The tomb of Hazrat Khadijah The tomb of Hazrat Khadijah (PBUH), the resting place of Khadijah, the daughter of Khuwaylid and the wife of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), is located in the cemetery of Abu Talib (Jannat al-Ma'la or Hajun) in Mecca.
Historical sources mention the burial of Khadijah (PBUH) in Hajun, but the exact location of her grave was not known until the first half of the eighth century Hijri. From the mid-8th century Hijri, a location in the Ma'la cemetery in Mecca was identified as the burial place of Hazrat Khadijah, and a tombstone was erected for her. Later, a tall dome was constructed over the shrine in the later centuries. The shrine was demolished in 1218 by the Wahhabis but was later reconstructed. However, it was demolished again in 1343 with the establishment of the Saudi government. Lady Khadijah (PBUH). Khadijah (PBUH), the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad, was the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).(1) Ibn Isḥāq, Muḥammad. Sīra Ibn Isḥāq: al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya li Ibn Isḥāq .p245,,, Ibn Maghāzīlī, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Manāqib ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib.vol 1.p149,,, Shahīdī, Sayyid Jaʿfar. Tārīkh-i taḥlīlī-yi Islām.p39-40) The Noble Prophet (PBUH) married Khadijah at the age of 25.(2) Shahīdī, Sayyid Jaʿfar. Tārīkh-i taḥlīlī-yi Islām.p39-40) From this marriage, six children were born: two sons named Qasim and Abdullah, and four daughters named Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah (PBUH).3*** In a narration, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) identifies Lady Khadijah (PBUH), Fatimah (PBUH), Maryam (Mary), and Asiya as the leaders of the women of the world.(4)( Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya'.vol2.p129) Khadijah lived for approximately 25 years with Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). She passed away on the 10th of Ramadan in the year 10 of the Islamic calendar, during the time of the Prophet's mission in Medina.(5)( Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad b. Manīʿ al-Ḥāshimī al-Baṣrī. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā,vol8,p14,,, Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya.vol 1.p416) Location of the Grave
Sources have reported the burial of Hazrat Khadijah in the cemetery of Hajun. This is the same cemetery that was situated in Bab al-Mu'alla and is also known as the Bab al-Mu'alla Cemetery.(6)( Maqrizī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Imtāʿ al-asmāʾ.vol6.p30) However, the earliest reports about the exact location of her grave date back to the eighth century and have been recorded in historical sources. The precise location of her grave was unknown before that. Ibn Jubayr (d. 614 AH) in the sixth century reported that the graves in the cemetery of Hajun in Bab al-Mu'alla were ruined and forgotten.(7)( • Ibn Jubayr, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Riḥla Ibn Jubayr.p78) Taqī al-Dīn, who visited Mecca in the year 696, mentions that the people of Mecca say the grave of Khadijah (PBUH) is in Shu'bah, located on the side of Ma'la, but no grave is visible there.(8)) • Tajībī, Qāsim b. Yūsuf.Mustafād al-riḥla wa al-ightirāb..p340-341) Since the eighth century Hijri, the grave of Hazrat Khadijah gained prominence in Jannat al-Ma'la and has been mentioned in various sources. Ibn Battuta, who resided in Mecca in the years 729-730, reported that in the Ma'la cemetery, only a small number of graves, including the grave of Hazrat Khadijah, were recognized.(9)( Ibn Baṭūṭa, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Raḥla Ibn Baṭūṭa,vol 1.p381,,, Shahīd al-Awwal, Muḥammad b. Makkī. Al-Durūs al-sharʿīyya fī fiqh al-imāmiyya.vol 1.p468) Marjani (770 AH), an eighth-century geographer, reported that the exact location of Hazrat Khadijah's grave in Mecca was unknown. However, it was revealed to one of the righteous individuals in a dream or a state of spiritual unveiling that her grave is next to the grave of Fudayl ibn 'Iyad. In 749 AH, a stone was placed at that location.(10)( Marjānī, ʿAbdullāh al-. Bahjat al-nufūs wa al-asrār .vol2.p1016) Fasi (d. 832 AH), a renowned Meccan historian, expressed doubt about the accuracy of attributing this grave to Khadijah (PBUH). He argued that in Ma'la, none of the companions of the Prophet (PBUH) were buried.(11)( Fāsī al-Makkī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām.vol1.p376) Some contemporary researchers have also expressed doubt about the accuracy of attributing this grave.(12)( • Jāsir, Ḥamad al-. Al-ʿArab al-sunna al- ʿĀshira.vol ¾.p278-279)
Construction of the Dome and Mausoleum For the first time in 749 AH, a stone with the inscription "This is the grave of Lady Khadijah" was placed on her grave. The dome of the mausoleum of Hazrat Khadijah (on the right) and her son Qasim (on the left) is shown in the image before its demolition.(13) Ṣabbāgh, Muḥammad. Aḥmad. Taḥṣīl al-marām.vol 2.p646) Later, a wooden box was constructed over her grave.(14) (Ṣabbāgh, Muḥammad. Aḥmad. Taḥṣīl al-marām.p647) In the year 950 AH, Muhammad ibn Sulaiman, an Egyptian official, built a shrine and a stone dome for this mausoleum.(15) (Ṣabbāgh, Muḥammad. Aḥmad. Taḥṣīl al-marām.p647 He also placed a new box on the grave, covered it with exquisite fabric, and appointed a caretaker for the shrine.(16)( Ṣabbāgh, Muḥammad. Aḥmad. Taḥṣīl al-marām.p647 ,,, Gāzī, ʿAbdullāh b. Muḥammad al-. Ifādat al-anām.vol2.p150) After being demolished by the hands of the Al Saud, the shrine was reconstructed in the year 1242 AH.(17)( Gāzī, ʿAbdullāh b. Muḥammad al-. Ifādat al-anām.vol 2.p151) And it remained intact until the fourteenth century AH. Reports indicate that fabrics were sent by the Ottoman rulers of Egypt to be used on the shrine's box during this period.(18)( Gāzī, ʿAbdullāh b. Muḥammad al-. Ifādat al-anām.vol 2.p170) Travel accounts from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries AH have mentioned the mausoleum of Khadijah. For example, Farahani in 1302 AH mentioned the wooden mausoleum.(19)( Farāhānī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Safarnāma-yi Mīrzā Muḥammad Ḥusayn Farāhānī.p202) Rifat Pasha reported in 1318 AH about the tall dome over the grave of Khadijah (PBUH).(20) (Ibrāhīm Rafʿat Pāshā. Mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn ,vol1.p30) Destruction of the Mausoleum With the rise of Wahhabism in Mecca and the establishment of the first Saudi state, all structures and domes in Jannat al-Ma'la were demolished on Thursday, 29 Rabi' al-Thani 1218 AH. The graves in this cemetery were leveled with the ground.(21)( • ʿAlī b. Tāj al-ddīn al-sanjārī.Manāʾiḥ al-karam.vol 4.p422,,, Amīn, Sayyid Muḥsin al-. Kashf al-irtīyāb'.p27) After the defeat of this state by Ottoman forces, a dome was once again constructed over the grave and mausoleum of Hazrat Khadijah. However, this structure was also demolished in 1343 AH following the establishment of the third Saudi state.(22)( Gāzī, ʿAbdullāh b. Muḥammad al-. Ifādat al-anām..vol 2.p151)
References
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