Al-Sulaymani Mihrab
Sulaymānī's Miḥrāb(Arabic: محراب سلیمانی)is one of Miḥrābs of Masjid Al-Nabī. This Miḥrāb is on the right side of the Miḥrāb of the Prophet(a) and on the left side of the pulpit of the Prophet(a). This Miḥrāb was built in the mosque from the 9th century/15th century AD, and was the place of prayer for the followers of Ḥanafī denomination. In 938/1531-2, by order of Sultan Sulaymān qānūnī, this Miḥrāb was rebuilt and since then it has been known as Sulaymānī Miḥrāb.
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| General Information | |
|---|---|
| Other Names | Hanfi's Mihrab |
| Place | Masjid al-Nabi |
The place of the Miḥrāb
Sulaymānī Miḥrāb, which is also called Ḥanafī Miḥrāb, is one of the Miḥrābs of Masjid Al-Nabī in
medina. This Miḥrāb is located within the scope of the mosque of the time of the Prophet(a), outside the Rawḍa, at the southern area of the mosque (before the southern area of ʿUmar and ʿUthmān’s development), in front and on the right side of the Miḥrāb of the Prophet(a) and on the left side of the pulpit of the Prophet(a), in the place of the third column west of this pulpit and the seventh column of Bāb al-Salām.[1]
constructing the Miḥrāb
This Miḥrāb was built in 861AH/ 1456-7AD during the era of Malik al-Ashraf Abū Nasr ʾīnāl, one of the kings of Egypt (R:857-865 AH/1453-4; 1460-1AD) by the supervisor of the affairs of Masjid al-Ḥarām, Ṭūghān Sheikh Aḥmadī Ḥanafī (881 AH/1476-7).[2] Until the age of Sheikh Ṭūghān, Muslims in Masjid Al-Nabī used to do daily prayer to an Imam who stood in the Prophet's Miḥrāb during the off-season of Hajj and in the ʿUthmān Miḥrāb during the Hajj season. Ṭūghān Sheikh built a new Miḥrāb in the mosque so that a separate congregational prayer can be held under the following of a Ḥanafī Imam. After this date, the beginning of prayer was held under the following of Imam Shafiʿī, who stood in the Prophet’s Miḥrāb, and then Imam Ḥanafī prayed in the new Miḥrāb(which became known as the Ḥanafī Miḥrāb and later the Sulaymānī Miḥrāb). Imam Ḥanafī and Imam Shafiʿī performed the Tarāwīḥ prayer together in the nights of Ramaḍān.[3]This issue spread from Medina to Mecca as well.[4]
Becoming famous as Sulaymānī Miḥrāb
The Ḥanafī Miḥrāb was rebuilt in 938AH/ 1531-2 AD by the order of Sultan Sulaymān qānūnī, preserving the appearance of the Prophet’s Miḥrāb, and was decorated with black and white marble, and from then on, it became known as the Sulaymānī Miḥrāb[5] Currently, congregational prayers are not held in this miḥrāb and the imam of Masjid Al-Nabī prays in the ʿUthmān Miḥrāb.
Miḥrāb inscriptions
Behind the building of the miḥrāb, there is an inscription in gold script on a shiny red oil background, which refers to the construction of the miḥrāb by the order of Sultan Sulaymān in the year 938AH/1531-2AD.[6]
Inside and around the altar is also decorated with inscriptions of verses of the Quran. These verses are: Verse 162 of Al-Baqara; 95 Al-Imran and verse 112 of Al-Tawba.[7]
Notes
- ↑ Ṣabrī Pāshā, Mawsūʿa Mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn, vol. 4, p. 609; Rāfiʿī sūdānī, Ittiḥāf al-Muʾminīn, p. 82; Najafī, Madīna shināsī, vol. 1, p. 168.
- ↑ Sakhāwī, Al-Tuḥfat al-laṭīfa, vol. 1, p. 474; Rafʿat Pāshā, Mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn, vol. 1, p. 469; Mʿālim dār al-hijra, p. 250,251.
- ↑ Samhudī,Wafāʾ al-wafā, vol. 2, p. 210; Rafʿat Pāshā, Mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn, vol. 1, p. 469-470.
- ↑ Samhudī, Wafāʾ al-wafā, Vol. 2, p. 210.
- ↑ Rafʿat Pāshā, Mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn, vol. 1, p. 470; Najafī, Madīna shināsī, Vol. 1, p. 168,169
- ↑ Rafʿat Pāshā, Mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn, vol. 1, p. 470; Najafī, Madīna shināsī, Vol. 1, p. 168,169.
- ↑ Ṣabrī Pāshā, Mawsūʿa mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn, vol. 4, p. 610; Rafʿat Pāshā, Mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn, vol. 1, p. 470; Najafī, Madīna shināsī, vol. 1, p. 169.
References
- Najafī, Sayyid Muḥammad Bāqir. Madīna shināsī. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1387 sh.
- Rafʿat Pāshā, Ibrāhīm. ‘’Mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn, aw, al-raḥlāt al-ḥijāziyya wa al-ḥaj wa mashāʿirihi al-dīniyya’’. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, [n.d].
- Rāfiʿī sūdānī, Musṭafā b. Muḥammad . Ittiḥāf al-Muʾminīn bi tārīkh masjid khātam al-nabyyīn. Medina: Maktabat al- Maktabat al-ʿIlmīyya, 1404 AH.
- Ṣabrī Pāshā, Ayyūb. ‘’Mawsūʿa mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn’’. 1st edition. Cairo: Dār al-Āfāq al-ʿArabīyya, 1424 AH.
- Sakhāwī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. ‘’Al-Tuḥfat al-laṭīfa fī tārīkh al-Madīna al-sharīfa’’. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1414 AH-1993.
- Samhudī, ʿAlī b. ʿAbd Allāh. ‘’Wafāʾ al-wafā bi akhbār dar al-Muṣṭafā’’. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2006.
- Yūsuf ,ʿAbd al-razzāq. Mʿālim dār al-hijra. Medina: Maktabat al-ʿIlmīyya, 1401 AH.