-ʿIqd al-Thamīn, vol. 1, p. 35.</ref> "Balad al-Amin" is a combination of two words: "Balad" and "Amin." "Balad" refers to a city or land.<ref>Al-Taḥqīq, vol. 1, p. 328, under "Balad."</ref> "Amin" is derived from the root "Amn," which means safety and tranquility,<ref>Al-ʿAyn, vol. 8, p. 388; Mufradāt, vol. 1, p. 90; Al-Taḥqīq, vol. 1, p. 150, under "Amn."</ref> or "Āmin," meaning a place of security.<ref>Al-Tibyān, vol. 10, p. 376; Taḥṣīl al-Marām, p. 562; Al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr, vol. 1, p. 695.</ref> Thus, "Balad al-Amin" means a city of security, tranquility, and freedom from fear and terror.<ref>Al-Taḥqīq, vol. 1, pp. 150–151.</ref>

==Balad al-Amin in the Quran==

The first reference to the term "Balad al-Amin" comes from verse 3 of [[Surah al-Tin]], which was revealed in the early years of the Prophet’s mission:<ref>See: Majmaʿ al-Bayān, vol. 10, pp. 612–613; An Introduction to the Dating of the Quran, pp. 303–307.</ref>  

{{Verse|وَ هَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ ٱلْأَمِينِ|And [by] this secure city [Mecca].}}  

In this verse, God swears by "Balad al-Amin," which some interpret as a reference to the special sanctity of Mecca and the emergence of Islam there.<ref>Al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ, vol. 10, p. 503; Al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr, vol. 30, p. 373.</ref>  

===The Supplication of Ibrahim===

In other Quranic verses, it is mentioned that [[Ibrahim (a)]] prayed to God to make Mecca a secure city. Two verses, with slight differences in wording, refer to this supplication. Some narrations attribute the security of Mecca to this prayer,<ref>Tafsīr Ibn Abī Ḥātim, vol. 1, p. 229; Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr, vol. 1, pp. 297–299; Al-Durr al-Manthūr, vol. 1, p. 121.</ref> while others consider its security to have existed since the creation of the heavens and the earth:<ref>Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, vol. 5, p. 98; Al-Kāfī, vol. 4, pp. 225–226; Al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr, vol. 4, p. 49.</ref>  

* {{verse|وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ اجْعَلْ هَذَا الْبَلَدَ آمِنًا وَاجْنُبْنِي وَبَنِيَّ أَنْ نَعْبُدَ الْأَصْنَامَ|And [remember] when Ibrāhīm said, “My Lord, make this city [Mecca] secure and keep me and my sons away from worshipping idols.”}} (Quran, 14:35)  

* {{verse|وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ اجْعَلْ هَذَا بَلَدًا آمِنًا وَارْزُقْ أَهْلَهُ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ مَنْ آمَنَ مِنْهُمْ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ قَالَ وَمَنْ كَفَرَ فَأُمَتِّعُهُ قَلِيلًا ثُمَّ أَضْطَرُّهُ إِلَى عَذَابِ النَّارِ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ|And [remember] when Ibrāhīm said, “My Lord, make this city secure and provide its people with fruits—those among them who believe in God and the Last Day.” He [God] said, “And whoever disbelieves, I will grant him enjoyment for a little while, then I will force him to the punishment of the Fire, and wretched is the destination.”}} (Quran, 2:126)

===Related Concepts in the Quran===

Other verses in the Quran also refer to concepts similar to "Balad al-Amin." For example, verses that mention the "Secure Haram," which, according to commentators, refers to Mecca and its surroundings:<ref>Al-Mīzān, vol. 16, p. 150.</ref>  

* {{verse|...وَلَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَهُمْ حَرَمًا آمِنًا يُجْبَى إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ رِزْقًا مِنْ لَدُنَّا وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ|...And We did not make for them a secure Haram to which the fruits of everything are brought as provision from Us? But most of them do not know.}} (Quran, 28:57)  

* {{verse|أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا جَعَلْنَا حَرَمًا آمِنًا وَيُتَخَطَّفُ النَّاسُ مِنْ حَوْلِهِمْ|Have they not seen that We made [Mecca] a secure Haram, while people are snatched away from around them?}} (Quran, 29:67)  

===Safety for Those Entering Mecca===

Another verse in the Quran, after mentioning the concept of the [[House of God]], states that whoever enters Mecca will be secure:<ref>Al-Mīzān, vol. 3, p. 351.</ref>  

{{Verse|فِيهِ آيَاتٌ بَيِّنَاتٌ مَقَامُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمَنْ دَخَلَهُ كَانَ آمِنًا وَلِلَّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلًا وَمَنْ كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ|In it are clear signs [such as] the standing place of Ibrāhīm. And whoever enters it will be secure. And [due] to God from the people is a pilgrimage to the House—for whoever is able to find thereto a way. But whoever disbelieves—then indeed, God is free from need of the worlds.}} (Quran, 3:97)

