Ḥijr Ismāʿīl (Arabic: حجر اسماعيل) is a Semicircular area near Ka'ba, and according to Islamic narratives is the burial place of Ishmael, Hājar and some prophets. According to some hadiths, a segment of Ḥijr Ismāʿīl was a part of Ka'ba; therefore, according to Shia jurists and most of Sunni jurists, during Ṭawāf, Ḥijr Ismāʿīl should be placed inside the Ṭawāf.

Introduction

Ḥijr Ismāʿīl is said to be the Semicircular area on the northwest side of Ka'ba, in front of the gold gutter.[1]

 
A top-view of Hijr Isma'il

Ḥijr Ismāʿīl is marked by a wall with a height of 1.32 meters and a width of 1.52 meters. The distance of this wall from the gold gutter is nearly 6.80 meters and it covers an area of 8.44 meters between the Rukn al-'Iraqī and the Rukn ush-Shami (western corner of Ka'ba).[2]

History

Based on religious traditions, the history of creation of Ḥijr Ismāʿīl goes back to the time of the construction of Ka'ba by Prophet Abraham(s). There are different and sometimes conflicting reports about the reason of the Ḥijr's construction; Some reports show that Ishmael(s) took shelter from the scorching sun in this part,[3] and in this regard, perhaps the Ḥijr is introduced as his house.[4]Some other narrations have attributed the construction of the first Ḥijr to Prophet Abraham(s) with the aim of protecting the sheep of Ishmael(s).[5]

Burial of prophets in the Ḥijr

Islamic narratives have reported that some prophets were buried in the Ḥijr without mentioning their names. According to these reports, Ishmael, his mother Hājar and some of his daughters were buried in this place.[6]

The importance of Ḥijr Ismāʿīl among Meccans and Muslims

Ḥijr Ismāʿīl has always attracted the attention of people of Mecca. There are reports of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib sitting in Ḥijr Ismāʿīl,[7] and verbal disputes between Prophet Muhammad (s) and polytheists of Quraysh in this place,[8] and also the gathering of polytheists to decide on his assassination.[9] The number of dreams attributed to grandees such as ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib[10]and the Prophet(s) in Ḥijr Ismāʿīl[11]shows that this place is suitable for resting after worshiping.

Reports related to the designation of Ḥijr Ismāʿīl as the starting point of the ascension of the Prophet(s),[12] the holding of some of his speeches,[13] the presence of Shia imams on various occasions, and their prayers and supplications at this place[14] show prominent position of Ḥijr Ismāʿīl among religious grandees.

Reconstructions of Ḥijr Ismāʿīl throughout history

Some scholars, citing a hadith attributed to Prophet Muhammad(s) addressed to ʿĀʾisha[15] believe that a part of the current Ḥijr Ismāʿīl was part of Ka'ba, which was placed in the inner Ḥijr due to the financial inability of the Quraysh to rebuild the Ka'ba in the fifth year before Biʿtha/605 CE.[16] They have even considered the naming of the Ḥijr to be appropriate to the stones marking the remaining part of the Ka'ba and to prevent people from entering it.[17]

ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Zubayr in 64 AH/683-4 CE In rebuilding the Ka'ba, he added the mentioned part to the Ka'ba, but Al-Ḥajjāj b. Yūsuf after permission from ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān (R: 65-86 AH/ 65/684-5 - 86/705 CE) in 74 AH/ 693-4 CE. He restored the building of the Ka'ba to its previous form.[18]The area of the Ḥijr has remained unchanged since then.

According to Sources the paving of Ḥijr was done in 140 AH/757-8 By order of Mansūr al-'Abbasī(R: 136-158 AH/754-775[19] and reconstructed in 164 AH/780-1 By the order of Mahdī al-'Abbasī (R:158-169 AH/775-785-6).[20]Other renovations were done in 1040 AH/1630-1, 1260 AH/1844-5 and 1283 AH/1866-7. It was done during the period of the Ottoman sultans.[21]

Ṭawāf in Ḥijr Ismāʿīl

The method of Ṭawāf and also the obligatory and recommended prayers at Ḥijr Ismāʿīl have been disputed by Shia and Sunni jurists. The root of this disagreement is the difference in their views on Ḥijr Ismāʿīl whether is a part of Ka'ba or not.[22]

Shia scholars have unanimously placed Ḥijr Ismāʿīl inside Ṭawāf, and in the case of entering Ḥijr Ismāʿīl while doing Ṭawāf, they have ruled to return Ṭawāf and repeat it.[23] Sunni jurists have also considered Ṭawāf outside the Ḥijr as permissible and only to Abū Ḥanīfa’s belief is that entering the Ḥijr does not disturb the correctness of Ṭawāf.[24]

Notes

  1. Kurdī, Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm, vol. 2, p. 569.
  2. Rafʿat Pāshā. Mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn, vol. 1, p. 266; Kurdī, Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm, vol. 2, p. 576.
  3. Qāʾidān, Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmi Makka wa Madīna, p. 117.
  4. Kulaynī, Al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 210.
  5. Azraqī, Akhbār Makka, Vol. 1, pp. 64-65; Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 13, p. 355.
  6. Kulaynī, Al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 210; Ibn Hishām,Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 1, p. 5.
  7. Ibn Saʿd, Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā ,vol. 1, p. 82.
  8. Ibn Hishām,Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 1, pp. 289-290.
  9. Wāqidī, Al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 125.
  10. Ibn Hishām,Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 1, p. 142; Ibn Kathīr,Al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, Vol. 2, p. 244.
  11. Ibn Ṭāwūs, Saʿd al-suʿūd, p. 100; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 18, p. 317.
  12. Ibn Ṭāwūs, Saʿd al-suʿūd, p. 100; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 18, p. 317
  13. Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 1, p. 379.
  14. ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 2, p. 337; Ṭūsī, Al-Ghayba. , p. 259; Ṣaffār, Baṣāʾir al-darajāt p. 373.
  15. Khuzaymah,Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Khuzaimah , vol. 2, p. 1413; Muslim Nayshābūrī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, vol. 2, p. 968.
  16. Kurdī,Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm, vol. 2, p. 573.
  17. Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān, vol. 2, p. 221.
  18. Rustā, Al-aʿlāq al-nafīsa, p. 30; Azraqī, Akhbār Makka, Vol. 1, p. 214.
  19. Azraqī,Akhbār Makka, vol. 1, p. 313;sanjārī, Manāʾiḥ al-karam, vol. 2, p. 92.
  20. Azraqī,Akhbār Makka, Vol 1, pp. 313-314; Kurdī, Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm, vol. 2, p. 579.
  21. Kurdī, Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm, vol. 2, p. 579.
  22. PūrAmīnī, Ḥijr Ismaʿīl. pp. 42-61; Quarterly magazine of Mīqāt-I Ḥajj. vol. 8, p. 111.
  23. Ṭūsī,Al-Khilāf, vol. 2, p. 324; Majmaʿ al-fāʾida wa al-burhān, Vol. 7, p. 79.
  24. Shāfiʿī, Al-Umm, vol. 2, p. 193; kalūdhānī, Al-Hidāya, p. 190.

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