Mount Abu Qubays is a sacred mountain for Muslims located in the northeast of the Masjid al-Haram in the city of Mecca. Today, it has been carved, and its original dome-shaped form has been altered. It is said that when the Black Stone descended from paradise, it was placed in this mountain for a period of time as a trust. Additionally, Prophet Ibrahim(s) used to call people to perform the rituals of Hajj from atop this mountain. The Mosque of Ibrahim, the Mosque of Shaqq al-Qamar, and the caravansary of Mulla Muhammad Yazidi are among the structures built on the slopes of this mountain.
Location
Mount Abu Qubays is situated in the northeast of the Masjid al-Haram and overlooks it.[1] And the Shi'ab Abi Talib begins from there. Its elevation from sea level is reported to be 420 meters, and from the base, it is 120 meters.[2] According to Naser Khosrow, this mountain was dome-shaped.[3] In recent years, a significant portion of the mountain has been flattened, and on it, a palace and a government guesthouse have been built.[4] Names:
The name of this mountain is derived from the name of a person from the Mazhij tribe.[5] Or Ayad.[6] It is said that for the first time, a house was built on its slopes.[7] According to some accounts, such as Abu Qubays ibn Shalih from the Jurhum tribe sought refuge on this mountain due to disagreements with his relatives, and he never returned. The mountain became famous by this name thereafter.[8] Some also, considering the semantic significance, have said that Abu Qubays relates to "qabas" (a piece of firewood), suggesting that Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) took fire from this mountain[9] The names Abu Qabus and Sheikh al-Jabal have also been attributed to Abu Qubays.[10]
Historical and Religious Significance
Abu Qubais has been revered as a sacred mountain both before and after Islam, and in Islamic narratives, it is associated with some historical events related to the prophets. It has also been considered a place where prayers are answered.(11)( Fāsī al-Makkī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām.vol1.p524)
Some of the narrations of Abu Qubais first(12)( • Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Akhbār Makka.vol1.p32) And the best(13)( • Fāsī al-Makkī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām.vol1.p525)They have called it the mountain of the earth. The ancient prophets They have said that the graves of Adam, Sheeth son of Adam, and Hawa, the wife of Adam, are located in the cave of this mountain called Ghar-e Khaz.(14)( Fāsī al-Makkī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām.vol1.p519-520) They have mentioned that when the Black Stone descended from Paradise, it was placed as a trust in this mountain. Then Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) used it in the construction of the Kaaba(15)( Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb al-. Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī.vol1.p26-27) During the flood of Noah, the Black Stone was also entrusted in this mountain. Because of this, during the pre-Islamic era, people used to call this mountain "Al-Amin" (the trustworthy).(16)( Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Akhbār Makka.vol2.p266,,, Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī. Muʿjam al-buldān.vol1.p80) They say that Abu Qubays is one of the six mountains from which the stones of the Kaaba have been provided.(17)( • Fāsī al-Makkī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām.vol1.p179) Ibrahim (peace be upon him) used to stand on this mountain and call people to perform the rituals of Hajj.(18)( Ibn Isḥāq, Muḥammad. Al-Sīyar wa al-maghāzī.vol2.p72 ,,, Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Akhbār Makka.vol2.p203,,, Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār'.vol12.p91) The Prophet of Islam
Based on a report, in one of the years before the Hijra, the Prophet (peace be upon him) split the moon into two halves with his miracle; one half was over Mount Qaiqan and the other half was over Mount Abu Qubays.(19)( Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'.vol2.p116-117) The nobility of this mountain made it possible for them to address the people of Mecca from its summit to inform them. One such instance was the call of a man named Zubayd who called out from the hills of the Halif al-Fudul.(20)( Ibn Ḥabīb, Muḥammad. Al-Munammaq fī akhbār Quraysh.p52,,,, Masʿūdī, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn al-. Al-Tanbīh wa al-ishrāf.p179,,,,, Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya.v0l2.p291) It is also reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) publicly invited the Quraysh to accept Islam from the summit of this very mountain.(21)( • Maqrizī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Imtāʿ al-asmāʾ.vol3.p219,,, Ṣāliḥī Shāmī, Muḥammad b. Yusuf. Subul al-hudā wa al-rashād fī sīrat khayr al-ʿibād.vol2.p343) The structures on the mountain. The Mosque of Ibrahim During the early centuries of Islam, on the summit of this mountain, the Mosque of Ibrahim was constructed.(22)( Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Akhbār Makka.vol2.p202) which later gained fame as the Mosque of Bilal.(23)( Naʿīmī, Muḥammad Riḍā al-. Qāmūs al-ḥaramayn.p205) This mosque is attributed to either Ibrahim Khalil (peace be upon him) or Ibrahim Qubaysi.(24)( Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Akhbār Makka.vol2.p202) Or to an Indian merchant who built it in the year 1275 AH.(25)( • Ṣabbāgh, Muḥammad. Aḥmad. Taḥṣīl al-marām..vol1.p502-503) Other structures include... Among the other structures on the summit of this mountain, mention can be made of the Shagh al-Qamar Mosque and the caravanserai of Mulla Mohammad Yazdi.(26)( • Yamānī, Aḥmad Zakkī. Mawsūʿa makka al-mukarrama wa al-madina al-munawwara.vol1.p551) A minaret is also mentioned, which was built by Abdullah ibn Malik Khaza'i during the time of Harun al-Abbasi.(27)( • Fākihī, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq. Akhbār Makka fī qadīm al-dahr wa ḥaīthih.vol3.p87,,, • Yamānī, Aḥmad Zakkī. Mawsūʿa makka al-mukarrama wa al-madina al-munawwara.vol1.p551)
Notes
- ↑ Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī. Muʿjam al-buldān, Vol. 1, p. 80; Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Baghdādī, Marāṣid al-ʾiṭṭlāʿ ʿlā ʾasmāʾi al-amkina wa al-buqāʿ, vol. 3, p. 1066.
- ↑ Qāʾidān, Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madīna, p. 95.
- ↑ Nāṣir Khusraw. Safarnāma, p. 119.
- ↑ Furqānī, Sarzamīn yādhā wa nishānihā, p. 89.
- ↑ Zamakhsharī, Al-jibāl wa al-amkana wa al-mīyāh, p. 27.
- ↑ Azraqī, Akhbār Makka, vol. 2, p. 267.
- ↑ Azraqī, Akhbār Makka, vol. 2, p. 265-267; Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī. Muʿjam al-buldān, Vol. 1, p. 80; Zamakhsharī, Al-jibāl wa al-amkana wa al-mīyāh, p. 27.
- ↑ Suhaylī, Al-Rawḍ al-anf fī tafsīr al-sīra al-nabawīyya li ibn Hushām, vol. 3, p. 90.
- ↑ Fāsī al-Makkī, Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām, vol. 1, p. 50.
- ↑ Fāsī al-Makkī, Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām, vol. 1, p. 50.
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