==The Meaning of Security==

Scholars differ regarding the meaning and implications of the security mentioned in the Quranic concept of the "Secure City." Some consider it to be creational, while others view it as legislative:  

===Creational Security===

Regarding creational security, three aspects are mentioned:  

* Protection from earthquakes and destruction.  
* Protection from famine.  
* Safety from killing and hostility.<ref>Majmaʿ al-Bayān, vol. 1, p. 388; Zād al-Masīr, vol. 1, p. 111; Al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr, vol. 4, p. 49.</ref>  

Some proponents of the theory of creational security attribute the occurrence of diseases and natural disasters in Mecca throughout history to the sins of its people.<ref>Akḥbār Makka, al-Fākihī, vol. 2, p. 268; Ithāf al-Warā, vol. 2, pp. 569–570; See: Ṣahbāʾ al-Ḥajj, p. 155.</ref> Some researchers also argue that the creational security of Mecca is not absolute but relative.<ref>See: Tasnīm, vol. 6, pp. 597–598.</ref>  

===Legislative Security===

Other commentators consider the security of the Haram to be legislative, meaning that the sanctity and inviolability of Mecca are maintained through specific rulings and regulations that make it a secure area. According to Islamic rulings, certain actions, such as cutting trees, harming animals (except harmful ones),<ref>Al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 226; Al-Majmūʿ, vol. 7, p. 441; Jawāhir al-Kalām, vol. 18, pp. 414–415.</ref> harming pilgrims,<ref>Surah al-Māʾidah, 5:2.</ref> and carrying out punishments or retribution against criminals who seek refuge there until they leave the [[Masjid al-Ḥarām]], are prohibited.<ref>Akḥbār Makka, al-Fākihī, vol. 3, p. 360; Al-Muḥallā, vol. 7, p. 262; Al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr, vol. 32, p. 212.</ref>  

===Interpretation of Mecca’s Security as Safety from Punishment===

Some interpret the security of Mecca for those who enter it: {{verse|وَمَنْ دَخَلَهُ كَانَ آمِنًا|And whoever enters it will be secure}}<ref>Surah Āl ʿImrān, 3:97</ref> as safety from the punishment of Hell and entry into Paradise.<ref>Faḍāʾil Makka, pp. 23–24; See: Al-Durr al-Manthūr, vol. 2, p. 55.</ref> Some narrations state that those who die in [[Mecca]] are safe from the punishment of the Hereafter.<ref>Akḥbār Makka, al-Fākihī, vol. 3, pp. 68–69; Al-Durr al-Manthūr, vol. 1, p. 133.</ref>  

===Interpretation of Balad al-Amin as the Prophet and Ahl al-Bayt===

In some Shia narrations, "Balad al-Amin" is interpreted as referring to the [[Prophet (s)]]<ref>Al-Burhān, vol. 5, p. 693; Kanz al-Daqāʾiq, vol. 14, p. 341; Bayān al-Saʿāda, vol. 4, p. 264.</ref> and the [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]],<ref>Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 430; Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 24, pp. 105–108.</ref> as faith in them ensures safety from misguidance in this world and punishment in the Hereafter.<ref>Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 24, p. 107.</ref> Some narrations also state that entering Mecca with recognition of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) ensures safety in this world and the Hereafter.<ref>Al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 545.</ref>

==Notes==
{{Notes}}

==References==
{{References}}

*Fākihī, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq al-.''Akhbār Makka''. Edited by ʿAbd al-Malik b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Duhaysh. Beirut: Dār Khidr, 1414 AH. 
*Fāsī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-.''Al-ʿIqd al-Thamīn fī Tārīkh al-Balad al-Amīn''. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1419 AH.  
*Ibn ʿĀshūr, Muḥammad al-Ṭāhir.''Al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr''. Tunis: Dār al-Tūnisiyya lil-Nashr, 1984.
*Ibn Fāris, Aḥmad.''Muʿjam Maqāyīs al-Lugha''. Edited by ʿAbd al-Salām Muḥammad Hārūn. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1399 AH.   
*Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan.''Al-Taḥqīq fī Kalimāt al-Qurʾān al-Karīm''. Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, 1374 SH. 
*Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad.''Mufradāt Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān''. Edited by Ṣafwān ʿAdnān Dāwūdī. Damascus: Dār al-Qalam, 1412 AH.
*Ṣabbāgh, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-.''Taḥṣīl al-Marām fī Akḥbār al-Bayt al-Ḥarām''. Edited by ʿAbd Allāh b. Duhaysh. Mecca: Maktabat al-Asadī, 1424 AH.
*Ṭabarsī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-.''Majmaʿ al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān''. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1406 AH.    
*Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-.''Al-Tibyān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān''. Edited by Aḥmad Ḥabīb Qaṣīr. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī.
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[[fa: بلد الامین]]